All Learning Content
Public Sector Technology Buying ‘Troubling’
Sep 5, 2018
Raconteur has run a story highlighting how ‘backward the public sector can be when it comes to technology,” – although it doesn’t dismiss that there have been some shining examples. It places Procurement firmly at the heart of the government tech challenge: “Government has made...
Tenders Direct on Pitfalls to Avoid
Sep 5, 2018
Tenders Direct has published some tips on how to avoid the common pitfalls that even established suppliers make. “Make sure you’re paying attention to developments in public procurement on a local and national level – tendering is not the same game as it was in previous decades,” it says. ...
The Value-Based Public Procurement Nurse
Sep 4, 2018
There was an interesting article from the health care sector recently on Open Access Government about the value-based public procurement nurse. It was written by Paul De Raeve, Secretary General of the European Federation of Nurses Associations (EFN) and makes the case for frontline nurses, who use...
Scottish Councils Awarding Less Works to Small Local Businesses
Sep 4, 2018
The Scotsman reports that the number of Scottish businesses winning work from councils has dropped by almost a half in the past decade. This comes despite government reforms to increase local procurement. the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland Policy chair said that money that is spent...
Benefits of Looking at Supply Chain Management As Part of an SRM Approach
Sep 4, 2018
Although not traditionally regarded as such, supply chain management (SCM) is a key component of an SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) approach. But what exactly is SCM? There are many definitions around and the one that I favour (Christopher 2011*), while a few years old, is perhaps one of...
Project Management vs. Product Management
Sep 4, 2018
Search USAJobs under the keyword “project management” and you will find hundreds of postings, Chris Johnston and Kelly O’Connor of the U.S. Digital Service write in a new blog post. But search under “product management,” they note, and you will come up empty.
The post landed on my...
Public Spend Forum’s Public Procurement Weekly Roundup
Aug 31, 2018
The Customs and Border Protection agency’s airport facial matching tech has a successful attempt, the Technology Modernization Fund gets recent praise, and much more. This is Public Spend Forum’s Weekly Roundup for August 31, 2018.
DHS Procurement Innovation Lab Head Lists 9 Ways to Streamline...
Public Contracts and Risky Behaviours – Paper
Aug 30, 2018
We missed this over the holiday period: The British Library website, under social welfare, houses a paper by Newcastle Council for Voluntary Service on the potential and unintentional effects of public sector contracting and procurement. It takes a number of recent high-profile examples from the...
EU Complaint Filed Against ‘Mega’ Direct Contract Award
Aug 30, 2018
The Times Malta has reported that a formal EU complaint has been filed against a mega direct contract award. “The Democratic Party’s MPs have filed a complaint with the European Commission to have a formal investigation opened on what it said was a breach of EU procurement regulations involving...
Major IT Fraud Puts Government IT Purchasing Under Spotlight
Aug 30, 2018
The Finnish government is taking a fresh look at its procurement regulations governing state-awarded procurement contracts following a high-profile IT-linked public procurement controversy. Legislators will be looking at closing loop-holes that could be used to defraud state organisations tasked...
Small Local Suppliers Workshops On Bidding For Lucrative Council Services
Aug 30, 2018
Some councils in Northern Ireland are to be asked to arrange and host a number of information sessions to encourage and support small local businesses to bid for more public service contracts in their locality. A Sinn Féin elected representative said “Whilst ensuring that all council tenders and...
Public Contracts Timescales Update
Aug 30, 2018
Tenders Direct has published the revised minimum timescales that apply in each type of procurement procedure. These timescales specify the number of calendar days required between a notice being sent to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) for publication and the deadline for...
