GSA is making good on its promise to use data collected via the Schedules Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) program to assist other agencies in making buying decisions.  Contractors need to be aware of the new Procurement Co-Pilot Tool and what it tells customers about your pricing and that of your competitors.  The new tool is a web application that supports “robust pricing and contract research” for acquisition professionals and program managers, according to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP).  In addition to TDR information, GSA is also scraping relevant data from SAM.gov.  While the Procurement Co-Pilot is also intended to make the agency RFI process faster and easier, contractors may want to focus on the pricing data that more and more acquisition offices may use.  One potentially large impact is that use of the tool will increase pricing pressure at the task order level when agencies buy from IDIQ contracts.  Companies should be prepared to discuss differences in pricing from one project to the next, including such factors as market timing, quantity volumes, logistics, and other items.  GSA contractors have already seen instances where TDR data is used internally at GSA to develop inaccurate comparisons based on viewing raw data outside of its actual context.  Regardless, the creation of the Co-Pilot is just one OMB initiative to promote the collection and use of data across government operations.  OMB Circular A-137, released in May, calls for the establishment of a “centralized data management policy framework” to encourage data sharing between agencies, a “Hi-Def Environment (HDE)”, with a special emphasis on acquisition.  We’ve said before that contractors must increasingly be prepared with their own data to use in negotiations with federal buyers.  It’s another tool that contractors must learn how to use well in order to conduct sustainable government business.