It might be a bit late to mention this, as many of you have probably read this month's In Business. But the August/September issue has two great articles relevant to the public sector. You can read them online at the In Business website.

Adrian Wimmers writes about Public service from outside the
public sector, and public service businesses (PBS) - public-private sector parternerships:

"This PSB approach promotes innovation because the public sector goes to tender purely on what services it wants delivered. This creates a competition
for solutions, rather than the cheapest construction cost against a pre-determined specification. Particularly in social infrastructure, breaking the public sector monopoly and tapping the creativity of business, Maori and not-for profit providers could transform the way public services are provided and outcomes are achieved while still offering better value for money than traditional approaches. It also offers predictable revenue streams and investment opportunities for the business community."

Peter Cooper's article, Persistence can pay, looks at the issue of procurement in government:

"The role of procurement in many government departments has often been to only facilitate the tender process in order to negotiate reduced pricing. Tough
times require new solutions and organisations are increasingly turning to their procurement teams to work with suppliers in generating new innovations or ideas. It is a good time to approach public sector customers who may not have
wanted to talk to you in the past about the ideas you have to reduce costs or increase efficiencies."