As part of Pivotal Insight’s ongoing effort to provide public decision makers the information they need to make better buying decisions, we provide a gateway to what the web has to offer to increase your decision intelligence™: Procurement regulations, business research sites, government best practices, contract negotiation resources, even other independent market research publishers.

We are here to serve your needs. If you believe that there is an important site we are missing, or if one of the sites is not valuable, please let us know.

Strategic Management

American Strategic Management Institute Description:
The American Strategic Management Institute (ASMI) is the nation's leading authority on measurement and management methodologies for improving individual and organizational performance. ASMI's mission is to identify, study and disseminate the leading strategic management and performance measurement practices pioneered by best-in-class organizations.
Web Site: http://www.managementweb.org

The Council for Excellence in Government
Description: The Council for Excellence in Government works to improve the performance of government at all levels and government's place in the lives and esteem of American citizens. Diverse in its activities, the Council's primary work focuses on four important goals: To attract and develop talented people for public service; To encourage innovation and results-oriented performance in government; To promote e-government as a revolutionary tool for improving performance and better connecting people to government; and To improve the connection between citizens and government and encourage their participation in governance.
Web Site: http://www.excelgov.orgv

The Center for the Business of Government
Description: The mission of the Center for The Business of Government is to provide cutting edge knowledge to government leaders. The Center is dedicated to stimulating research and facilitating discussion of new approaches to improving the effectiveness of government at all levels in the United States and across the world.
Web Site: www.businessofgovernment.org

Market*Access International
Description: Market*Access International provides strategic planning, business development sales and event support to U.S. and international information technology companies and federal agencies.
Web Site: www.marketaccess.org

Stratfor - Strategic Forecasting
Description: When reporters are looking for additional insights or special tidbits, they visit the Stratfor site. This service employs "agents" on the ground around the world gathering information and insights. Stratfor provides strategic intelligence on global business, economic, security and geopolitical affairs. Unlike news organizations that offer only reactive information, Stratfor delivers actionable intelligence on geopolitical, economic and security affairs. Stratfor provides in-depth analysis of what is happening in the world today and forecasts the results of tomorrow's events. The site offers free intelligence along with a paid subscription service.
Web Site: www.stratfor.com

The National Academy of Public Administration
Description: The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) is an independent, non-partisan organization chartered by Congress to assist federal, state, and local governments in improving their effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability. NAPA conducts research and provides direct support dealing with the effectiveness, structure, administration, and implications for governance of present or proposed public programs, policies, and processes, recommending specific changes. Most of the Academy's research is free or available for nominal printing fees.
Web Site: http://www.napawash.org

Results.gov: Resources for the President's Team
Description: OMB's website that includes tools for implementing the President's Management Agenda. Includes scorecard, practical guidance for appointees, ethics rules and regulations, records management guidance, an introduction to legislative affairs, and Frequently Asked Questions on the GAO and IGs. Competitive Sourcing Best Practices is an update to the Federal Acquisition Manager's Guide and provides facts, sources and aids for agency managers on competitive sourcing.
Web Site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/results

Human Capital Management

BetterManagement.com
Description: BetterManagement provides articles, webcasts, and conferences addressing performance management, financial management, business intelligence, IT management and other critical business management issues. The site includes an area dedicated to government human capital management that addresses workforce planning, leadership and performance management in local, regional and national government agencies, as well as military, defense and educational organizations.
Web Site: http://www.bettermanagement.com

International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR)
Description: IPMA-HR is an organization that represents the interests of over 5,500 human resource professionals at the Federal, State and Local levels of government. IPMA-HR members consist of all levels of public sector HR professionals. The organization’s goal is to provide information and assistance to help HR professionals improve job performance and overall agency function by providing cost effective products, services, and educational opportunities.
Web Site: http://www.ourpublicservice.org

The Partnership for Public Service
Description: The Partnership works to make the government an employer of choice for talented, dedicated Americans through educational outreach, research, legislative advocacy, and hands-on partnerships with agencies on workforce management issues.
Web Site: http://www.ourpublicservice.org

The Public Employees Roundtable
Description: The Public Employees Roundtable (PER) is a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of organizations representing nearly 2,000,000 public employees working together to better inform citizens about the quality of people in government and the value of the services they provide; encourage excellence and esprit de corps within government; and promote interest in public service careers.
Web Site: http://www.theroundtable.org

