Traditionally, government procurement was always riddled with delays, complications, and inefficiencies. However, times are changing and government agencies are striving to do better, both through improved performance and transparency.

Government agencies now realize they can overcome innovation barriers. The following are some of the most common obstacles government procurement faces and how they are now overcome.

Slow & Inflexible Procurement Methods

Traditional procurement methods are too time consuming and inflexible to meet current needs. Technology changes quickly, as do user demands and regulations necessary to ensure acceptable standards and deter corruption.

Luckily, digital contracting software can play an important role. The longer the contract cycle time, the more procurements become vulnerable to change and the more it costs in actual employment hours. A good contract management system can reduce contract cycle times.

For instance, Microsoft improved SOW approvals by 83% faster using a contract management system. Process improvements and upskilling through global connections are also ways agencies can spearhead change.

Costly R&D Mistakes

The public sector embraces the ‘fail fast, fail often’ mantra. Fortunately, government agencies can leverage this and other private sector ideas and processes, and limit their risk. How? By creating environments that foster innovation, while directing the development of new technologies.

The World Economic Forum suggests governments can do so through focused government supported programmes, but also through strategic policy innovation.

Patchwork Innovation

Innovation is often used to fix issues, rather than integrated into processes. According to the OECD, this must change. Innovation should be a strategic function included in public sector governance. That way innovation is ongoing and an intrinsic part of governmental policy.

Poor Transparency

Public servants have a fiduciary duty to spend funds well, but they must also be able to easily prove this to the public. However, there are only so many hours in a day and public servants can’t handle these growing needs alone.

Fortunately, new technologies reduce employee labour, save money, and improve services. The public can also see data themselves, without jeopardizing security.

Need for Improved Sustainability

Government procurement must also guide economies towards sustainability. Nations continually face new challenges due to climate change and environmental damage.

The UN suggests innovation and digital technology are vital to the protection of our planet. Leveraging technology can help governments create more sustainable services, products, and business practices.

Additionally, innovation makes government programs and communities more adaptive and agile. As a result, they are more resilient and able to survive more extreme events.

Improve Government Procurement Today

Many emerging technologies can help government improve procurement processes. Even so, it can be difficult to understand how to access appropriate technologies and how they fit into existing programmes.

Luckily, EarlyBirds offers four pathways towards innovation and the following benefits:

• Reduced cost of innovation
• Higher efficiency
• Better innovation results
• Simplified process

EarlyBirds Innovation Ecosystem

Our award-winning Innovation Ecosystem earned us the title of Global Open Innovation Platform of the Year 2023 and 2024. One of the key goals of this B2B marketplace is to make it easier for innovators in government agencies to discover relevant technology innovations that they can use for solving problems and challenges facing their agency.

Our Ecosystem has a data pool of over 5.0 million global innovations across many industries with solutions that may already address your challenges. Alternatively, government agencies can list their challenges and request solutions from innovators.

EarlyBirds Ecosystem Maps

EarlyBirds’ offers Ecosystem Maps to help organizations address pressing issues. Each contains startups, scaleups, and mature companies involved in specific themes and sub-themes so organisations can plot a path towards innovation. The maps also track numerous daily and historical news and media articles from across the world.

EarlyBirds Explorer Program

The Explorer Program provides innovation as a service for the whole government procurement agency. This includes a subscription to the EarlyBirds platform and a dedicated subject matter expert.

This expert works closely with the government procurement agency to identify opportunities for innovation so that the relevant innovators are introduced regularly to solve specific challenges. After the completion of the program, the government procurement early adopter also receives a roadmap of the various options.

EarlyBirds Challenger Program

The Challenger Program focuses on a single organisational or technical challenge. It looks for the most relevant innovators that meet your organisational, technical, and risk requirements.

The program is run by an EarlyBirds Subject Matter Expert who identifies your key issues. The SME then searches the data pool to identify and curate options for further evaluation. The most suitable option is chosen and the SME drafts a roadmap of next steps, POC, trial, or implementation.

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Does your government agency want to innovate, but you’re unsure of where to start? Do you need to plot a strategic path towards effective innovation to minimize costs?

Those who want to accelerate innovation in government procurement can register at https://earlybirds.io/. Those unsure of which option is best suited to their needs can schedule a consultation. We use an individualized approach to ensure you find the best possible solutions.

Our experience extends to Sovereign Nations, the Public Sector, Food Industry, Retail, Healthcare, Operations & Maintenance, Manufacturing, Finance & Insurance, Energy, Education, Cybersecurity, and many other areas. Let us help you accelerate effective government procurement innovation.

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