GSA gets strategic

All the General Services Administration's work in the past year or so to build category management, digital services and more efficient contracting capabilities will be instrumental in making the agency a fundamental partner to the next presidential administration, said the agency's leader.

"GSA as strategic manager" is the legacy of the current GSA, said Administrator Denise Turner Roth in a keynote presentation at the ACT-IAC Executive Leadership Conference.

The agency has been listening closely to its federal customers, contractors and other stakeholders to become more customer service-oriented, she added.

When asked if she was concerned about the impact the change in administration might have on relatively new digital development programs such as 18F and contract efficiency efforts such as category management and the Acquisition Gateway, Roth said she hopes those changes will be seen as the foundation for the next administration's success.

"We're at a place where GSA is seen as the go-to resource," she said. "If a new leader is coming into government and thinks, 'How can I be successful?' they will need GSA as a strategic partner. From [the Federal Acquisition Service] to our IT efforts and 18F that you hear about month to month, all of that work speaks to that."