NIH wins approval for $30B governmentwide contract
OMB officials have approved the governmentwide contract after recognizing agencies' new duties because of the major overhaul of the health-care system.
The National Institutes of Health will remain one of the few agencies to host a governmentwide acquisition contract, as officials approve its Chief Information Officer Solutions and Partners 3 (CIOSP-3) GWAC, the Office of Management and Budget has said.
The next step for NIH’s Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) is to issue the solicitations for the contract. CIOSP-3 has an estimated ceiling value of $30 billion.
OMB officials granted NIH its approval based on the needs by agencies with health-related responsibilities, including those affected by the new health care law that is revamping the health-care system, OMB said.
“The programmatic expertise of its in-house scientists and medical experts will provide strong support for the award and management of its contracts,” according to an announcement from OMB about the approval.
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Diane Fraiser, director of the NIH Office of Acquisition Management and Policy, wrote in a e-mail message,“The approval for the CIOSP GWAC by OMB is terrific news.” The next step for NIH’s Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) is to issue the solicitations for the GWAC.
“With the GWAC designation, NITAAC will be a streamlined vehicle available for use by all federal agencies,” she wrote.
Since January, NITAAC has had more than $100 million in orders on its CIOSP 2i contract, Fraiser said in an interview.
In the decision, OMB officials spoke to different stakeholders in the procurement community, such as the GWAC’s customers and managers, chief acquisition officers, trade associations and congressional staff.
GWACs are required to be recertified, unlike other contracts such as multi-agency contracts.