Appreciating, promoting – Anbud365
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(An Anbud365 competition) At the same time that October is ebbing away, Anbud365 is in a competitive and price atmosphere. The background is a desire to highlight all the good for society as a whole that public buyers contribute on a daily basis. The acquisition price is an important important measure. But something is missing: There is a European championship in public – admittedly largely just municipal – acquisitions that our Nordic neighbors claim. Norway has a lot to show the world, and we benefit from benchmarking ourselves against the best of those who follow the same rules. And what about all the buyers who alone or have employees do the job and then that? Shouldn’t they also be praised, appreciated?
At this year’s edition of the Procurement Conference for the Directorate for Administration and Financial Management (DFØ) on 22 November, there will also be an award ceremony. The idea is that the participants at the conference themselves must vote for a winner. The deadline for registering candidates has expired and the jury is at work. Among the candidates, Anbud365 is sure that the conference audience will pick a winner who is worthy of a prize such as the Procurement Award 2022.
In many competitions, the winners go on to a more international competition. One example is Melodi Grand Prix (to see a fairly Norwegian-sounding name on the show), another is the winner of the football series and cup. But for an acquisition that wins such a demanding – in terms of meeting set criteria – competition such as the Acquisition Award, it stops there. With a stimulating victory in a festive layer. Good and deserved, but maybe the acquisition is worth showing off to Europe?
EC in public procurement
There is a European championship in public procurement – Procura+. Behind this award stands the European part of an organization called ICLEI. It is a network for local and regional authorities concerned with sustainability. Worldwide, more than 2,500 authorities are involved. Seven Norwegians are members of ICLEI: The municipalities of Arendal, Bergen, Kristiansand, Lillehammer, Oslo and Stavanger – in addition to KS, the municipality’s interest organization
In their EC in public procurement, there are now four categories: sustainability procurement of the year, circular procurement of the year, innovation procurement of the year and procurement initiative of the year. A review of entries, nominees, finalists and winners in the past shows that Oslo and Stavanger have participated from time to time – Oslo was, for example, nominated in 2019, while Stavanger participated in 2021 and 2022. Finland, Denmark and Sweden are still participating, and they win competitions regularly. Malmö, for example, became one of the winners this year – in tough competition with Tampere in Finland. In another class, Copenhagen received words of appreciation.
Something to show the world
So why are we bothering with this. The starting point is a rock-solid belief in consistent quality in Norwegian public procurement – characterized by high competence and “far ahead in the shoes”, as they say, when it comes to innovation, sustainability etc. Admittedly, DFØ’s comprehensive procurement survey shows that there is still a long way to go before all public companies have come this far. But much of what is done, the world can certainly benefit from knowing about and measuring itself against.
The EU system has time and again shown interest in what the Supplier Development Program is doing, in Denmark the same program has almost got a «fan-club» (Center for public-private innovation), a Norwegian-led EU program created the basis for cross-border electronic communication within public procurement, Oslo’s Omsorg+ and emission-free heavy construction machinery are examples of Norwegian eye-openers outside the country’s borders. Maybe it’s many more. We think so, but we don’t know. If someone feels passed over, shout it out. It is not intentional on our part, nor is it a form of negligence.
A few frontrunners
We believe that many more than Oslo and Stavanger – deserving frontrunners – have acquisitions that can make it sharp in European competitions. Admittedly, Procura+ limits the competition to local and regional authorities. The government cannot join, but that should not prevent us from assessing whether more should be invested in promoting awareness of what is achieved in Norwegian public procurement. It is natural that it is the KS that possibly makes such an assessment, reasonably in dialogue with DFØ.
Signing up for the EC in public procurement is an exciting moment filled with faith and hope, which in many cases will attract the attention of the media – in addition to Anbud365. The audience can then see which expertise, which time and resource use creates impressive and forward-looking acquisitions in the public sector. And should you become European champion, it is of course more exciting and good to have a diploma on the wall or a trophy in the cupboard. But, above all, Norwegian public procurement has to benchmark itself in competition with equivalents from other countries with the same regulations. We don’t guarantee anything, but think it is fairly likely that a lot of laurels will end up here at home. It does a lot of good in this area here at home.
Another competition idea
And not enough of that. Today, Anbud365 has several competition ideas. As is reasonable, it is required that it is thorough documentation in order to participate in the battle to get the Acquisition Award for DFØ. That’s how it has to be. Many of the basic principles from procurement opportunities must also be based here. This probably means that this is a competition for the larger companies. Nothing wrong with that. Guiding stars often emerge from relatively resourceful environments in one way or another.
Around procurement Norway, however, there are a number of skilled buyers who day after day do their best, strengthen their skills, contribute to networks, participate in management and care, etc. Often they are alone in their very responsible job – a large proportion of the company’s budget must be managed through good purchases. But there are rarely any prizes for the trust-inspiring, daily work. Anbud365 believes that the situation is that we partly miss out on a lot of smart and resource-wise experience from these companies, and partly that there is little stimulation in finding earlier for appreciation that can honor these. They hardly have the time and opportunity in their job to create such time-consuming documentation as is needed to be able to compete in large, nationwide prize competitions.
“Firefighter of the year”?
In sports, you have the “fire spirit of the year”. Seen from the point of view of a municipal director or a municipal council – a state head of department for that matter – there can certainly be employees on the procurement front who qualify to be honored with a similar honour. For example, an employee or a department who has been able to come up with innovative solutions with a blown budget – or who has made the geographical area or the industry’s business operators think in the direction of sustainability, who has made arrangements to ensure that local businesses come along, etc.
Anbud365 lives in the belief that the college, which annually manages a good 650 billion public kroner, makes such a qualitative effort that it should be promoted to a greater extent. It helps one’s own self-esteem and it helps the public’s general reputation – and it awakens a few more politicians to the importance of the efforts that are delivered daily. The media’s job of highlighting Kofa decisions and acquisitions that go wrong is right and important. But the world also has another side. Achieving this is not done by oneself, here the results tend to come after targeted and long-term work created by the environment itself.
Anbud365 has no more ideas in this area today. Thank you for your attention. If something happens and we find out about it, we can love posts. Already now.