San Francisco’s Promising IT Procurement Chatbot
Apr 26, 2018
Advanced new virtual assistants like San Francisco’s PAIGE are bottling and distributing government’s hidden institutional knowledge. San Francisco city procurement officials are experimenting with the new chatbot for internal use that is expected to clarify one of government’s most confusing...
Efforts in DoD Acquisition Reform Borrow From Section 809 Panel Recommendations
Apr 26, 2018
Rep. Mac Thornberry’s, R-Texas, latest proposal for acquisition reform presses the Department of Defense (DoD) to implement initiatives Congress has already passed and borrows heavily from the Section 809 panel recommendations. The overall proposal would cut more than 100 legal provisions,...
Modernization Takes More Than Technology
Apr 26, 2018
With the passage of the Modernizing Government Technology Act and growing conversation on digital transformation, there’s no question that the technology and desire to modernize government are there. But plans and technology alone are not enough. New approaches to acquisition and implementation,...
Public Spend Forum’s Public Procurement Weekly Roundup: A look at a promising IT procurement chatbot and more
Apr 20, 2018
DoD standing firmly in its second draft of JEDI cloud contract, DHS hires U.K. firm to tackle border security, and a look at San Francisco’s IT procurement chatbot. This is Public Spend Forum’s Weekly Roundup for April 20, 2018.
OMB, GSA Leaders Highlight TMB Framework’s Early Benefits...
Cabinet Office Awards £1.5bn Contract For Utilities Switching Services
Apr 19, 2018
NS Tech publishes a weekly roundup of the top 10 (biggest) UK public sector IT tenders and awards. This week it announces that the top 10 tenders amount to more than £88m with the biggest being Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company’s £60m contract. It is looking for a strategic partner to...
UK Urged to Overhaul Public Procurement to Take Advantage of AI
Apr 19, 2018
The UK House of Lords appointed a Select Committee last year to examine Artificial Intelligence and its potential impact, both positive and negative, on UK society, economy, regulations and ethics. The report has now been published and it urges the UK government to take more action to support AI...
Toronto Province Eliminates Bid Submission Fees
Apr 19, 2018
A province of Toronto Canada has announced it is eliminating the fees businesses have to pay to access procurement contracts. Although not a European story, we wonder whether it’s an initiative that may encourage other provinces, indeed other regions, that do charge, to do the same in the light...
Albanian Construction Firm Banned from Public Procurements for Falsified Documentation
Apr 19, 2018
Albanian construction firm Alko-Impex has been disqualified from taking part in public procurement procedures for a period of between one and three years. The Public Procurement Agency made the decision following a fact check when the firm bid for a “cleaning and tree-planting” contract in...
Scotland’s Supplier Development Programme Appoints Millstream
Apr 19, 2018
The Scottish Business News Network reports this week that Aberdeen-based Procurement firm, Millstream, has been awarded a place on the Scottish Government’s and local authorities’ Supplier Development Programme (SDP) framework: an initiative that assists more Scottish SMEs (small and mid-size...
Off-Site Construction Manufacture Could Boost Productivity – But Public Procurement May Need to Change
Apr 13, 2018
In the UK, the House of Lords, Science and Technology Committee, is running an inquiry into off-site manufacturing for the construction industry. This involves the construction of components before they are brought together for final assembly at their destination. In looking at the potential...
VA SDVOSB Rule of Two: Court Provides Important Guidance for Protesters
Apr 13, 2018
A protester contending that the VA violated the “rule of two” by failing to set-aside a solicitation for SDVOSBs must present sufficient facts to indicate that the VA should have had a reasonable expectation of receiving two or more offers from SDVOSBs at fair and reasonable prices.
In a recent...
Council Procurement Maladministration in Stewarding Services
Apr 13, 2018
“The public service ombudsman in Northern Ireland found bad practice – defined as “maladministration” – in a procurement exercise carried out by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. This was a very small contract, only a few thousand pounds, but interesting in that it involved a...
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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 …