Lessons for public procurement from Europe
Legal expert Jussi Ratsula and tendering consultant Satu Salminen graduated from the Public Procurement Excellence 2022 programme, a training programme funded by the European Commission that was launched in 2018. The programme aims to promote the special skills of public procurement specialists and to create a lasting alumni network of the participants.
It was implemented by the Austrian Federal Procurement Agency (BBG) and the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), which have already organised two previous rounds of training programmes in addition to the programme that started in 2022. In total, more than 90 public procurement professionals from over 20 European countries have participated in the programmes.
Hansel’s senior consultant Annika Hämäläinen participated in an earlier round of the programme and was present at the closing conference of the 2022 training programme in March, to which alumni from previous years were also invited. Hansel’s Managing Director Anssi Pihkala attended a panel discussion at the closing conference. The discussion covered the development paths of central contracting entities and the importance of innovative and sustainable public procurement.
Sustainability and innovation at the core of training
The purpose of Public Procurement Excellence is to strengthen specific expertise in public procurement. The participants gain access to a comprehensive toolkit of best practice tools, templates and methodologies they can use to improve and ensure transparent and compliant processes and competitive and accessible markets that promote the access of SMEs to the centralised public procurement market, for example. The programme’s overarching themes are the implementation of environmentally friendly procurement and the promotion of innovation – in line with the European Commission’s recommendations on public procurement.
The participants benefit from the long-standing market expertise in public procurement of the European Commission and the Austrian joint contracting entity, complemented by the up-to-date academic knowledge of the Vienna University of Economics and Business. The training programme started with a two-week intensive course in Vienna in September 2022 and ended with a one-week intensive course in Vienna in March 2023. In addition to the intensive courses, the programme, worth 15 credits, included remote lectures, online studies and a thesis.
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