All Learning Content
Irish Public Sector Workers Demand Pay Hikes
May 9, 2019
Irish News reports that public sector workers want to be paid more as threats to the economy are ‘growing.’ At a civil service conference a motion will be tabled to seek details of the full cost of the nurses’ deal that was offered to halt strikes earlier this year; asking for pay hikes and a...
EU Member States Unique Paths Into the Circular Economy
May 9, 2019
The magazine for Europe’s plastic processors, eppm, writes that EU member states are gaining traction towards a waste-free economy. An overview for all EU member states reveals 28 different paths towards the circular economy with inspiring best practices. Their roadmaps include an accompanying...
UK CCS Contests That Only 8% of Tech Spending is Going to SMEs
May 9, 2019
According to Global Government Forum, recent research on three UK government departments about their procurements shows that only 8% of their technology budgets are being spent with small and medium-sized businesses. It also found that very few start-ups are succeeding in selling services to...
Italy’s Plan for Public e-Procurement in IT and Digital Public Administration
May 9, 2019
Italy has launched a new three-year plan – Agid – which puts public e-procurement in a key position. The Plan for innovation of public services contains new measures including a shift towards the adoption of emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence and the Blockchain. But it has to...
New Deloitte Perspective on Public Sector Tech Trends
May 9, 2019
Deloitte asks what are the Tech Trends that could transform the public sector? UK Government and public services perspective looks at the story of technology trends and how it is inseparable from the story of the public sector. As technology evolves and public sector priorities grow broader and...
FSB Publishes Small Business Plan for Europe
May 9, 2019
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has published a Small Business Plan for Europe and it is urging MEPs to deliver on it. A report in Ready for Brexit explains. The FSB calls on MEPs to look beyond Brexit and take a number of steps that will help to develop Europe’s 23.8 million small...
Malta – Public Contracts Review Board Warns Appoint Experienced People
May 3, 2019
The Board chairman remarked that last year 57% of appeals were upheld, approaching double the usual norm of about 33% (and there had been a 30% increase in the number of appeals filed). He puts this down to shortcomings in tender specifications and lack of technical expertise by the evaluation...
Government Crackdown on Late Payers Who Breach the Prompt Payment Code
May 2, 2019
The UK Government has taken a firm hand with firms that have consistently broken the Prompt Payment Code and they have been removed or suspended from the late payment scheme for failing to comply. The Prompt Payment Code was established as a voluntary scheme which firms sign up to as part of a...
Central Government Contracts Favour Insiders and Incumbents, Says Report
May 2, 2019
A report – Buying Into The Future – from tech incubator Public claims that, across hundreds of UK central government IT contracts awarded between 2015 and 2018, some 91.9% of total spend went to large companies. Moreover, the majority of contracts were not marked as being “suitable for...
Next Step in the No-Deal No-Ferry Contract
May 2, 2019
In advance of March 29 when the UK was supposed to leave the EU, the Department for Transport (DfT) arranged contracts worth tens of millions of pounds to carry essential freight and goods in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The Department for Transport has now cancelled the no-deal ferry contracts...
Public Officials Can Bring Government’s Economic Weight to Bear to Ensure New Technologies Benefit the Workers and Communities Who Are Paying for Them
May 2, 2019
Politico runs an interesting take on how the public are funding the demise of their own jobs – with government subsidies and tax breaks being used to subsidise automation and innovation and start-ups. Public subsidies for potentially job-killing technologies are growing, it states, and “Cities,...
The UK National Health Service Can’t Find a Chief Commercial Officer – Why?
Apr 26, 2019
Peter Smith reflects on the complexity of hiring a CCO for the NHS.
Last Autumn, the biggest procurement (commercial) role in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) was advertised. Without going into a lot of arcane detail, two huge governance / best practice / management bodies that oversee much...
