Bringing a human-centered approach to government procurement technology
How fixing a little-known government process can transform people’s experience of government services
We are excited to share our new brief that explains why procurement and procurement technology matters, shares our vision for human-centered procurement technology, and describes what needs to happen next.
Public procurement works in the background buying the goods and services needed by governments to meet our social contract. A massive amount of money flows through this infrastructure: in the United States, state and local governments spent $3.7 trillion on procuring goods and services in 2021, and in 2023 the federal government spent $759 billion.
Exactly because procurement technology is in the background, it’s overdue for urgent improvement. Together with our allies Dan Hon and Ryan Ko, we set out to imagine what a better world could look like, combining our decades of experience with new research and interviews with people across the public and private sectors.
This research led us to three principles we must follow for us to buy better and a future where human-centered procurement technology puts public outcomes first.
Please check out the brief, and let us know your thoughts! We’d be curious to hear what resonates, and if you might share this with your network.
We’re also exploring collaborating with people across sectors on next steps, so if you’d like to stay in touch, you can add your name here.
