In a report released last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), a database on contractors consulted by federal agencies to award contracts, is woefully deficient in the value of information it provides.

The fine folks over at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) have posted a capable analysis of the report. In short, contracting officers interviewed by GAO said they hesitate to rely on PPIRS because they lack confidence in the objectivity of the database's information and face challenges in assessing its relevance to the contract at hand. There is no uniform format for government employees to assess contractor performance, nor is there even a requirement to do so. Therefore, the few assessments made often lack information that a future contracting officer would need. This can lead to the federal government granting contracts to firms with questionable performance records, wasting public resources.

To rectify the problem, GAO recommends, among other things, instituting mandatory assessments that use a standardized evaluation process. Absent from the recommendations, though, is any mention of an independent review process of the assessments. Given that some contracting officers can become too cozy with outside companies, PPIRS users will need some sort of reassurance that assessments are made objectively or the database will continue to languish.

Image by Flickr user dcdan used under a Creative Commons license.