February 16, 2017
GSA moves one step closer to replacing DUNS
Source: FCW.com, Mark Rockwell, February 13, 2017
The General Services Administration took an important step toward reducing its reliance on a proprietary business entity identifier system in government contracting.
The agency released a request for information on Feb. 13 in advance of the possible adoption of a new numbering system for “government-wide entity identification and validation services.”
Currently the federal contracting system relies on the Data Universal Numbering System, or DUNS number, from Dun & Bradstreet.
The pitfalls associated with using a proprietary reference system first came to public attention in 2014, when a key contract covering data use on the Recovery.gov website expired, and D&B pulled its data from the site. Recovery.gov was considered at the time the gold standard for spending transparency, and the loss of rich transactional data activated many in the open government community to advocate for an open standard as a replacement. READ MORE….
The RFI is posted on FBO, and will be available for review and comment until March 13, 2017.
Contact your nearest PTAC to learn about government contracting.
Keep up to date – follow us on Twitter, LinkedIN or Facebook!
For help with Government Contracting: contact your nearest Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). Funded through Cooperative Agreements between the U.S. Department of Defense and state and local governments/institutions, PTACs provide free and low-cost assistance in virtually all areas of government contracting.