All Learning Content
Public Procurement and How To Get The Best Out Of The Private Sector
Feb 2, 2018
James Johns, Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Policy Institute at King’s College London, advisor to the World Economic Forum’s National Digital Policy Network, and with experience in advising strategy for public sector business within the private sector, has written an article sharing his...
Does Russia Buy Tanks Better than the UK?
Feb 2, 2018
The debate on military expenditure in the UK has been re-invigorated recently as a new defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, has flexed his muscles with the Treasury (our finance ministry). Newspaper reports suggest he is demanding more money – or at least no more cuts – for the Ministry of...
Public-Sector Tech: Ongoing Issues and Opportunities
Jan 31, 2018
As agencies attempt to connect government to technology, there are enduring themes and disruptive topics that keep showing up. GovTech provides a rundown of technology trends that both elected leaders and government officials keep talking about. The article provides an overview of the issues and...
MSU Scholar Finds $21 Trillion in Unauthorized Government Spending
Jan 31, 2018
A Michigan State University economist found $21 trillion in unauthorized spending in the departments of Defense and Housing and Urban Development from 1998-2015. The work included digging into government websites and repeated queries to U.S. agencies that went unanswered, which coincided with the...
Insights on Buying Strategies for the Public Sector
Jan 31, 2018
Public procurement veteran Steve Gordon talks best practices, future of cooperative purchasing, and much more. In interviews he’s conducted with officials at large public procurement agencies, Gordon has found that procurement teams tend to focus their research on price and cost-savings and not...
NDA Magnox Contract Inquiry – Interim Report Highlights
Jan 30, 2018
Regular readers will know all about the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Magnox decommissioning contract fiasco which cost the taxpayer over £100 million when the losing bidders successfully challenged the supplier-selection decision. A range of procurement failings came to light, and as we...
Strict GAO Timeliness Rules Apply to Supplemental Protests
Jan 29, 2018
GAO interprets its bid protest timeliness rules very strictly, as readers of this blog will know. These timeliness rules typically pertain to the initial protest, but are equally important when a protester files a supplemental protest. Often, supplemental protests are filed after the protester...
GAO: Evaluation of Affiliate’s Past Performance is Optional
Jan 29, 2018
In its past performance evaluation, an agency typically can consider the past performance of an offeror’s affiliate, so long as the offeror’s proposal demonstrates that the resources of the affiliate will affect contract performance.
But, as demonstrated in a recent GAO decision involving an...
Ireland Joins OpenPEPPOL for eInvoicing Compliance
Jan 26, 2018
PEPPOL enables businesses to communicate electronically with any European government institution in the procurement process, allowing public agencies and private enterprises to do business easily and quickly. OpenPEPPOL is the multi-lateral agreement structure that governs it. Ireland’s Minister...
Challenge By Contractor Over Unusually Cheap Bid
Jan 26, 2018
An Austrian contractor has lodged a complaint to the Croatian government for awarding the contract to build the 2.4-km-long bridge to a Chinese consortium, challenging it as an “unusually cheap” bid. Explains Global Construction Review: on 12 January Croatia chose the Chinese group, which had...
First Register Of Its Kind On Bidders For Public Procurement
Jan 26, 2018
After a bit of a time lapse against the original promised date, the UK government has published a timetable for a new law to create the ‘world’s first’ public register of overseas beneficial owners of property and bidders for public procurement contracts. It will require overseas entities...
London Garden Bridge Failed Project – In The News Again
Jan 26, 2018
The Architect’s Journal reports that the “Garden Bridge Trust refuses to hand over meeting records.” Following the termination of the Garden Bridge project, and after a loss of nearly £50 million of taxpayers’ money, critics say the charity behind the halted project has ‘gone rogue’...
