The US Department of Defense’s (DoD) Naval Inventory and Control Point (NAVICP) has awarded Technical Communities Inc., a leading marketplace operator and service provider for the IT, network maintenance and test and measurement industry, a contract to operate and enhance the strategic sourcing online marketplace for the General Purpose Electronic Test Equipment (GPETE) division.


The terms of the agreement extend the original five-year contract signed in 2001, through August 1st, 2007. Technical Communities originally developed and now operates the existing online marketplace located at www.navicpmart.org.

The marketplace features items from 20+ key manufacturers including Aeroflex, Agilent, Anritsu, Rohde & Schwarz, Fluke Networks, Huntron, JDSU, Keithley, Photonix, PPM, Tektronix and Fluke. High demand products available include digital oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, digital multimeters, OTDRs, network analyzers, data communications test set, communications service monitors, radio test sets, vector network analyzers, signal generator, cable analyzers, counters, power supplies and fiber-optic testers.

Authorized military personnel, government users and government contractors will be able to locate products, view specification and application data, order equipment and track purchases against the NAVICP catalog. Online tools will let authorized users purchase the most appropriate test and measurement equipment quickly and in accordance with procurement regulations.

"This contract allows us to continue, uninterrupted, the great service that was created to automate the research and procurement of test equipment for all military, government and government contracting personnel," said Ed Kohr, GPETE program manager at NAVICP. "Technical Communities is the perfect resource because of its multi-year experience managing solutions for the test and measurement industry."

"This contract extension validates that online marketplaces can help the government and those organizations that directly support government operations save cost and time on procurement of mission-critical electronic equipment," said Peter Ostrow, CEO of Technical Communities Inc. "We’re looking forward to continue to use our expertise in electronic marketplace development, catalog marketing management, and the test and measurement industry to help NAVICP's GPETE program achieve their goals.