GSA Issues Update on E-Commerce Platform Initiative

The General Services Administration has released an update on the industry feedback it received after a recent solicitation for its commercial platforms initiative. Laura Stanton, deputy assistant commissioner of Federal Acquisition Services, said in a recent blogpost that GSA received over 200 pages of comments on its planned development of a government wide e-commerce platform. 

In December, GSA released the RFI in partnership with the Office of Management and Budget. Stanton said the majority of comments focused on keeping the acquisition process simple, providing a competitive pricing, improving existing purchasing channels, expanding competition and product category concerns.

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Responses also raised major concerns about the data protection language in Section 838 of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. Section 838 provides GSA the authority to develop competitive procedures for procurements made through commercial e-commerce portals under the micro-purchase threshold of $10,000.

“It was great to receive a significant level of feedback from various stakeholders, both in response to the draft program documents,” Stanton said. 

She added the feedback will help GSA move the e-commerce platform’s proof of concept forward. The agency along with OMB expect to submit to Congress the phase II report on the commercial platforms initiative in March.