Virtual event
How to Do Smarter Procurement
Exclusively for public servants and policymakers
Tuesday, Feb 11, 2025
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Speakers
What to Do Next
- Catch up via the 8-minute highlights video above, or dive into the full recording
- Join the Innovative Procurement Community
- Join our next event, Reimagining Public Institutions
Resources
- The Open Contracting Data Standard
- A New Perspective on Innovation Procurement White Paper by Lina Svensberg
Join the Innovative Procurement Community
The Innovative Procurement Community is a space to share insights and ask questions about innovation in government procurement with public servants around the world.
Event Description
In 2022, the World Bank’s Chief Economist estimated that governments worldwide spend $13 trillion on contracts for public goods and services. This same economist also estimated that a quarter of that is wasted on inefficient processes. Overcoming these inefficiencies could free up $1 trillion for public spending.
Procurement is high stakes, easy to get wrong, but immensely important to get right. So, what does good look like? And what can public servants — and governments — do to make sure they get procurement right? What are the best ideas, approaches and methods out there?
At this event we'll take a close look at pros and cons of different procurement strategies, exploring how governments can address inefficiencies and unlock greater value for public services. Gain valuable knowledge from experts and peers to better understand what effective, transparent, and efficient procurement looks like in practice.
Interested in how Apolitical can support you and your organisation? Learn about collaborating with us.
Image credit: unsplash
Speakers
Warren Smith
Director of Insight, Innovation and Impact, Posterity Global
Wales
Lina Svensberg
Lead Expert for ETIN on Innovation-Enhancing Procurement, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Sweden
Warren Smith, Director of Insight, Innovation and Impact at Posterity Global has 30 years experience in both the private and public sectors, driving transformative procurement projects. In 2012, he joined the UK Government Digital Service (GDS) to ensure the Digital Marketplace supported digital transformation. He pioneered user-centred, data-driven, open approaches to public procurement, underpinning various UK Government digital and transformation strategies. From 2018 to 2021, Warren led the GDS Global Digital Marketplace Programme, helping emerging economies improve procurement practice, transparency and governance. He now co-leads the UN ITU Working Group on ‘Intergenerational Procurement for People-Centred Cities’ and has worked with the OECD on responsible and innovative public procurement initiatives.
Lina Svensberg, is an Innovation Manager at the Compare Foundation and Lead Expert on Innovation-Enhancing Procurement for the UNECE Transformative Innovation Network. She works at the intersection of policy, research, and practice, using experimentation as a tool to reshape public procurement into a driver of scalable innovation. With a focus on demand-driven and venture-oriented procurement models, Lina collaborates with international networks, policymakers, and public sector actors to unlock greater public value and improve procurement effectiveness.
