RFP-EZ 2.0: Expanding Opportunities for Small Businesses

The RFP-EZ Marketplace is an online platform and built tools that make it easier for innovative small tech businesses to bid on government contracts, while also making it easier for federal agencies to identify the bids that offer the best value for taxpayers. RFP-EZ was launched by the U.S. Small Business Administration in January 2013 and was developed by the SBA and one of the inaugural Presidential Innovation Fellows teams.

Before RFP-EZ was launched, most such Requests for Proposals contained highly specialized language that only seasoned government contractors understood.  By simplifying the language and streamlining the process, RFP-EZ has opened up the bidding process to hundreds of small businesses offering services at significantly lower prices.  RFP-EZ has yielded very promising results and is already saving taxpayer dollars, with prospects for even more savings going forward.

Building on the early successes of the program, SBA recently announced that the new and improved RFP-EZ Marketplace is ready for business and another round of Federal procurement innovation is underway. The RFP-EZ Marketplace has been enhanced to include simplified bidding, simplified listings, and an expanded selection of opportunities such as web design, mobile application development, content management, and video production and transcription. Check out existing opportunities at https://rfpez.sba.gov/.

Leveraging feedback we received from entrepreneurs and Federal contracting officers, the current class of Presidential Innovation Fellows will continue work to improve the platform, scale its initial results across the Federal Government, and add innovative new capabilities.

If you’re interested in helping to move the ball forward on PIF projects, please get involved!  You can learn about current and future rounds of the PIF program at whitehouse.gov/innovationfellows, contribute code on GitHub, or visit Data.gov to help turn openly available government data into new products, services, and jobs.

John Paul Farmer is a Senior Advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy