Public Spend Forum: From cinema direction to building a VR company to contracts with the US Air Force

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. Read more from PSF and GovShop founder Raj Sharma here: Working towards a more open and accessible public sector marketplace – for suppliers and buyers.

This week’s latest from PSF:

A conversation with Emmy-nominated director and VR innovator Kevin Cornish

In the most recent episode of the Public Sector Heroes Podcast, Public Spend Forum talks to Kevin Cornish, Emmy-nominated director who has created content for Netflix, IMAX, Estee Lauder and more, about co-founding Moth + Flame and its latest project — suicide prevention VR training in the US Air Force. Listen in to find out how he went from directing cinema to building a VR company to signing contracts with the US Air Force.

Kevin shares his success story and goes deeper into the best way to approach the public sector market. Some of his words of wisdom include:

• Decoding government problems: There are three issues within the defense sector that companies should be solving when pursuing government contracts — the waste of cost, time and talent.
• Getting noticed: The best way to get your foot in the door is to participate in SBIR programs, especially those relating to the US Air Force.

To hear Kevin’s advice and success story in-depth, you can find out more here: A conversation with Kevin Cornish and listen to the podcast here

Emerging tech and innovation showcase recap

Each week PSF holds a tech and innovation showcase where several emerging companies come together to make short pitches to government. The goal of the Showcase is to:

• Build awareness of emerging and innovative solutions in the market that have the potential to address critical government issues
• Lower barriers and costs for small businesses to present their capabilities to government and buyer audiences at no cost

GovShop recently hosted 5 innovative tech companies to pitch their solutions to a diverse audience of government buyers from local, state and federal agencies. Here’s what each company offered in their pitch:

• BadVR: Immersive data visualization
• OpenText: Enables the digital world through the cloud
• XR2LEAD: AI powered defense solutions
• Squishy Robotics: Deploying information with mobile sensor robots
• Valorant Health: Digital platform to connect patients, physicians, and providers

If you would like to join PSF as it builds an open community and platform for emerging businesses to showcase their solutions, you can register here,

If you’re an innovative and emerging tech company looking to showcase your solution, learn more and apply for the Innovation & Tech Showcase, here.

AWS and PSF: Customer & Citizen Engagement Showcase

Public Spend Forum and Amazon Web Services are hosting a showcase for cutting-edge companies in Citizen & Customer Engagement. Basically they are companies that are leading the way in building solutions for governments to proactively engage with their constituents and develop innovative tools to address challenges before problems arise. Some include: delivering quick, accurate emergency response information, sustainably managing waste from the community, and eliminating the need for waiting rooms and queues.

To meet and learn about 6 ground-breaking companies that building the next generation of innovative technologies to help citizens and governments engage effectively, join this free-to-attend event:

Wed, Aug 11, 2.00pm – 4:00pm EDT

Find out more and register here

And in other news … 

UK Gov seal of approval for Sellafield engineering design procurement

GSK and Vir Biotechnology announce joint procurement deal with European Commission for Sotrovimab

UK Home Office — E-learning course to help public sector commercial staff identify and mitigate modern slavery risks in their procurements

US Marshfield Clinic Health System saves $1.2m with parts procurement automation

US military supply chain — Need to better prepare private sector to surge production of key US military supplies and build a more resilient defense supply chain

Discover emerging and diverse suppliers for public sector on GovShop

How government procurement can shape a net zero built environment

NI Finance Minister announces new policy for mandatory scoring of social value within public procurement contracts

European Council — Recovery fund: ministers welcome assessment of four more national plans

Why sustainable procurement may make universities greener

Property consultancy Eddisons secures large UK Government deal

£6bn NHS glove contract shows rocketing cost of PPE

Digital telecare firm joins Scottish suppliers list after cybersecurity assessment

UK’s new national security regime – Government confirms timing and publishes new guidance

Interesting and useful material:

The GovShop Small Business Resource Center (SBRC) — is a one-stop-shop containing anything a small business would need to know to navigate public procurement in the United States, and beyond.

The 7 Principles for GovMarket Growth can be downloaded for free.

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.

Schedule a free GovShop demo

You can book a free consultation and demo to learn how to best leverage GovShop! You’ll learn how to build your market research skills and use GovShop to search across 2 million traditional and non-traditional suppliers, quickly generate lists and reports in minority and small businesses, and find contracts that match your needs.

Contact Frank McNally from the Government Success Team