With so much buzz about the pending infrastructure bill, it would be easy to assume that most upcoming opportunities for government contracting will be centered on roads, bridges, water, and power. Or, with the potential passage of the Jobs Act, one could predict that most future contracting opportunities would focus on asset recycling, sustainability, renewable energy, and electric charging stations.
To be clear, there will be thousands of new opportunities for government contracting in all those areas throughout the close of 2021 and in 2022 … but technology firms, especially those focused on software, also will benefit from thousands of new opportunities. In fact, software upgrades and expansions are now some of the most active areas for government contracting opportunities. Examples follow.
Arizona
The city of Phoenix plans to spend $2 million to upgrade its system software for bus route scheduling and dispatching. Public transit also will receive $50,000 to replace its software and hardware located within RAPID bus sign structures. Over the next five years, the city plans to spend another $6.15 million to install and configure software products for management reporting and integration between various water systems.
California
Officials at the city of San Jose have allocated $2 million for the replacement of the city’s noise monitoring system hardware and software. This system to be replaced currently includes 13 remote noise monitoring units and an integrated system that collects flight, operational, and complaint data.
Minnesota
Scott County’s newest Capital Improvement Plan outlines numerous software upgrades. A $40,000 project to enhance an asset management program is planned for early 2022. As with most software upgrades, the objective is to reduce time and cost. The plan is to purchase software that provides more efficiency for procurement, budgeting, purchasing, capital improvement planning, and spend tracking. Currently, most of the county’s processes are manual. A larger contracting opportunity has a cost projection of $1.23 million. This budget allocation for 2022 is earmarked for a software project related to an advanced traffic management system. The objective is to allow transportation officials to remotely operate and manage traffic signals and other intelligent traffic system applications.
Washington
The city of Mercer Island has $75,000 set aside in its upcoming budget to transition to a new software for human resources and payroll. A request for information (RFI) will be released soon, and based on responses to it, city leaders will either update the current software or issue a solicitation for a contractor to install and train staff on a new enterprise resource planning software platform. The city also plans to spend $95,000 to upgrade its permitting system software. More stability is desired along with security updates to the system. An online payment module is another upgrade that city leaders want to offer.
Illinois
The village of Bloomingdale plans to spend $21,000 to upgrade software related to its fleet of 21 trucks. The vehicles have Global Positioning System (GPS) units and internet-based satellite access for location tracking. City leaders are attempting to improve management and dispatching of response crews during weather related incidents, water main breaks, and normal day-to-day service operations. By 2022, Bloomingdale’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems for sanitary lift stations and water pump stations must be replaced. Approximately $26,000 is earmarked for software that controls an auto dialer responsible for alarms. This is a critical component of safety, and without a reliable alarm system water supply or sanitary collection systems could be catastrophically impacted. Bloomingdale’s Police Department has $40,000 allocated for new in-squad mobile computers and a new software management program.
Michigan
The city of Royal Oak’s new Capital Improvement Plan calls for numerous software purchases. City leaders have allocated $288,000 to upgrade software for training programs. Officials at the Department of Public Safety have $49,800 to use for software that will allow officers to remotely enter data and respond to emails from field locations. Another $100,000 is available for the purchase and implementation of computerized maintenance management software and $30,000 is earmarked for a new fuel management software of vehicles. Approximately $1.05 million is on hold for new equipment and software for the police department.
The city of Portage has plans to spend more than $725,000 over the next five years for technology improvements including hardware and software. The city also has approved funding for building security systems upgrades, public safety firewall replacements, and enhanced communications applications. And, city leaders plan to replace the current integrated enterprise software system which manages all data processing activities, such as budgeting, cash receipting, accounts payable, purchase orders, assessing, utility billing, permits work orders, and field inspections. The project scope includes software and hardware support and maintenance.
Massachusetts
The city of Newburyport has set aside $100,000 for software for the fire department’s data control system. The city also will spend $150,000 to modernize building automation systems that control HVAC systems in the high school and Nock-Molin buildings.
Virginia
Officials at Roanoke County recently adopted a Capital Improvement Program that outlines approximately $191 million for capital projects over the next 10 years. Funding is included for upgrading the current emergency 911 phone system and replacing a legacy email system for a larger cloud-based solution that will include email and business productivity applications. Funding for this project is allocated in the county’s 2022 budget.
South Carolina
Dorchester County plans to spend $650,000 for a new financial management system. A cloud-based solution that will enable the county to expand services will be sought. Cost projections are approximately $750,000.
New York
Monroe County plans to spend approximately $800,000 for airport information systems upgrades. Additionally, the county will upgrade its public safety systems hardware and software for a cost of approximately $732,000.
Wisconsin
City leaders in River Falls plan to spend $150,000 for development/ inspections software to facilitate electronic facilitation of reviews and permitting. Additionally, city leaders hope to purchase software that will enable mobile inspections and credit card payments for all transactions.
Software upgrades of every type will be in high demand in 2022. And, when the pending infrastructure bill passes, technology and especially software services will be even hotter contracting opportunities.