Ten Big Ideas: Virginia Shifts the Paradigm in Government Procurement Policy

As indicated in my Procurement Insights post of January 18th, the Interim Report from the Governor’s Supplier Diversity Advisory Board provides both an interesting (and yes timely) review of procurement policy and practice in Virginia. While the document, which is 42 pages in all, does in fact drill down into critical areas including; Certification, Marketing and Outreach, Bonding and Capital Access as well as Procurement itself, it is centered on what is referred to as the “Ten Big Ideas.” Today I will be joined by an expert international guest panel, who will provide us with their take on these ten big ideas in the context of not only Virginia’s vision and objectives but also from the standpoint of similar undertakings in other governments. The Guest Panel includes: public sector experts and authors Judy Bradt and Mark Amtower from the United States, and 30 plus year UK public sector veteran Colin Cram, whose seminal paper Towards Tesco - improving public sector procurement continues to draw significant attention resulting in Cram appearing before the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee to offer his views on innovation through procurement. The House of Lords report will likely be released sometime over the next few months.