DATA Act Section 5 Pilot

OMB, in collaboration with the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the General Services Administration (GSA) is engaged in a multiphase, multifaceted approach that will result in recommendations to reduce reporting burden, standardize processes, and reduce costs for Federal awardees. 

Phase 1 (May 2015 – May 2017): National Dialogue and Pilot to Reduce Reporting Compliance Costs for Federal Contractors and Grantees

The dialogue sponsored by the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, HHS, and GSA is generating ideas to streamline reporting for Federal contractors and grantees. Join the  Dialogue​ ​.​​​

​Phase 2 (May 2015- May 2017): Pilots for Simplifying Federal Award Reporting

While the recipient reporting for Federal contracts and grants are similar, there are reporting burdens unique to each. To gather recommendations for easing reporting for recipients of Federal contracts and grants, OMB is conducting the pilot with two primary focus areas. 

Pilot Focus – Federal Procurement Track

OMB is providing strategic leadership for the procurement pilot and collaborating with GSA and the Chief Acquisition Officers Council for implementation. The objectives of the Section 5 procurement pilot focus are to: 

  • Identify recommendations in the National Dialogue for further review
  • Develop a central reporting portal prototype and collection tool for FAR required reports, and  
  • Test the portal by centrally collecting select FAR required reports that are currently reported across the Federal government, beginning with collection of reports required under FAR 22.406-6.

The goal is to allow contractors doing business with the Federal Government to submit FAR required reports to one central location in an efficient and effective manner rather than multiple locations and to each contracting officer (CO). 

An overview of the procurement pilot focus, test models, and metrics is  below.

 Data Act Pilot

Key Actions:

  1. Analysis of FAR reporting requirements and submission methods – complete
  2. Analysis of results of National Dialogue and relevant stakeholder input – ongoing
  3. Identification of representative reporting requirement for piloting central reporting tool – complete - FAR 22.406-6 represents key input areas from dialogue
  4. Federal Register Notices for Information Collection Requirements – complete
  5. Discovery into central reporting portal, including initial outreach – complete
  6. Prototype for development of tool  - complete
  7. Contract award for tool development – complete. Link to FedBizOpps.gov for contract award information.

Key Upcoming Milestones:

  1. Launch of pilot tool and data collection – November 2016
  2. Iteration of tool – through Spring 2017
  3. Introduction of additional FAR reporting requirements to proof of concept tool– Summer 2017
  4. Report on recommendations resulting from pilot data collection - August 2017
  5. Close out procurement pilot data collection – November 2017

 

Contractors who are required to submit under FAR 22.406-6 and are interested in participating in the pilot data collection tool are encouraged to share their information and interest via SpendingTransparency@omb.eop.gov. Acquisition community members can get updated information about the DATA Act Section 5 Procurement Pilot by following this link to GSA’s Integrated Award Environment (IAE) Industry Community.

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