As many of you know, agencies have found it difficult over time to meet their Small- business contracting goals. For example, $6.4 billion fewer contracting dollars were awarded to small businesses in fiscal 2011 versus what had been awarded in 2010. The decrease meant that 21.65 percent of Federal contracting dollars went to small businesses, while in 2010 the percentage was 22.7 percent - just under the Federal contracting goal of 23 percent overall. The concerns have been great, especially during these increasingly budget conscious times. Fortunately, it appears the Woman Owned Small Business (WOSBs) will gain greater access to Federal contracts due to the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The act removes caps limiting the size of a contract award that can be made to small businesses owned by woman. Previously, WOSBs could not bid on contracts whose value was in excess of “$6.5 million for manufacturing contracts and $4 million for all other contracts.” WOSBs make up 30 percent of all small businesses today. Moreover, during fiscal 2011 agencies awarded $16.8 billion to WOSBs, or 3.98 percent – well under their 5 percent goal. Now WOSBs will be able to compete more freely for Federal work. Coupled with the Small Business Administration’s Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program, agencies are hoping their small-business contracting goals will be more attainable.

The Digital Dilemma Report of 2013 has found that out of 300 government employees surveyed, 95% believe that their work has improved through access to mobile devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Although many government agencies currently lack a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy, a majority of these federal employees are bringing their personal mobile devices into the workplace due to the benefits reaped from their use.

As social media has grown in popularity and continued to encompass more citizens, the government has made effective use of its outbound reach by using the medium to get information to the citizens. Whether it is used for warnings and instructions during an emergency, or to gauge support for a particular pending protocol or bill, the social media communication channel is one that the government has taken full advantage of to push information out. However as it is with so many other innovations, the governments use of social media is slowly beginning to evolve to a more passive connection.

It is increasingly common for government workers to use their personal or government-issued mobile device to access government email, network drives, documents, or CRM’s. The digital realm champions improved efficiency and immediate access to limitless information. Simply being out of the office, in a meeting, or at home are no longer roadblocks for responding to emails and accessing work information.

On Tuesday, January 2, 2013, President Obama signed the military spending budget, which isgood news for small businesses selling to the Federal government. The goal is for Federal agencies to have 23% of awarded contracts go to small businesses, which has been a problem for the Federal government.

On December 27, 2012 the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the first company to become FedRAMP certified as Autonomic Resources. The approval came from the Joint Authorization Board (JAB), which is consisting of the CIO’s from GSA, DoD, and DHS.