Closing Remarks

1
Closing Remarks
2
Procurement Reform

• Never-ending process
• Wave? Cycle?
• Need for continuous improvement
• Lessons learned
• from transactional experience
• from other models

3
Procurement Policy-Making

• What do you want?
• Understand trade-offs
• Make BOTH cases
• economics (makes business sense)
• public policy (good government)
• Stakeholders
• Public (taxpayers)
• Government (buyers)
• Businesses (sellers)

4
Delicate Balance.

• Business and Politics neither can be ignored
• Focus upon best value
• Recognize inefficiencies of protectionism and
  preferences assess true cost of programs

5
Legal Framework

• Clear rules
• Accessible, meaningful to government buyers and
  private firms (sellers)
• Articulate aspirations (e.g., open competition)
• Evolution work is never done

6
Transparency

• Must be pervasive -- Cradle to grave show money
  wisely spent!
• Issue much larger than procurement
• Constant vigilance required
• Corruption suppression key to maintaining
  credibility
• Encourage external oversight

7
Decentralization

• Invest in uniformity
• Training, retention, and cross-fertilization of
  personnel
• Communication!

8
Capacity Building

• Information power
• share ideas enlist experts borrow best
  practices visit other states exchange programs?
• Resources
• infrastructure includes information technology
• workforce investment never ends

9
Information Technology

• Short-term investment long term gain
• Massive transparency dividend
• Workforce multiplier
• Uniformity enhancer
• Only limit imagination!

10
Domestic Review Mechanisms

• Independence!
• Closing the transparency circle
• Fosters credibility (at home and abroad)
• Facilitates continuous learning

11
Procurement Professionals

• Most important resource
• On-going investment in compensation, training,
  career development
• Difficult to cultivate easy to squander
• Foster professionalizaton specialization,
  certification

12
Embrace Change

• Tolerate mistakes
• Learn from mistakes
• Grow, Evolve
• Strive for Excellence
• Celebrate Incremental Improvement!