Government Operations committee  They're basically the oversight body of the federal government in the United States to make sure that policies concerning small business are being applied across the federal government. There are things like a regulatory accountability act that takes effect among various government departments in the United States to look at the impacts on small business.

Government Operations committee  Yes, we would, absolutely. It's my understanding that even the procurement ombudsman has reported that there are 12% fewer federal suppliers than there were four years ago. Most of those are probably smaller companies, I would suggest to you. As contracts got bigger, that pushed out smaller firms.

Government Operations committee  Yes, one of the areas of data that we'd like to see more of is exactly that. How many are repeat users, what percentage are repeat users, and what percentage are new companies that have never been used before? As you know, companies sometimes change names, or they are divisions of other companies, so when you look at the current list, it's often difficult to determine whether it's actually a new company or it's just a division of a company that has already done business with government.

Government Operations committee  In our survey from 2009, 80% told us that they got payments past 30 days. It was only when we got into the 60- to 90-day category that it dropped to 15% who waited more than 60 days to get payment from government. It has gotten a little bit better. This is one of the services OSME does: they try to speed up the process of late payments.

Government Operations committee  Yes, we would. We believe, as one of our recommendations and as we have actually been saying for years, that there should be a role—and this could be OSME's—for another group to look at those large contracts and decide whether they really need to be as large as they are. As I mentioned earlier, in the United States the Small Business Administration does that exact same thing: they look at federal government contracts in the United States to determine whether or not they really need to be as large as they are, and if they don't, it forces them to be broken into smaller components so that there are opportunities for small and medium-sized firms to bid on those contracts.

Government Operations committee  Yes, that could be, because it is one of the services they provide and it is one of the areas that we send our members to them to help resolve.

Government Operations committee  Yes. Some of the criteria we were thinking about include, for example, reputation within the industry for that product, permitting them to go to other clients with the same product to find out whether they have a good reputation, what type of after-sale service might be available, and what the supplier can do.

Government Operations committee  Do you mean reference requests from OSME?

Government Operations committee  Was there a reference request from OSME?

Government Operations committee  I'm not sure. To my understanding, OSME is there to help facilitate getting people through the contracting process. Our members are not really using OSME in that capacity. We're hopeful that when they do use them they are able to get some of that information from them, but OSME, from what I understand, isn't the agency requiring references.

Government Operations committee  Yes, we have had that comment come to us, and not just when it comes to technology but in other areas of procurement as well. We call it bundling. It has been occurring for the last few years, and we have seen it in things like temporary health services and translation services, which is partly why those two areas are feeling a little bit more in dire straits than they have in the past, and certainly in the technology as well.

Government Operations committee  Honestly, I don't know if it would have that much more exposure through Industry than it would through Public Works.

Government Operations committee  Those would have been the ones who are actually doing procurement.

Government Operations committee  Probably not. Having said that, we were advocates of an office like OSME, and I don't want to say they shouldn't exist, that they're not doing good work. I think they are trying. The problem is they are not well known. Perhaps they're not structured the right way, or perhaps being internal to Public Works isn't the best approach.

Government Operations committee  One possibility, if you want to be independent, is to look at the procurement ombudsman's office.