Newswire | Europe

TSA turns to DHS’ innovation program for solicitation ideas, EIS telecommunications contract receives ‘best-in-class’ designation from OMB, and more. This is Public Spend Forum’s Weekly Roundup for May 4, 2018. TSA Turning to Silicon Valley Innovation Program for Innovative IdeasThe...

It’s Friday and I’m looking forward to a great weekend here in the Midwest.  The Kentucky Derby will be run on Saturday, so if horses are your thing, grab your best (or most outrageous) hat, a mint julep and enjoy!  But first, it’s time to find out what is new in the wide world of...

Last week we mentioned the SPP Regions success story on its CO2 emissions project, which involved the collaboration of 31 contracting authorities carrying out 40 eco-innovative tenders. The organisation has now published 40 good practice examples (or tender models) on the range of product and...

This week Reuters ran a very interesting article, an interview in fact with the owner of UK small business Masabi which provides mobile ticketing solutions for transport systems. The attention-grabbing opening line read “How does a small British company win major technology contracts with large...

Back in 2016 we wrote about the launch of the Ukrainian public procurement system – ProZorro – Set to Save the Ukraine from Public Sector Corruption. It was heralded as putting an end to corruption and non-transparent public procurement, and while it has been very successful for some, it has...

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) is funding a system to protect video surveillance systems. The department announced a $200,000 contract to Ionic Security Inc. to complete the fourth phase of the startup outreach initiative. The Atlanta-based...

The SBA has rejected several recommendations for major changes in how the SBA calculates small business size status. In commentary published in the Federal Register last week, the SBA rejected (among other things) recommendations that it use average employee count to evaluate the sizes of...

Bristol City Council (England) has dropped Bristol Energy as a green energy provider – despite owning it and having invested £15 million into the business. The council said it had to follow strict procurement rules and competitively tender its utilities contracts in line with public sector...

The European Commission has published updated guidance on Public Procurement for practitioners around avoiding the most common errors in projects funded under the European Structural and Investment Funds. This is for guidance only and is intended to encourage good practice. It is aimed primarily at...

Scotland and Germany have launched a new investment and innovation hub/office based in Berlin – this is part of a wider network of facilities in London, Dublin, Brussels, Beijing and Washington DC. The Glasgow and Berlin Chambers of Commerce have signed an agreement to increase collaboration and...

SPP Regions – European regional networks of municipalities working together on sustainable public procurement (SPP) and public procurement of innovation (PPI), which is run by ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) – has recently concluded its CO2 savings project which involved the...

The President’s Management Agenda lays out ambitious plans for the federal government to modernize IT, prepare its future workforce, and improve the way it manages major acquisitions. But many program acquisition officers cite time pressure and lack of bandwidth to learn new tools as barriers to...