NEPO has scooped the award for Digital Service Delivery at the GO Awards for its Open e-procurement platform.
In October 2022, NEPO and twelve North East local authorities launched Open, the e-procurement platform that will transform how businesses find and bid for competitive opportunities. The system has been developed in partnership with Accenture, AWS and Version 1 to ensure that it takes advantage of cutting-edge technology.
Open will replace the NEPO Portal which has been used by NEPO and the twelve North East local authorities. Following a phased implementation, every North East local authority will be using Open for all procurement opportunities.
NEPO is committed to supporting North East suppliers to win work from the public sector and beyond. Designed to unlock better ways of doing procurement, Open supports the entire procurement process from commissioning through to contract management.
The annual GO Awards celebrate the very best procurement achievements from public, private and third sector organisations. Held at the voco St John Hotel in Solihull, the awards are an opportunity to showcase the innovation and best practice demonstrated by procurement teams across the UK.
The Go Award judges praised the Open submission for building a system for the public sector by the public sector. Judges were also impressed by the level of stakeholder engagement undertaken to deliver a system that works for both buyers and suppliers.
Adam Smith, head of commercial and technology at NEPO, said: “We are very proud to have won the Go Award for Digital Service Delivery.
“NEPO prides itself on its pursuit of continuous innovation and being an early adopter of new technology solutions. We believe our procurement systems should help us focus resources, support strategic goals and deliver the best outcomes for our stakeholders.
“That’s why we built and launched Open, NEPO’s e-procurement platform, designed by the public sector for the public sector.
“We’re in the early stages of delivering the potential that Open has. Over the past six months we have launched six separate regional procurement opportunities and registered over 4000 suppliers onto the platform. There’s a lot more to come over the next six months to ensure that we deliver our collective ambitions as a region.”