The American Society for Public Administration
Description: The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) promotes the value of joining and elevating the public service profession and provides networking and professional development opportunities to those committed to public service values. Members include college professors and practitioners, executives and interns, generalists and specialists, people from all branches and levels of government, as well as from businesses and non-profit organizations.
Web Site: http://www.aspanet.org

The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Description: The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is a division within the American Psychological Association (APA) that is also an organizational affiliate of the American Psychological Society (APS). The Society's mission is to enhance human well-being and performance in organizational and work settings by promoting the science, practice, and teaching of industrial-organizational psychology.
Web Site: http://www.siop.org

Workforce.com
Description: Workforce Management Magazine's online presence. Includes research, articles and forums on topics including compensation, benefits, recruiting, legal issues, software and technology, training and development, and human resource management.
Web Site: http://www.workforce.com

Acquisition Management

Past Performance Information Retrieval System
Description: The Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) is a web-enabled, government-wide application that provides timely and pertinent contractor past performance information to the Federal acquisition community for use in making source selection decisions. PPIRS assists Federal acquisition officials make source selections by serving as the single source for contractor past performance data.
Web Site: http://www.ppirs.gov

AcqNet
Description: AcqNet (www.arnet.gov) provides a comprehensive source of government acquisition information. In their library is an excellent interagency document on the “Seven Steps to Performance-Based Services Acquisition.”
Web Site: http://www.arnet.gov

The Federal Procurement Data Center
Description: The Federal Procurement Data Center (FPDC), part of the U.S. General Services Administration, operates and maintains the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). The FPDS is the central repository of statistical information on Federal contracting. The system contains detailed information on contract actions over $25,000 and summary data on procurements of less than $25,000. The Executive departments and agencies award over $200 billion annually for goods and services. The system can identify who bought what, from whom, for how much, when and where. FPDS is free to for government employees and offers free and premium access for the public.
Web Site: http://www.fpdc.gov

Purchasing.com
Description: Online presence of Purchasing Magazine, which focuses on total supply chain management and e-procurement. Provides purchasing and supply chain management professionals with how-to-buy information to perform their jobs, including forecasts, proprietary data, strategic sourcing ideas, and interpretive articles written by an experienced staff of editors. Scope is global, but primary focus is on the U.S. and Canada. Coverage includes all products and services; special editions cover electronics and technology, metals and the chemical process industries. Purchasing Magazine sponsors an annual procurement award focused on spend analysis.
Web Site: http://www.manufacturing.net/pur/

Program Management

ProjectConnections.com
Description: Billed as "know-how for people managing projects and teams," projectconnections.com provides a wide variety or project management content in three levels of service: guest, available to anyone who visits the site; standard member, available to those who register on the site; and, premium subscription available at a monthly rate of $14.95 or an annual rate of $149. The site also offers discounts on subscription rates for groups of three or more.
Web Site: http://www.projectconnections.com

The Performance Institute
Description: The Performance Institute is a private, non-partisan think tank seeking to improve government performance through the principles of performance, competition, accountability, and transparency. Based in Washington, D.C. and San Diego, the Institute serves as the nation's leading authority and repository on performance-based management practices for government.
Web Site: http://www.performanceweb.org

The Best Manufacturing Practices Center of Excellence
Description: The Best Manufacturing Practices (BMP) Program helps identify, research, and promote exceptional manufacturing practices, methods, and procedures. Its objective is to empower defense and commercial customers to operate at a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness. To this end, BMP specializes in best practices in areas such as system engineering, program management, and web technologies. The web site offers a variety of best practices surveys, case studies, and freeware.
Web Site: http://www.bmpcoe.org

The Project Management Institute
Description: The Project Management Institute (PMI) provides information, training, and networking for project management specialists. PMI is also a leader in the development of standards for the practice of project management. The website contains information on membership with PMI access to PMI events, training, and research.
Web Site: http://www.pmi.org

The Society of Cost Estimating and Analysis (SCEA)
Description: Sound program management begins with establishing realistic baselines using proven cost estimating concepts and methods. SCEA is a Non-Profit Organization dedicated to improving cost estimating and analysis in government and industry and enhancing the professional competence and achievements of its members.
Web Site: http://www.sceaonline.net

Reference Tools

Acronym Finder
Description: Find out what those acronyms and abbreviations stand for. The Acronym Finder is a searchable database of more than 342,000 abbreviations and acronyms about computers, technology, government, and military topics.
Web Site: http://www.acronymfinder.com

HUD USER
Description:HUD USER is your gateway to current written research and analytic tools produced by and for HUD's Office of Policy Development & Research (PD&R). You can use this online resource to access research reports about housing and community and economic development, datasets that can be used for original research, HUD income limits and fair market rents, and much more.
Website: http://www.huduser.org/

Online Thesaurus and Dictionary
Description: Thesaurus.com and Dictionary.com are produced by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC, a leading provider of language reference products and services on the Internet. Thesaurus.com uses Roget's New Millennium Thesaurus to return synonyms and antonyms based on the user simply typing a word in the search box and clicking the 'Search' button. Dictionary.com is a multi-source dictionary that works similarly to Thesaurus.com, returning results from the several dictionaries hosted on the site (see below). The site also responds to misspelled words, returning a list of suggestions. Dictionary.com hosts The American Heritage¨ Dictionary of the English Language, WordNet ¨ 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University, The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, Jargon File, CIA World Factbook (1995), Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary, Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary, U.S. Gazetteer, In addition, through the site users can access definitions from Acronym Finder and On-line Medical Dictionary. These sites offer both free versions and premium paid versions.
Website: http://thesaurus.reference.com
Website: http://dictionary.reference.com

Restaurant Search by Zagat
Description: Zagat has become the world's leader in information on dining in major metropolitan areas. Zagat has also recently extended its brand to theaters, movies, and shopping. The Zagat guide presents reviews and ratings of restaurants (and now plays, musicals, movies, videos, and stores) from people who have actually dined at the establishment. Online the guide provides quick searching by neighborhood, cuisine, alphabetical by name, top food ratings, top decor ratings, top service ratings, most popular, and new openings. A great resource when traveling to unfamiliar cities.
Website: http://www.zagat.com

The Ride Guide
Description:The Ride Guide is the simplest way to get instant Washington DC Metro Transit Information that is accurate and up to the minute. Plan your route; find the closest metro station; and get directions on this easy to use site.
Website: http://rideguide.wmata.com

THOMAS.gov
Description: Acting under the directive of the leadership of the 104th Congress to make Federal legislative information freely available to the internet public, a Library of Congress team brought the THOMAS World Wide Web system online in January 1995, at the inception of the 104th Congress. Searching capabilities in THOMAS were built on the InQuery information retrieval system, developed by the Center for Intelligent Information Retrieval based at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Website: http://thomas.loc.gov

U.S. Census Bureau: Federal, State & Local Governments Page
Description:: Data from the U.S. Census of Governments. Data available includes universal list of government units, classified according to type of government, for use in employment and finance phases of the Census. Official counts of the number of state and local governments and tabulations of governments by state, type of government, size and county location.
Website: http://www.census.gov/govs/www/index.html

Whatis.com
Description: Whatis.com is the leading information technology encyclopedia and learning center. The site includes IT dictionaries, glossaries, and pronunciation guides.
Web Site: http://whatis.techtarget.com

Other Sources for Decision Intelligence™

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) FedScope
Description: The FedScope web site provides federal government human resources data in four categories: employment, accessions, separations, and employment trends. The data are presented in cubes, which enable the user to access data using many different criteria, including agency and agency size, location, occupation, occupational category, and pay plan and grade.
Web Site:http://www.fedscope.opm.gov

GovExec.com
Description: GovExec.com is a government's business organization for federal managers and executives. GovExec has a monthly magazine, Government Executive, as well as daily coverage of developments affecting organization and management of the federal government. The web site also acts as a clearinghouse for relevant government resources and events. Web-site content and several different e-mail newsletters are available for free and most government employees will qualify for a free subscription to Government Executive.
Web Site:http://www.govexec.com

FEDweek
Description: FEDweek’s website provides access to myriad free and paid products for the federal manager, including topics such as seminars and training, retirement planning, jobs and careers, and federal legal issues. FEDweek publishes four weekly e-newsletters: FEDweek, Federal Manager’s Daily Report, Retirement & Financial Planning, and Armed Forces News.
Web Site: www.fedweek.com

OMB Watch.org
Description: OMB Watch was formed in 1983 to lift the veil of secrecy shrouding the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which oversees regulation, the budget, information collection and dissemination, proposed legislation, testimony by agencies, and much more.
Web Site: http://www.ombwatch.org