Money is tight right now and tough times call for a renewed focus on how public money is spent. Every year the UK spends £300bn on third party suppliers so it is vital to ensure we are getting the best value from the goods and services we buy. A big part of any public budget is not just the question of what things to buy, but the process of agreeing the terms and procedures for acquiring them.  The technical term is public procurement. So, in this episode we're going to have a brief look at what's happening in the world of public procurement, or smarter spending, and what's being done to not only improve the UK's procurement regime, but also make it more innovation-friendly. We hear from Lucy Sydney, Head of Head of Strategic Relations, Procurement Reform at the Cabinet Office who's working on the UK's Government's new Transforming Public Procurement Bill. We meet Hao Zheng, Co-Founder and CEO of RoboK, a 3C sensing software company at the coalface of innovating in the transport sector. And we also hear from the Catapult's Ecosystem Director for Place Leadership, Sam Markey.   Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes: Our Smarter Spending Hub has a range of case studies, playbooks for professionals, and an e-learning module that we've produced in collaboration with Open and Agile Smart Cities. You can also learn about the work of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), a new partnership created to inspire, upskill and empower public authorities in innovation-friendly procurement procedures. You can also learn more about what the UK Government is doing to improve our publice procurement regime by visiting the Transforming Public Procurement landing page where you can find webinars, factsheets, summary guides and even a checklist to help prepare for when the new rules come into force. If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: [email protected]. We're looking forward to hearing from you! To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter! Follow the show! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.   

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