Smart procurement for smart cities

#Discussion(General) [ via IoTGroup ]

The necessity to provide a flawless framework to attract startups and test technologies in a low-risk environment before moving to full scale (through RFP, for instance) has encouraged innovative cities to think differently. A solution has emerged with modularity. By breaking down the procurement process into pieces, local governments have been able to dedicate more attention to the first and most critical stage of the procurement process: the selection of a relevant technology.

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By breaking down the procurement process into pieces, local governments can dedicate more attention to the most critical stage of the procurement process: selection of a relevant technology.

By calling on vendors to test and demonstrate their solutions at a small scale before moving to RFI or RFP, cities have been able to gain flexibility and agility, identify failures earlier and make the whole experience of working with local governments much smoother. For the innovators, small-scale experiments (a.k.a. "pilots") are an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to solve real-world problems with real-world solutions. It allows them to collaborate closely with the cities in creating the specifications for a future product or solution.
A forerunner of this approach is Kansas City, Missouri. Through its Innovation Partnership Program, Kansas City has created a sandbox environment to enable innovators to showcase their solutions before embarking on the long and uncertain procurement journey. For the city, the advantage is two-fold. It minimizes the risks associated with the adoption of new solutions, and it also gives the city access to new technologies at no cost. In return, Kansas City grants access to the city data and infrastructure to the IPP’s participants.

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