GSA, NGA Expand Space-Based Data Offerings

The General Services Administration, working with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, awarded 11 companies spots on the special item number for Earth observation services under IT Schedule 70.

The 11 new companies—including three small businesses, one of which is woman-owned—bring the total number of vendors on the SIN to 52. The special category was established last summer as a resource for purchasing “geospatial data, knowledge and analytics,” according to GSA.

The new additions to the SIN include:

• Carahsoft Technology
• Digitalglobe Intelligence Solutions
• General Dynamics Information Technology
• Geographic Services Inc.
• Harris Corporation
• Hexagon US Federal
• Leidos
• MDA Information Systems
• Observera
• Sanborn Map Company
• Wiser Imagery Services

“The commercial earth observation industry has experienced accelerated growth and we’re very pleased to position our offerings to provide the latest in emerging technology and solutions while making it easier for our government customers to reach these companies,” Bill Zielinski, GSA acting assistant commissioner for the Office of Information Technology, said in a statement announcing the awards.

For NGA—an agency that relies heavily on satellite data—the ability to buy off a GSA schedule melds with the agency’s Commercial Initiative to Buy Operationally Responsive Geospatial-Intelligence, or CIBORG, program. The move to acquire more commercial products through the government’s buyer, GSA, mirrors that of other agencies, such as the departments of Homeland Security and Defense Department, the FBI and the Air Force.

“The partnership between NGA and GSA in support of CIBORG has resulted in a solution that allows for flexibility when purchasing [geospatial intelligence] data, products and services against dynamic requirements,” David Gauthier, director for source commercial and business operations at NGA, said in the statement.