Can procurement really drive public sector innovation?

Guest blog by Martin McFadyen, Director, Public Sector at Virgin Media O2 Business #LPSInnovation

All my life I’ve been fascinated by innovation.

The first iPhone? Check. The first Apple watch? Check. Trying to find the money for an electric car? Check.

My wife calls me a bit of a nerd, but I find the promise and potential of new tech and innovation irresistible.

And that set me thinking.

I get excited about innovation at home. But what powers innovation in my work environment, the public sector? Especially since normal commercial models don’t always apply.

The scale of the opportunity

One of the main drivers for innovation in the public sector is procurement. Done right, it can fuel innovation, empower organisations to make more of cutting-edge tech and drive real change in communities.

And the government does a lot of procurement.

‘Around a third of government spending is on the procurement of goods and services, reaching a total of £259bn in 2022.’

Civil Service World.

So you can see the sheer scale of the opportunity here. If we can use spending on this scale to stimulate innovation, the benefits are huge.

But how do we do that? How do we harness procurement to boost innovation?

One way forward may lie in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) we recently signed with Crown Commercial Services (CCS).

Fuelling the fires of innovation

This MoU is far more than just a bit of paper – it’s a game changer.

As Dr. Philip Orumwense, Commercial Director and Chief Procurement Officer for Technology at CCS put it:

‘Mobile voice and data is an integral part of enabling service delivery for the public sector. The ability to talk and communicate to colleagues and citizens and access and share data quickly and securely has never been more important.

‘This new MoU uses the buying power that CCS has to deliver cost effective and soundly procured connectivity solutions from Virgin Media O2 Business. There will also be additional benefits for customers through increased social value and learning and development opportunities.’

Why is it so important? Because it’s designed to help taxpayer money go further, saving costs by offering supply chain discounts that aren’t usually available.

Plus there’s a further set of ‘in-life’ discounts on future purchases – a kind of loyalty scheme if you like.

But it’s not just about getting value for money for your taxpayers. To help give innovation an extra boost, the memorandum also offers access to proof-of-value trials and SD-WAN trials are free.

This all means that organisations can now access a whole raft of connectivity options that’ll make it easier to deal with legacy tech, make processes simpler and automate systems.

In short, it’ll help you speed up your transformation and boost services.

Which is good news for everyone.

Supporting four pillars of procurement success

Why is this MoU so strategically important? How will it be so effective at driving innovation?

Well, it seems to touch on four of the key areas for success when it comes to public sector procurement.

It helps:

Embrace agile procurement. Traditional procurement processes tend to be slow and cumbersome, putting a brake on innovation and agility. By embracing agile procurement practices – such as the ones outlined in the MoU – you can adapt more quickly and take advantage of new tech as soon as it emerges.

Engage with industry partners. Collaboration with industry partners is critical for successful procurement anywhere, so partnership lies at the heart of the MoU. These partnerships help us all foster innovation, promote knowledge sharing, and get the best possible value for the taxpayer buck.

Define clear objectives and requirements. It goes without saying that organisations need to define clear procurement objectives, priorities, and requirements. Through the MoU, public sector organisations can do just that, structing strategies and bringing priorities into focus.

Promote transparency and fairness. Transparency and fairness are critical anywhere, and especially so when it comes to the public sector. People want to know their money is spent wisely. This MoU guarantees just that kind of visibility in areas ranging from evaluation criteria to contract negotiations.

Innovation benefits everyone

Procurement is undoubtedly critical when it comes to innovation in the public sector.

By treating procurement as a catalyst for innovation, organisations can get hands on with innovative solutions. Foster collaboration. Create new partnerships. Drive efficiency. Save money.

And most importantly of all, improve the services they bring to their citizens.

The question – until now – has been how do we achieve that?

Our MoU with the CCS may well show the way.

Local Public Services Programme

techUK's Local Public Services Programme provides the forum for local public services to engage with industry to better understand the innovations out there, horizon-scan how the technologies of today and tomorrow can re-imagine local public services and solve some of the most pressing challenges our communities and places face. It also helps connect suppliers with each other, identify new business partnerships to help grow an ever thriving local government ecosystem.

Learn more