For the First Time in 20 Years, GSA Opens Bids for Business Numbering System

Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com

The longtime incumbent, Dun and Bradstreet, says it plans to bid on the new contract.

The General Services Administration opened up bids to manage its vendor verification system—which ascribes a unique identifying number to each contractor doing business with the government—with the release of a request for proposals Aug. 31.

The Data Universal Numbering Systems, or DUNS number, has been the government standard for identifying contractors, non-profits and other organizations doing business with the federal government since 1962 and became an official part of the Federal Acquisition Regulation in 1998.

“The DUNS number is not just a number—it is a system for maintaining accurate, comprehensive and timely information—and it is issued rapidly and free of charge for all entities wanting to do business with the U.S. federal government,” according to the website for Dun and Bradstreet, the vendor that has managed the system since its inception and for which the number is named.

The acquisition opens the contract to new vendors for the first time in 20 years but does not include language that would prevent the contractor from holding the associated data as proprietary and charging for third-party access, a process at least one lawmaker considers “monopolistic.”

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., noted that anyone who wants access to the data associated with the number has to pay a fee to Dun and Bradstreet.

“To speak plainly, the current framework that relies on a proprietary identifier to track our government’s processes enshrines an effective monopoly,” she said during a Feb. 6 committee markup of the Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency, or GREAT, Act, which originally included language to prohibit the proprietary use of entity validation data that was removed during committee deliberations.

“Because the government uses this proprietary identifier, any user of grant and contracting information must purchase a license in order to download and use that data Dun and Bradstreet owns—the DUNS number—and charges royalties for its use,” Foxx said. “If you’re outside the government, you must purchase a license to any data that includes the DUNS number and go through Dun and Bradstreet if you want full access to public data—data that shows the expenditures of taxpayer money.”

A GSA spokesman confirmed to Nextgov that the RFP “does not prevent the offeror from charging or otherwise holding the numbers and data as proprietary, and GSA does not include a stipulation barring the awardee from charging for licenses or other third-party access to the data.”

Dun and Bradstreet declined to comment on the proprietary use of DUNS data but told Nextgov it plans to bid on the new contract.

“The federal government has leveraged the D&B DUNS number for the past 40 years because it provides critical and unique data and insights into the government’s award recipients and programs,” the company said in a statement. “Dun and Bradstreet remains confident that our government partners will continue to find that the D&B DUNS number and associated authoritative entity data provides the best value and most effective solution to supporting the federal government."

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.