GSA Seeks Industry Comments on Proposed E-Commerce Portal Implementation

The General Services Administration has asked industry for feedback on a proposed program to implement e-commerce portals to modernize the federal acquisition of commercial products and services.

GSA said Tuesday responses to the draft solicitation will inform the development of the initial proof of concept to test and refine the requirements of the Commercial Platform Initiative, which aims to comply with a provision of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

“During the initial proof of concept, GSA will encourage robust competition through the implementation of multiple e-marketplace platforms,” said Laura Stanton, deputy assistant commissioner for category management within the office of information technology at GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service.

“We are looking to leverage business-to-business terms whenever practicable, to allow for streamlined buying while obtaining a more transparent and centralized view of this type of government-wide spend,” Stanton added.

The proof of concept will focus on spend occurring on the open market and outside of existing government contracts.

Responses to the draft solicitation are due Aug. 1.