All Learning Content
Public Spend Forum Newswire | 4/5/2017
Apr 6, 2017
HHS Raising Red Flag About Massive Telecom Contract Transition
Beth Killoran, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) chief information officer, has raised concerns about the General Services Administration’s (GSA) ability to make the transition to a new telecommunications contract on...
Public Spend Forum Newswire | 4/4/2017
Apr 5, 2017
Senators Appeal to White House for Help with FITARA Implementation
Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Tom Udall (D-NM) have written a letter to White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner for help in implementing IT acquisition reforms. Moran and Udall were the co-sponsors of the Federal Information...
IoT, AI, and Automation are Coming: What is the Future of Public Procurement
Apr 4, 2017
Last Wednesday we attended Procurement Week at London Docklands’ The Crystal – amazing views of the Emirates Cable Cars across the Thames. This conference is one of a kind in that it spans three days, is truly international, attracting delegates from all over the world, and focuses on all...
What Government Contracting Can Teach the Private Sector – Focusing on the Internal Customer
Apr 3, 2017
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan famously declared, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'” When I first wandered into the area of public sector procurement more than two decades ago, I came at things from the same...
Public Spend Forum Newswire | 3/31/2017
Apr 3, 2017
Contracting Transparency Bill Receives Pushback from Industry
As we reported last week, Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has introduced S.651, the “Contractor Accountability and Transparency Act of 2017,” which would require some contracts to be published online, in the interest of transparency....
Procurement of Professional Services – Three Reasons Why the Public Sector Uses Consultants
Apr 3, 2017
We threatened recently to run a series on buying professional services in the context of public sector organisations and buyers. That came about in part through a report that identified spend by central government in the UK on consultants was rising again after some years of decline.
Let’s make a...
What Public Procurement Can Learn From the Private Sector and Strategic Sourcing
Apr 3, 2017
Within private sector procurement, there are a number of advanced technologies that are beginning to reshape how we think about the role of “buying.” Perhaps the best place to start is in the world of sourcing itself. When I first started in the profession, top performing private sector...
Public Procurement and Government Contracting – The 800 Pound Gorilla in the Room
Apr 3, 2017
Dave Nelson, former head of Honda of America supply chain, once told me that the company had a target to cut costs by a staggering 30% for the Accord. Honda not only met their goal of cutting cost by 30%, but also ensured suppliers remained healthy and viable. There’s of course a lot to this...
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Procurement Challenge – UK Government Pays Out £100 Million
Apr 3, 2017
A few months back, we published several articles about the very interesting – and somewhat shocking – court case around the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s contract to clean up old nuclear power stations.
The NDA case (click link to get the full judgement) involved a challenge by...
Infographic: The Main Problems in Government IT Procurement and Their Solutions
Apr 3, 2017
In the United States, government IT procurement is getting a lot of attention these days. Of course, it’s not just the federal government that’s in need of help, public organizations all over the world struggle to keep their procurement processes in pace with technological change. Check out the...
UK Ministry of Defence – Is New Procurement System Running Into Trouble?
Apr 3, 2017
There appears to be trouble brewing over a new procurement systems implementation at the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD). Last year, the MOD announced that it was “changing and improving its procurement systems, to provide a more, effective and efficient way of interacting with its supply...
Wrongheaded Push for Government Contracts Transparency – The Contractor Accountability and Transparency Act
Apr 2, 2017
The Contractor Accountability and Transparency Act of 2017 (S. 651), introduced by Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., is yet another example of a wrongheaded push by legislators, policy makers, and transparency groups that will do nothing to improve value for taxpayers. In...
