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As federal awardee database opens, debate about openness continues

The Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System is here but mostly empty

  • By FCW Staff
  • Apr 18, 2011

The Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System is open -- but mostly empty.

FAPIIS, where contracting officers will have a wide-ranging repository of information on companies, opened April 15. Only data uploaded after April 15 will appear on the site, which leaves the database pretty empty.

Meanwhile, Kathleen Turco, the General Services Administration’s associate administrator of the Office of Governmentwide Policy, told the Federal Times that new database “is akin to setting up the Better Business Bureau of federal contracting.”

The debate around FAPIIS continues, however. How open should it be for the public, and how closed should it be to protect businesses’ reputations?

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Reader comments

Tue, Apr 19, 2011

In drawing the comparison to the BBB, I think the GSA statement mischaracterizes the information that customers can find in FAPIIS. As currently configured, FAPIIS only presents the negative side of things. PPIRS is better positioned to present the more balanced view of contractor performance.

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