Public meeting slated to discuss new e-commerce portal plan

The General Services Administration and the Office of Management and Budget will hold a public, "town hall-style" meeting Jan. 9 to discuss procurement of commercial products through e-commerce portals mandated by a provision in the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, according to a Federal Register notice.

Speakers will be able to offer input on the implementation plan, which is due to Congress in the spring.

The e-commerce portals were first introduced by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) as a way to streamline the Defense Department's procurement of commercial products online from Amazon, Wal-Mart, Staples, Grainger and others.

A congressional staffer who briefed reporters in November said the e-commerce provision will be administered by the GSA and, thanks to input from other committees, will be government-wide.

"While it starts immediately, we have added robust implementation procedures, milestones, things like that to make sure the program stays on track," the staffer said. "This is a new option, it is not replacing existing options. Right now, DOD . . . can go through the GSA schedules and now they have this option."

The proposal initially drew criticism because of Amazon's perceived dominance in e-commerce.

"People are forgetting our target audience . . . it is more than just Amazon that have e-commerce portals," the staffer said.