How to buy robots: WEF guidelines for government AI procurement
Oct 17, 2019
Government bodies need to take a special approach to procurement when it comes to artificial intelligence, according to the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. WEF, the global network focused on technology governance, says traditional “public-sector procurement...
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace addresses the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on Cyber Security
Oct 17, 2019
The UK Defence Secretary addressed parliamentarians from across the NATO Alliance at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly this week. “For a long time there has been pressure for us all to increase investment in defence. And the United Kingdom is proud to have heeded that call. Last month our spending...
Understanding the Gender Pay Gap in the UK Public Sector
Oct 10, 2019
The UK Government has released a report looking into the gender pay gap in the public sector. It analyses the size and possible causes of the pay gap and finds that the gap is larger in the public sector than in the private and that a much higher pay gap exists at the top end of the earnings...
Confidence Falls as Cyber Threats and AI Add to the Challenges of Risk Management
Oct 10, 2019
Dun & Bradstreet has released The 2019 Compliance and Procurement Sentiment report which finds that only 85% of respondents are confident about the effectiveness of risk management within their organisation – 8% lower than in the previous survey. A large majority, 84%, also forecast a decline in...
Innovative Supplier Selection Is Key to Government Procurement Success
Oct 10, 2019
The UK government has made it clear through policy, procurement reforms and communication that it recognises the value of innovation to the economy as a source of competitiveness, productivity, revenues and profit, writes Computer Weekly. The Cabinet Office and Crown Commercial Service have been...
Navigating the Waste and Recycling Services Market
Oct 3, 2019
Local Authorities (in the UK and elsewhere) will be looking to procure more waste and recycling services in the next few years as tighter regulations come into play. In the UK alone, DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) will be setting harder resources and waste strategy...
One-Fifth of UK Public Sector Report More Than 1,000 Cyber Attacks Last Year and Can Expect More
Oct 3, 2019
“Despite reports to the contrary, ransomware has remained a pervasive threat throughout many industries. According to the SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, the first half of 2019 has seen a dramatic resurgence of the crime, with a 195% increase in attacks on UK businesses. The public sector is...
Applications for AI in Military IoT – Invitation to a NATO/DefSec Workshop
Oct 2, 2019
We are delighted to inform our readers of a new series of workshops aimed at influencing and hopefully solving some of the hottest issues facing NATO right now. This is a fascinating set of discussions because each topic will tackle a concrete challenge that NATO needs to solve through...
Governments Buying AI Intelligently – New Guidelines
Oct 2, 2019
The World Economic Forum has issued guidelines to help governments procure artificial intelligence. They have been co-designed by WEF’s artificial intelligence and machine learning team and the UK government’s Office of AI along with Deloitte, Salesforce and Splunk. Government and private...
Opportunities for the UK Government’s new innovation framework, Spark
Sep 26, 2019
As part of the UK government ‘Technology Innovation Strategy,’ the government has also launched Spark, a marketplace for technology innovation which sets out a new unified approach to digitisation in the public sector. It is a dynamic purchasing system that will allow the public sector to find...
Government Outsourcing – what works and what doesn’t
Sep 26, 2019
A new report ‘Government outsourcing: what has worked and what needs reform?’ says that consecutive governments have overstated the benefits of outsourcing. Senior politicians regularly claim outsourcing can still deliver 20%–30% savings but there is no evidence to support this. It explains...
Sustainable Urban Integrated Transport Systems Initiative
Sep 12, 2019
A four-year research and innovation action project is under way to develop and implement sustainable, inclusive and accessible transport strategies. Sustainable Urban Integrated Transport Systems: Transferable tools for Small to Medium local authorities, is a research and innovation initiative...
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Perspectives and Insights
I have been interested in the question of getting successful commercial companies, especially tech companies, to sell to the government from the time I was …
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 …
Think you know all about public sector owned professional buying organisations (PBOs) and what they do? Here are ten interesting facts that might just surprise …
Policies and Regulations
It’s no surprise President Trump has been systematically dismantling President Obama’s executive orders, since taking office. Obama himself knew it was a possibility: Frustrated by …
Past performance is an important step in being successful as a federal government contractor. Once firms get into the mid-tier range, they normally have amassed …
A few months back, we published several articles about the very interesting – and somewhat shocking – court case around the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning …