EC Redesign Team (from left to right): Mike Iacobucci, Wai-See Moy, Chad Mock, Debbie Carter, Lisa Chau, Pam Switzer, and Joan Butterfield.

Linda Queern, member of the EC Redesign Team, demonstrates the new features on the redesigned EC website.

By Pam Switzer

In 1998, the NBC's Procurement Systems Branch created and deployed an electronic commerce website called "IDEAS-EC" (Interior Department Electronic Acquisition System - Electronic Commerce) also known as 'Business Opportunities' at http://ideasec.nbc.gov. The IDEAS-EC system is integrated with the Interior Department Electronic Acquisition System - Procurement Desktop (IDEAS-PD). The goal of the IDEAS-EC website was to provide the vendor community the opportunity to do business with participating Federal agencies including DOI and non-DOI clients. NBC's website was the centerpiece of the DOI's strategy to convert to a paperless procurement process. IDEAS-EC enabled procurement officials to post their requirements to a public web site and allow vendors to view solicitations, submit responses for Request for Quotations, and view award data.

IDEAS-EC is fully integrated with several other electronic government (E-Gov) initiatives including FedBizOpps (FBO) and the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). FBO is the single government point-of-entry for all Federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000 and CCR is the primary government repository for contractor information required for the conduct of business with the government. The IDEAS-EC website promotes open communication and access to information throughout the procurement process and encourages competition thorough the use of electronic posting methods. It serves as an information exchange between the government procurement officials and vendor communities.

At the time that NBC's IDEAS-EC website was created, it was considered to be cutting edge technology and was one of the leading federal initiatives in electronic commerce. Since IDEAS-EC has been in production, there have been many advances in technology and several mandates of new E-Gov initiatives over the past few years. NBC has identified areas of improvement for the IDEAS-EC system that were necessary in order to keep up with dynamic procurement environment. Because of this fact, the NBC Procurement Systems Branch made the decision to update the technical and functional environment of IDEAS-EC.

The website was revamped using the latest technology in order to permit easier navigation for the vendor and buyer communities and continue to integrate with the E-Gov initiatives. Some other enhancements include the ability for vendors to store quotes that are in process and view their quotes after they have been submitted. Additionally vendors will now be able to add multiple contacts on bidder's mailing lists. The system was also revised to ensure compliance with the Section 508 disability requirements and was given high praise by the 508 Compliance Coordinator who conducted the evaluation.

Hope Mentore-Smith was the Project Manager for this EC Redesign. The other members of the EC Redesign Team included: Joan Butterfield, Debbie Carter, Lisa Chau, Mike Iacobucci, Chad Mock, Wai-See Moy, Linda Queern, and Pam Switzer. This newly designed Electronic Commerce website went into production in April 2004.

For more information
Pam Switzer

Pam_M_Switzer@nbc.gov