Government Entities Face An eProcurement Wake-Up Call

The U.S. economy has never seen a clearer picture of the consequences of friction in government procurement practices than it is witnessing right now. Earlier this week, The Washington Post described the current state of medical supplies procurement as “chaos,” and despite a surge in private sector companies stepping forward to volunteer their services, adjust supply chains and connect governments with necessary products, state-level officials said a lack of clarity into available inventory, rising costs linked to spiked demand, and an overall sense of disorganization are preventing the flow of supplies from getting to where they need to go. COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, could prove to become a catalyst for digitization in government procurement operations, according to Mark Eigenbauer, president of BidNet.