Public Spend Forum: GovShop in response to Covid-19; Engaging with Government from a distance

Public Spend Forum (PSF) is a public sector procurement global community and market intelligence platform dedicated to improving public buying everywhere. GovShop is its free-to-use global government market research tool for finding and connecting with suppliers. Here’s the latest from PSF:

Leveraging GovShop in response to Covid-19: update on our efforts

PSF mobilized a global community through GovShop to enrich the R&D ecosystem for lifesaving supplies and equipment. With over 1.8 million companies and more than 180 million data points, GovShop created the largest supply chain data set, helping governments rapidly identify and engage a global ecosystem of companies and experts — companies providing solutions that weren’t even on the radar and hadn’t been considered — to deliver solutions and Covid-19 supplies. It not only increased the supply base but vetted suppliers thoroughly under the guidance of the FBI.

Read how GovShop helped when New York State requested a 3D printed component that could retrofit a BiPAP machine into an emergency ventilator to save lives to understand how GovShop is working to pave the way for innovative firms to enter the government market.

The necessity of subcontractors and agents in procurement

James Baxter talks about the necessity of agents and subcontractors in public procurement. Are domestic subcontractors and procurement agencies a vital element when obtaining goods and services? He lays out the basics of how procurement works, who Agents and Subcontractors are, how they can benefit from procurement technology, and why we need them.

Read Why subcontractors and procurement agents are an essential part of any procurement process

5 ways to engage with Government while social distancing

Public Spend Forum considers: what are some of the easiest and most effective ways to stay engaged with the government during the Covid-19 ? In line with PSF’s core belief that the mitigation of barriers to entry for suppliers in the public sector market is essential, Public Spend Forum emphasizes five simple ways to stay informed about modern issues in the public sector and to stay connected with buyers and suppliers in the governmental sphere:

Follow public sector buyers and trends on LinkedIn
See what public sector buyers and government officials are saying on Twitter
Attend industry events
Embrace content marketing
Be helpful to the organizations that you’re engaging with

Read more on each one here: Easiest and most effective ways to stay engaged with the government.

And in other news …

G4S & Serco fraud: Everybody thinks transparency is a great idea; we still don’t have any

Thames Valley Police has received a Procurement Excellence Programme award from CIPS

Latest report on France’s arms exports – Europe is a growing customer base

£23.4bn of late invoices still owed to small firms across Britain – fines to be imposed

‘Grave concerns’ over impact of curfews on public sector food supply

What bothers suppliers most about public procurement?

NHS England calls software suppliers for advice on integration of its HR and finance applications into the cloud

Covid-19 and public procurement: Has the exception for direct award contracts now passed?

How the human factor has become crucial in local government IT success

UK shipbuilding boosted by warship procurement

Unresolved questions on the EU Rule of Law Report

GDS unveils overseas Digital Buying Guide

Need Training on GovShop?

Public Spend Forum has been hosting a series of GovShop training sessions over the summer. They teach users how to optimize their profiles and get the most out of GovShop. They are happy to deliver personalized training too for your company to answer any specific questions. Access the training sessions here – or request one tailored to your firm.

Ask Public Spend Forum

Contact support@publicspendforum.net if you’d like to understand more about public procurement, the effect of the pandemic, where to find suppliers for a specific category, or any other burning issue you have.

We’d also love to hear from you if you have a success story within your organisation you’d like to share.