Blog
October 5, 2006
Unannounced Grants.gov file format change causes problems
Users of Grants.Gov’s XML downloads of funding opportunity announcements got an unpleasant surprise recently: the XML files changed, without any announcement or forewarning. The problem is apparently in the XML date elements:
PostDate
ApplicationsDueDate
ArchiveDate
Up to now, the ISO…
Grants performance accountability and the PART
GovExec has a nice piece about GAO-06–1046, the report I blogged about a while ago. GovExec’s article has a nice summary of why the report was requested:
The study was requested by Rep. Todd Platts, R‑Pa., chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on…
October 4, 2006
Oracle’s Grants.gov integration in PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 9
Oracle issued a press release yesterday about their PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 9 product. Part of this is proud to state:
PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 9 includes out-of-the-box integration with http://www.grants.gov for organizations to obtain and view their opportunities list, preview grant applications…
October 3, 2006
OMB asks bloggers to help push management agenda
GovExec reports on a meeting between Clay Johnson, OMB Deputy Director for Management, and a group of bloggers who helped push S.2590 through Congress. From the article:
Bloggers from across the political spectrum were credited with helping push the legislation quickly through…
Commentary on S.2590 in Information Today
Information Today has a good article on the history and future of S.2590, the database of the federal grants and contracts. The author notes that,
The database will only be as good as the data included in it. The current data collection…
September 29, 2006
GAO reports on grants performance accountability
GAO released a new report today titled Enhancing Performance Accountability Provisions Could Lead to Better Results (full report, highlights). GAO’s recommendations are as follows:
GAO recommends that the Director of OMB work with agencies and Congress to encourage the use of…
September 28, 2006
Franchise funds and the GMLOB
We’ve been doing some research into the business models that are driving the various Lines of Business initiatives, and recently compiled some information about Federal franchise funds that we thought might be good to share.
“Franchise funds” is a 1994 program that…
September 27, 2006
FPDS-NG likely to be used for S.2590
This GCN article suggests that OMB is seriously considering utilizing FPDS-NG to deliver the datababse of federal grants spending.
Even though all three databases have their flaws, most government officials believe that, with a few tweaks, FPDS-NG is the best place…
September 22, 2006
Grants.gov moving host
More details have emerged about Anteon/General Dynamics’ plans for Grants.gov, namely that hosting will be done by Carpathia, an Ashburn, VA, provider that has worked with Anteon in the past.
I’d expressed doubts about the budgetary feasibility of the Anteon/GD bid…
NIH bill establishes electronic coding and reporting requirements
A new bill is on its way to reauthorize the NIH for a few years, reports GovExec, and includes provisions to establish an electronic scientific coding system and requirements for reporting patents resulting from NIH grant funding. It also allows for…