SMEs to spend $90 billion on cyber-security in 2025
Jul 22, 2021
A new report has found that spending on cyber-security among the world’s small and mid-sized enterprises will grow by more than €25 billion ($30bn) in the next four years. The worldwide figure by 2025 will stand at €76 billion ($90bn), with managed security services making up one-third of...
UK government in emergency talks with retailers and trade bodies over HGV driver shortage
Jul 2, 2021
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is discussing potential solutions with retailers, logistics groups and wholesalers as the shortage of lorry drivers has led industry chiefs to warn of an effect on deliveries to supermarkets this summer. The loss of up to 100,000 lorry...
Independent report finds every £1 spent with UKCloud generates £1.43 of social value
Jul 2, 2021
UKCloud, a multi-cloud provider to the UK public sector, is helping to make transformation happen across the public sector and has released a report ‘Measuring what matters,’ which has been independently published by Social Value Business.
New measures to deliver value to society through UK...
Ensuring equal access to public private research partnerships — Horizon Europe
Jun 9, 2021
The European Parliament is seeking to ensure all 11 Horizon Europe research partnerships are more open and less bureaucratic than their predecessors.
Setting down the markers, MEPs have agreed a joint position on the first partnership of the bunch, the EuroHPC €8 billion high-performance...
UK Cabinet Office: Businesses hoping to secure government contracts will have to pledge to be net zero by 2050
Jun 9, 2021
Under new requirements issued by the Cabinet Office, firms seeking public sector contracts worth more than £5m a year, from September 2021, will also have to publish “clear and credible carbon reduction plans” before being considered, reports Sky News.
Businesses bidding for major government...
UN sustainable procurement survey
Jun 9, 2021
The UN Environmental Programme is partnering with Arizona State University researchers and other experts to develop the 2021 Global Review of Sustainable Public Procurement, following the 2013 and 2017 editions.
The stakeholder survey is to help better understand the state of sustainable...
Consultation Response: Transforming Public Procurement Green Paper
May 20, 2021
Among the announcements in the UK’s 2021 Queen’s Speech is that a new Procurement Bill is to be introduced in the next session of the UK Parliament. That bill builds upon the consultation in the Green Paper on procurement reform which closed in March 2021. The UK government’s aim is to...
WHO Procurement Report 2020
May 20, 2021
The World Health Organization report provides information on the WHO’s procurement activities in 2020. It covers procurement of goods and services, and also includes Covid-19-related procurements.
The report provides procurement statistics — it says “over the past years, WHO has purchased on...
UK Gov considering minimum cyber security requirements in public procurement
May 20, 2021
A 2021 survey by the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) found just 12% of businesses reviewed cyber risks from immediate suppliers, while just one in 20 (5%) did so for wider supply chains, down on 9% in 2020.
The UK government is considering setting minimum cyber security...
Accessible technologies in the public sector – applying requirements at the procurement phase
May 7, 2021
When ICT accessibility is not considered by public sector entities in the procurement phase, it reduces the employment possibilities for persons with disabilities. Every day in Europe, over 100 million persons with disabilities face barriers in accessing technologies owned by their public...
Europe on verge of rolling out Biden countermeasure to “Buy European”
May 7, 2021
Just as Joe Biden is insisting the US government should “Buy American,” Europe is on the verge of rolling out a countermeasure that will heap pressure on EU member countries to “Buy European,” writes Jakob Hanke Vela on Politico.
“The sentiment has similarly hit Europe. After dithering...
UK MOD action plan to target more SMEs
Apr 30, 2021
The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is simplifying its tender process and targeting UK SME manufacturers as part of a commitment to boost the economy, writes Supply Management. In its Defence and Security Industrial Strategy, the MoD made a commitment to enhance its contribution to the UK’s...
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 …