Procurement
How the government purchases products and services, including tech, makes a significant difference in the quality and value of the tech our governments operate.
"Entire services — tax, immigration, passports, benefits — have been given over to IT suppliers and their favoured consultancies, who in the absence of true competition can inflate contract values in return for maintenance and minimal changes. The resulting pattern is services becoming fixed, more expensive to run and unable to adapt." - Mike Bracken in The Financial Times
Recommended reading:
- Where do the billions go? by Katya Abazajian (2022)
- What lies beneath, by Mark Headd (2021)
- Procurement As a Catalyst: Shop Well To Be a Force For Good (2024)
Intergovernmental Software Collaborative (formerly State Software Collaborative)
Identifying high-priority policies and needs that could benefit from shared software across jurisdictions.
CityMart
Citymart transforms the way cities solve procurement problems. Citymart is a platform for city government employees to deliver better services, connecting them to urban solutions, projects and peers a...
Open Procurement
OpenProcurement is an open source e-procurement toolkit.
OECD Open Government Unit
Better policies for better lives
Tender Monitor Georgia
Tender Monitor provides the public with an in-depth look at government spending in Georgia by making detailed information about state procurement available.
How small firms can deal with government procurement processes
Michael Knapp is the CEO and founder of Green River, a software design and development firm that has worked extensively with local governments
SmartProcure
SmartProcure is a procurement database company for businesses and government agencies.
Aspen Institute principles for smarter regulation in cities
See how local governments are responding to tech solutions to persistent problems #InnovatingRegulation
How Cities Can Improve Their Procurement of Goods and Services
Book chapter by Jeffrey Liebman and Hanna Azemati
Procurement Playbook
In this Playbook, we explore the evolution of the procurement function’s missions, from its original cost reduction role to risk management and to contribution to growth as a strategic partner.
NYC Government x Design Citywide Design Services contracts
Hlídač státu
Watchdogging Czech Republic
Open Contracting standard
Governments around the world spend an estimated US$13 trillion through contracts every year. Yet, contracting information is often unavailable for public scrutiny.
ProZorro
the official public purchasing information portal on open procurement in Ukraine
Pavilion
Pavilion builds technology that empowers public servants to deliver better, faster public services from a wider and more diverse group of businesses.
Eines per a una transformació digital oberta i àgil
El programa per a la Digitalització Oberta: Programari Lliure i Desenvolupament Àgil de Serveis de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona defineix el procés de canvi profund i progressiu de la manera en que la ciu...
ProcureWare
Procurement software
Periscope
Procurement software developed by procurement professionals for procurement professionals.
Open Contracting Partnership
Government contracting is worth trillions of dollars a year. We open up public contracting through disclosure, data and engagement so that the huge sums of money involved are spent honestly, fairly, a...
Improving procurement to take on homelessness in Seattle
The city of Seattle, Wash, has been changing the way they deal with homeless populations, and gathering data to drive some evidenced-based solutions
Results-Driven Contracting at Harvard Kennedy School
Procurements are often perceived as routine processes to obtain products and services while complying with regulatory requirements
Indicator Toolbox
Catalogue of procurement risk indicators from various countries.
TenderBase
This tool allows researchers, watchdog organizations and investigative journalists to measure how countries are performing against each other in terms of public procurement transparency, to use it in...