the role of a procurement officer in government more about helping these organisations become more commercially savvy ?
“ A lot of governments are already very commercially savvy . We ’ ve only got to look at the likes of Boston , Asia , Dubai and Abu Dhabi . They ’ re already at the forefront of technology that is commercialised today . The government of Dubai is really driving smart government and that has led to huge scale in the Internet of Things . They ’ re challenging tech companies to think and behave differently , which has resulted in new tech coming to market . In Santa Clara in the US they ’ ve been incredibly innovative with their use of procurement to drive cost savings , better supplier relationships and sustained employment . Governments are bringing in that private sector thinking , particularly in relation to technology innovation .
“ But I think one of the things that governments would admit is that it has been difficult for them to change and take advantage of tech that ’ s coming to market , whereas a lot of private sector CPOs have lived and breathed this change management over a prolonged period of time .”
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