Improving Quality and Transparency 

Federal contracting data is collected in FPDS-NG. The FPDS-NG is managed by the General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) Integrated Acquisition Environment Program Office (IAEPMO). It is an online database of federal procurement actions, accessible to members of the public, media, congress, and Federal officials. The system provides substantial report writing capability, including many standard reports that allow users to retrieve information about federal procurement.

Contracting information in FPDS-NG is used by SBA in preparation of annual Small Business Goaling Reports (SBGR’s). In turn, these reports are used by SBA to evaluate Federal agencies’ performance under socioeconomic procurement preference goals. The SBA has worked closely with GSA/IAEPMO to develop SBGRs in FPDS-NG’s new software. On August 17, 2007, SBA will re-issue the FY 2005 SBGR, and issue the FY 2006 SBGR as  ‘static reports.’

On August 20, 2007, GSA’s IAEPMO will implement an enhanced version of the SBGR, which will be available on an ‘on-demand basis.’ The enhanced versions will allow the public to view the detail of records that comprise the reports. These enhancements will represent major steps in increased transparency and accountability in Federal small business contracting reporting.  Further, the two agencies plan to continue working together to further improve access to, and ease of use of, such information.
 

Data Integrity Issue

The FY 2005 SBGR was released to the public in June 2006. Between June and August of 2006, the integrity of the data comprising the SBGR was called into questioned. Specifically, interested parties asserted that approximately $12 billion of FY 2005 contract awards, characterized as having been made to ‘small businesses,’ in fact, may have been made to large businesses. In this context, OFPP, SBA, and GSA’s IAEPMO embarked on a major initiative to increase the transparency of contract reporting, and the accountability within government.

Specifically, SBA and OFPP sought to purify existing data; through new regulations, prevent mischaracterization of contracts as having been awarded to small businesses, when, in fact, they are held by entities that are other than small; require strong quality assurance standards in contracting reporting; and thoroughly evaluate agencies on their performance in meeting small business contracting goals.  We believe that these changes will work through the databases over a twelve-month cycle, yielding a much more accurate portrayal of small business participation in the Federal marketplace.

Data Purification

On September 26, 2006, SBA Administrator Steven Preston and Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Administrator Paul Denett issued a memorandum to the Heads of Departments and Agencies regarding the $12 billion in questioned contract records. On September 27, 2006, SBA issued a memo to Chief Acquisition Officers asking that departments identify reasons for discrepancies in FY 2005 data and to errors and mischaracterizations.

On April 17, 2007, SBA issued guidance to Chief Acquisition Officers and Directors of Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Directors, regarding re-release of the FY 2005 SBGR, based on data purification, and release of FY 2006 SBGR. During the week of April 23, 2007, the IAEPMO issued a series of ‘anomaly’ reports to agencies. These reports were designed to identify records that might have been miscoded. Subsequently, SBA advised agencies that records were to be examined and corrections made by June 30, 2007, and that such data would be used in preparation of FY 2005 and FY 2006 SBGRs that were issued on July 30, 2007.

In spite of the major effort throughout the federal government to improve the accuracy of procurement data that makes up the SBGRs, the data in FPDS-NG and the SBGRs will not be perfect. However, it will be materially better than that used to prepare the FY 2005 SBGR issued in June 2006. Further, it should be understood that the Administrator of OFPP has required that agencies establish and document procedures of validation and verification of contracting data contained in FPDS-NG, and attest FY 2007 integrity by December 15, 2007. Therefore, FY 2007 data should be even more reliable than that of FY 2006.

Attest on Contracting Data

In March 2007, the Administrator of OFPP began requiring that the Chief Acquisition Officers of agencies establish comprehensive, statistically valid contracting data verification and validation procedures, and certify data accuracy and completeness. The first annual statement of data verification and validation must be submitted by December 15, 2007.