Since the start of 2012, I’ve been to the US three times and it is interesting to reflect on what is going on in the world of sustainability. It is tempting to say “not much” and make this a very short blog, but that’s not the case.
I never imagined I would spend time in Texas working on sustainability with a company that exclusively supplies big oil with capital equipment, but I did. I never imagined I would end up helping the United Nations deliver the Rio +20 event in a more sustainable way, but I have. I did not predict spending time with the UK, US and Canadian institutions for civil engineering talking about more sustainable infrastructure development, but I have. And I expect to be back in the summer, working with at least two other global businesses. And yes, I offset my flights! (more…)
I have recently awarded a high-value contract where the public sector establishment will have to find a way to develop a good relationship with a small private company to deliver the commissioned service successfully.
It was not easy to arrive at the solution, however budgetary constraints dictated the outcome and the private company’s offers was commercially more competitive and the small panel evaluating the tender responses was united in its outcome. (more…)
While everyone at yesterday’s Office Depot Strategic Thinking Forum in London agreed procurement and facilities management professionals (to which the event was directed) have got a higher profile as a result of the recession, there was a concern that the focus on cuts means best practice and long-term strategy would be lost. (more…)
We are living in times of a growing amount of digital data. Economist writer Ludvig Siegele claims 2012 will be the year in which the trend of ‘big data’ gets noticed more widely. “Many more firms will start to analyse huge piles of data to optimise everything from their supply chains to their customer relationship,” he wrote. (more…)
I was with a government procurement representative recently. She happened to mention the reduction in procurement staff meant they were being encouraged to place contracts that encompassed more and more capability. This policy is to get them ready for yet more job losses. Simply put, if the number of contracts isn’t reduced the remaining staff will not be able to cope with the workload in the future. (more…)
I had the pleasure to attend the second day of Procurex National in Birmingham, at which the Rt Hon Francis Maude MP set the scene for the next few years in public sector procurement. And what a scene he set. A powerful speaker with a lot of charisma, he sounded like he meant business in more than a figure-of-speech way. (more…)
It has been argued that £37 billion could be saved from UK public expenditure through improved procurement. But we cannot rebalance the nation’s accounts merely by aggregating then salami-slicing chunks of expenditure, any more than we can remedy areas of neglect by casting money at them. Real progress comes from setting well-evaluated near and longer-term objectives, and managing their achievement. (more…)
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