Public Spend Forum: Tech for employee motivation and engagement; firefighting robots

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.

And take a look at this LinkedIn post from Raj to get a feel for why he cares so much about Open Government Markets.

This week’s latest from PSF:

How emerging tech is helping address employee engagement and attrition

On October 20, 2:00pm‒3:00pm EDT, Raj Sharma will be joined by Claire Haidar, WNDYR CEO & Founder, Ulf Zetterberg, Time Is Ltd. President & CRO and Kerry Schrader, Mixtroz CEO, Co-Founder to discuss and give actionable insights into how you can hire and keep the right talent in the difficult circumstances we are now experiencing.

Employee engagement has consistently been proven as the single biggest differentiator that sets apart successful, high-performing companies. With hybrid work being the new normal, more and more people are working from home, keeping them motivated in virtual environments is a challenge for companies of all sizes, as well as for government agencies.

While traditional methods of employee engagement are important, technology has a critical role to play, especially cutting-edge tools built specifically to address employee engagement and motivation. Our panel will talk about what these technologies are and how your organization or agency can apply them to drive engaged and highly motivated teams.

This virtual event “Want to Win the Talent War?” will hear from three venture-backed companies that have turned employee engagement on its head and have built innovative tools to drive high employee engagement.

Register here

Predicting and fighting wildfires: Meet the AI robots saving lives

The frequency and magnitude of wildfires as well as other natural disasters have been on the rise. To dramatically reduce the havoc these wildfires wreak, early detection models have become crucial. Early detection of wildfires is crucial as it can allow first responders to respond sooner, potentially containing a fire while it is still small. However, detecting nascent wildfires is difficult because they are geographically smaller than those detectable with traditional, permanently placed sensors. Use of data and AI can maximize wildfire prediction preventing bigger and more dangerous fires.

Squishy Robotics is one such provider of lifesaving, cost-saving information in real time through their rapidly deployable, air-droppable, mobile sensor robots. It is also a part of Public Spend Forum’s GovMarket Growth Program, as well a member of Public Spend Forum and Shatter Fund’s Women-Led Tech Accelerator Cohort. 

Read this article to get to know more about how it works in action, and to learn about other providers accessible through GovShop.

Innovation Tech Showcase

The ongoing GovShop Tech Pitch Showcase features 4 powerhouse entrepreneurs speed pitching their innovative tech products to government agencies in just 5 minutes.

Any Government official interested in lowering barriers to entry for emerging suppliers and who want to hear about innovative solutions for their department’s projects, will benefit from this short, sharp session. Equally, any company/supplier/vendor that wants to learn from peers about what makes a killer GovMarket tech pitch, will find this is 25 minutes very well spent.

The Tech Pitch Showcase is a no-cost platform for emerging and diverse companies to help them stand out in the GovMarket. Learn more and apply to present a pitch, here.

Register to join the next showcase here 

And in other news … 

The Hague to host European GovTech Summit

NIST recommendations typically become part of government procurement so threat modeling will soon be written into questions for organizations that sell to government

European Commission unveils €1.9bn plan for five research missions

How governments can use blockchain

Firms sought for £150m professional services purchasing system

Fuel crisis: UK government mobilises reserve tanker fleet and army

Global safe supplier operating standard

Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill carves out broad exemptions from ‘Buy American’ mandates

Irish Times: Government must fix issues holding back construction, says industry chief

Pan-European scheme for fairer supply chains launched

Feedback plc awarded place on national procurement framework for the NHS to provide AI, imaging and radiotherapy equipment

Europe: How human rights litigation is gaining momentum

UK’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation is embarking on a process of procurement reform

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.

Meet Jack for a free GovShop demo

If you’d like to meet Jack from the GovShop customer success team, you can book a free consultation and demo to learn how to optimize your profile and get the most out of GovShop, the free government buyer/supplier matching and shortlisting database. From claiming your supplier profile and optimizing your keywords, to standing out in a crowded market and building your sales pipeline, email Jack to help.

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.