Public Spend Forum: GovShop demo and training and NATO challenge

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:

Barriers to entry in Government markets symposium

What are government contractors revealing about barriers they encounter when working with government? Find out in this virtual symposium on February 25, 1pm EST, 6pm GMT. Public Spend Forum will release the results of its capstone six-month study on Barriers to Entry in Government Markets and explore case studies of solutions already under way to address those barriers. The agenda includes a review of study/survey results, panel discussion, and case study presentation on solutions.  Find full agenda and register here.

Polaris GWAC and market intelligence through GovShop

Late last year the US General Services Administration released a draft request for proposal (RFP) to collect feedback from interested parties on a new government-wide acquisition contract (GWAC). The new GWAC will be called “Polaris” and will replace the much-maligned (and altogether cancelled) Alliant 2 Small Business solicitation. With an anticipated ceiling of $15 billion, this is significant news for Information Technology (IT) and IT services-based vendors who want to offer their services on a potentially lucrative interagency contracting vehicle. To support GSA and deliver on its own mission of creating open government markets, PSF took advantage of its market intelligence platform GovShop to identify vendors that would be a good fit for Polaris. Read how to use GovShop to find relevant, innovative companies in IT services.

GovShop training and demo for Government buyers

On Tuesday, Feb 09, 2021 at 10:00 ‒ 10:30 am EST, PSF will be hosting a training session on how to use GovShop to find suppliers and match them to your requirements, and how to find buyers that match your services. The session will be hosted by Frank McNally, PSF’s Director of Learning & Content Development and Meghan Ries, a Customer Success Associate.

NATO Challenge: Electromagnetic Pulse Prevention, Mitigation and Recovery

NATO is looking for entrepreneurs, designers, marketers, thinkers, engineers and coders to help protect societies against the consequences of Electro Magnetic Pulses. It is a rising concern for NATO and this challenge is your opportunity to contribute to society’s resilience by proposing innovative solutions. Get involved in this and other opportunities by joining the GovShop Ecosystem.

And in other news …

UK Gov gets 123 complaints over tendering of public procurement contracts

Scotland updates its roadmap for net zero

NY gov explores buying virus vaccine directly from maker

Denmark leads the way in putting zero-emission urban buses on the streets in Europe

GSA limits inclusion of some drones from procurement list for government agencies

How Irish SMEs can avoid the Brexit tender trap in the UK

Scottish Environment Protection Agency held to ransom by cyber-criminals

Slovak Gov’t promised transparency, deputy PM now proposes to curb it

UK introduces new measures to root out presence of alleged forced labor in Xinjiang in British supply chains

UK – New curriculum and campus to improve Civil Service skills and expertise

NAO says £190bn Defence Equipment Plan 2020-30 is unaffordable

Portugal assumes the presidency of the European Council 

France rejects criticism of EU coronavirus vaccine procurement

Contact 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.

PSF would also love to hear from you if you have a success story within your organization you’d like to share. If you’d like to share your opinions or insight on a public-procurement-relevant issue please see the Guest Author Guidelines here.