Welcome to Austrade's Selling to the US Government Team's newsletter for Nov/Dec 2005. This newsletter aims to provide tips and insights to Australian exporters on doing business with the US government. The newsletter is compiled by Austrade's team in Washington DC, Colorado Springs and Sydney, and includes stories written by our team and relevant service providers.

This month we welcome a number of new subscribers. We have also taken the liberty of adding to our circulation a number of representatives from exporting companies that we have crossed paths with in recent times. If this newsletter is not relevant to your interests, please unsubscribe at the end of the page.

We hope that the information we have compiled this month is useful to your export efforts. If you have any feedback for our team, please contact us at usgovaccess@austrade.gov.au.

Holidays in the US determine when government and industry employees are available for appointments. As a visiting exporter, you will find it useful to consult with a USA calendar when planning your next visit.

These holidays are both formal and informal. The formal holidays are determined by the government and informal holidays are influenced by a variety of factors including the time of year, location, and personal preferences and traditions.

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In 2001, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a number of federal agencies identified 24 eGovernment initiatives. Operated and supported by agencies, these initiatives provided high-quality and well-managed solutions for tax filing, federal rulemaking and e-training among others.

The 24 were divided among four key portfolios: Government to Citizen, Government to Business, Government to Government, and Internal Efficiency and Effectiveness. E-Authentication was a separate initiative that provided secure and robust authentication services to the 24 Initiatives.

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Mikoh Corporation, an Australian supplier of security solutions, approached the Austrade Selling to US Government Team in Washington with a request for assistance to increase its share of the US government RFID market. The Austrade team arranged for Mikoh's CTO, Dr Peter Atherton, to present on RFID concepts to a focused audience interested in RFID developments at the Australian Embassy in Washington.

The audience consisted of members of the RFID Subcommittee of the Emerging Technology Special Interest Group. This group brings together representatives from government and industry to discuss developments within the sector and provides the opportunity for general networking amongst those involved in RFID issues.

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Austrade Washington invites US-based representatives of Australian exporting companies to a briefing on E-3 Professional Visas at the Australian Embassy in Washington.

The briefing will be as follows:

Time: 4.30-5.15pm
Date: Thursday 8 December 2005
Venue: Embassy of Australia, 1601 Massachusetts Ave, Washington

Representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Austrade will provide an overview of the new E-3 visa and will be available for individual questions after the briefing.

Austrade also invites you to attend an informal networking session immediately following the briefing.

To attend the briefing, please contact Alex Berger at Austrade on alexander.berger@austrade.gov.au or telephone (1 202) 797 3475.

For many Australian exporters a key element of their go-to-market strategy involves working with US companies that are prime contractors / systems integrators (primes) on US government procurements. In doing so Australian companies will likely encounter teaming agreements that the primes use with their prospective subcontractors (subs) in their competition for US government work.

Teaming Agreements are proscribed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and permit companies to team together in the submission of a proposal by the lead team member known as the “prime contractor” with their teammates being “subcontractors.” The actual teaming agreement itself sets out the roles and responsibilities of the parties during the procurement and sets forth that portion of the work to be given to the subcontractor team mate. They are frequently used in large IDIQ, GWAC and GSA schedule procurements.

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Austrade is actively supporting Australian businesses wishing to contribute to the rebuilding of areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast of the United Stated in August 2005. While much of the reconstruction work will be undertaken by US companies for the initial clean up and humanitarian relief phase, Australian companies are best able to contribute to the longer term reconstruction and rehabilitation. This will mainly be subcontracting to the prime contractors who are based in the US.

Read more about accessing reconstruction opportunities