As a GSA contractor develops a new Federal Procurement Data System, some market researchers and watchdog groups are worrying that the price of contract data will skyrocket, The Washington Post reported.(Washington Insider)

Set-Aside Alert, August, 2004

As a GSA contractor develops a new Federal Procurement Data System, some market researchers and watchdog groups are worrying that the price of contract data will skyrocket, The Washington Post reported.

GSA has turned the database over to Global Computer Enterprises (GCE) of Reston, VA. The company is tasked with developing a new system that will produce more reliable data.

Under the old, GSA-run system, a full year's contracting data cost less than $2,000. GSA's senior procurement executive, David Drabkin, told the newspaper that new prices are still being negotiated with the contractor, but they won't be dramatically higher. "I've seen reports that somebody claims that it's going to cost them $35,000," he said. "That's crap."