Choose Your Level of Government
Local and Municipal
Public Procurement Technology Symposium
Aug 16, 2017
Technology is changing procurement—in nearly all aspects.
Yet, adoption of technology in the public sector, in spite of global government spending almost $10 trillion every year, is very low.
Public Spend Forum, in collaboration with academia and experts from around the world, will...
Procurement Technology: Why is the Public Sector Absent from the Table?
Aug 9, 2017
While private sector companies invest billions to innovate and create commercial technologies that streamline and improve the procurement process, the federal government (especially) and local governments (to some degree) continue to lag way behind, choosing to build custom applications and...
Why Government Contractors Don’t Have Private Sector Clients
Aug 9, 2017
If you pay attention to the federal market, you’ll notice something strange. Few small businesses successfully manage to support commercial and federal sector clients at the same time. Here’s some data: Over the past five years about 80 companies have scored repeat performances on Washington...
The Five Ways to Get the Most Out of Category Management
Aug 9, 2017
In the never-ending quest to deliver more value, procurement organizations are trying to squeeze more savings and innovation out of spend categories. But, eventually the well starts to run dry, and when that happens, you need to either get more out of that well (fracking for spend savings,...
6 Guidelines for Drone Acquisition
Aug 2, 2017
Drones have many potential and diverse applications for government, but with the technological and regulatory environment quickly evolving, purchasing them presents different procurement challenges. The National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) recently released guidance on the...
4 Signs the RFP is Wired
Aug 1, 2017
Summer is the silly season in federal government contracting. When it comes to business development, many events that most of us go to are on temporary hiatus until September to allow for vacations that limit attendance, so what do we do? Well, there tends to be no shortage of bidding...
Supporting Public Procurement in Europe – Recommendations for Open Data Sharing Published
Jul 28, 2017
The Research Data Alliance (RDA) builds the social and technical bridges that enable open sharing of public sector data across Europe. Supporting Public Procurement in Europe it released this week (24 July) 4 Recommendations for Open Data Sharing published as ICT technical specifications. The...
Recap: ‘Selling in the Government’ Webinar with Dr. Steve Kelman
Jul 25, 2017
On July 24, Dr. Steven Kelman, Professor of Public Management at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government presented a webinar for suppliers interested in entering the government market. “Selling in the Government – Understand How the Government is Different and What That Means for...
USDA’s Innovative Procurement Success Story
Jul 7, 2017
Ed Harper, the Food and Nutrition Service’s director of the Office of Program Integrity for Child Nutrition Programs, worked with the Presidential Innovation Fellows to create a new online application prototype for free and reduced lunches. Harper explains they started under the America Competes...
Protecting Past Performance in a Competitive Marketplace
Jun 30, 2017
In today’s marketplace, government contractors must build a track record of strong past performance—it is a critical metric necessary to secure future awards. With each new contract, you have the opportunity to showcase your workforce and technical proficiency. Importantly, contractors who...
Confronting the Culture of Fear in Government
Jun 28, 2017
It is a common view among observers of the operations of the federal government that agencies are often hobbled by a culture of fear. Civil servants are terrified that if they ever make a mistake, the boom will be lowered on them (the words “get fired” are often used), while success doesn’t...
Two Faces of Negotiation in Public Procurement
Jun 20, 2017
One of the most satisfying projects I’m involved with these days is the George Cronin Award for Procurement Excellence, a national award for innovation presented by the National Association of State Procurement Officials. I saw a very insightful statement about negotiation in the 2016...
