GSA #10104

August 25, 2004
Contact: Viki Reath (202) 501-1231
viki.reath@gsa.gov

WASHINGTON – Public access to federal contract information will be provided at no charge, under the new, Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation (FPDS-NG), which will be accessible Oct. 1, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced today.

In keeping with the President’s vision to expand public access to government, GSA will provide free access to federal procurement reports as a citizen service. Free public access to real-time, contract information expands opportunities for vendors to provide products and services to agencies at greater value to the government, which, in turn, provides added value to tax dollars.

Private citizens, small and large businesses, non-profit organizations, Members of Congress and federal agencies, generally, will share equal access to standard reports, such as socio-economic reports showing which agencies have awarded contracts to small, minority-owned businesses, small veteran-owned businesses, etc. There may be delayed access to some data for security reasons.

For organizations, businesses and private citizens needing access to raw contract data, GSA will offer direct access to the entire FPDS-NG database, through Web services, at a fee to cover the cost of a permanent computer connection, approximately $2,500.

Other benefits of GSA’s new federal contract database include enabling agencies to report information immediately, while also lowering agency reporting costs, along with making end-of-year reports available several months earlier than in the past. End-of-year reporting for fiscal year 2004 contract spending will be available in December, based on agency forecasts.

GSA is a centralized federal procurement and property management agency with 13,000 associates. Congress created GSA to help agencies improve efficiency and better serve the public. Today, GSA provides government-wide policy, and, on behalf of federal agencies, acquires office space, equipment, telecommunications, information technology, supplies and services for more than one million federal workers in more than 8,000 buildings in 2,000 U.S. communities.