"Different and curious" Public Contracts of Euroalert.net that are Mentioned on the Article of El País

As all of those who follow us are already aware of, Euroalert.net tries to be very active in the public sector information reuse community in Europe. This is something that has been shown several times on the forums Euroalert.net has attended to talk about its experience in creating value from European public contract information.

For this reason, now, when one of Spain's national newspapers of biggest daily circulation like El País, echoes this phenomenon of Public Administration releasing public data and mentions Euroalert.net among the private initiatives dedicated to give it added value, we really feel very proud because of the recognition. Naiara Galarraga's article talks about the situation of the movement that pursues open data as part of the Open Government initiatives and cites opinions of relevant Spanish people like Alberto Ortiz de Zárate form Basque Government, Jose Manuel Alonso from CTIC Foundation, Aitor García from Asociación Pro Bono Público or Sebastián Muriel General Manager at Red.es, among many others. We had the opportunity to share with them the PSI Meeting 2010 that got European Open Data Community together in Madrid, called by Proyecto Aporta and ePSIPlatform.

So, with the same spirit of free information and data access, and due to the wave of emails received asking us to told them which were the calls for tenders mentioned by the article of El País, here you have a "public contracts' appetizer", some funny and others curious:

• Curious, for instance, is the call for tenders for the supply of berets to the French Army (up to now we don't know who has wined it and which is the total amount, so you will have to pay attention to Euroalert.net ;-)...)
• What is the purpose of the Danish Maersk Oil company with the publication of a public tender about Christmas tree supply is something we really don't know... The question is that not any thing is a Christmas tree..., it seems that the cpv was not right this time, or maybe is that the well-heads are to "decorate" the tree...?
• The UK Government Department for International Development awarded four contracts of supply of condoms to support a cooperation and prevention HIV contagion Program.
• And the jewel of the crown, the contract with the highest value: the award of a contract with a value of 3,359,928,000 GBP by Highways Agency, for hiring of construction works of highways and roads in the UK.

As you all know, more interesting contracts, more business and more opportunities in public tenders market in the European Union, always on the Call for tenders section on Euroalert.net.

Euroalert.net will be again at the Open Days 2010!

Everything is ready! This year we will be also in Brussels to live the 8th European Week of the Regions and Cities, also named the Open Days 2010. The events will be from 4th to 7th October this year and they will be developed under the title “Europe 2020: Competitiveness, co-operation and cohesion for all the regions".

As you could already read on Euroalert.net a couple of weeks ago, registration is now open and the deadline will be on 22nd September, so you can register to any of the 130 events that will take place on the first week of October. Although the organizers, DG REGIO and Committee of the Regions, have estimated to welcome about 6,000 people, you should better register on the events you are interested in asap, vacancies will be covered quickly!

As you know, Euroalert.net follows very close the biggest event of European regions and cities, as we already did in 2006 and in 2008, because this is a great chance to know first-hand what is done all around Europe. The experience of Euroalert.net staff at the Open Days 2009 was really good, because we had the opportunity to attend some very interesting events, like B-Creative, or "Restoring Growth through innovation" within Open Days University. Besides, we also had the opportunity to know a lot of people and exchanging experiences with them.

This year, we will also try to attend the events organized and promoted by members of Euroalert.net community as we did last year at the reception of North East England Office in Brussels, or at the Stockholm Region offices opening. Hope to see you all at the Open Days 2010 in October!

Euroalert participates in PSI Meeting 2010 with the European open data community

As those of you who follow our Twitter channel already know, and as we announced on this blog a while ago, on June 9th we participated in the PSI Meeting 2010. We were gently invited by the organizers, the Aporta project and ePSIPlatform of the European Commission. It was a very interesting event in which we could increase our knowledge and share our experience with reuse of public sector information.

The day was mostly a discussion meeting on PSI reuse from their different perspectives: on its future, its challenges and changes that society and governments should take for their proper development. Our director, Jose Luis Marín, participated as a speaker at the second of the four round tables, sharing Euroalert's experience together with other companies that have also managed to create business models by adding value to data released by the public sector.

We also took this opportunity to announce the launch of our project showmethetenders.net where we collect the successes and failures of Euroalert in several European Union countries while trying to unlock public data on EU tenders. As you know, we are making a considerable effort, to which we invite you to join us, to try to collect this information, primarily available in Official Journals and procurement platforms in reusable formats. By the moment, we have had considerable successes in countries like Ireland and Belgium, where we have had the responsiveness of those responsible: we really appreciate their support and commitment to the community for the reuse of public sector information.

But we have also had very much-talked-about failures like the one that Chris Taggart has nicely described, due to the situation that occurs in the UK about the outsourcing of the management of public data. In these cases, the release of data which are public but managed by private companies with their own economic interests gets complicated, and only strong political support can provide a solution to this issue.

We've also included some very shocking cases as the Spanish Government Procurement Platform or the European Commission itself through the EuropeAid Cooperation Office, which has denied the release of the datasets contracts for development aid!!! Their reasons for this refusal, furthermore, are not strong at all, and of course especially in the latter case it is not consistent at all that the European Commission itself does not bet on leading by being an example in the implementation of the Directive. Especially considering that it is not feasible for small businesses or start-ups to embark on legal proceedings to try to defend a more open position and in line with the Directive, which it seems that can only be obtained when there is a political commitment.

Over 19 addresses of relevant experts coming from public governments (including the European Commission) and platforms, companies that reuse information and trade associations representing their interests and civil society organizations, the main issues, perspectives and initiatives in the world of Open Data were reaped.

First names of the world of open data, such as Javier Hernández Ros, Head of Unit of Access to Information of the European Commission, Chris Taggart, a member of the working group of the Open Knowledge Foundation dedicated to the opening of public sector information in the United Kingdom, Alberto Ortiz de Zárate, director of the service of Citizen's Attention of the Basque Government, from Open Data Euskadi, or Daniel Dietrich, president of the German nonprofit organization Open Data Network, participated in the four round tables.

Thanks to all who attended, those who see the event by the streaming, those who interacted and followed through Twitter contributions... Thank you once again because we can demonstrate that by sharing information and knowledge we all get further.

Euroalert.net launches the new 10ders Product Reports on Public Procurement and helps you exporting to new markets

Last week we announced you the launching of a new set of 10ders Observatory products focused on providing information and data about public procurement and specially adapted to SMEs active on exports. At that moment we already advised you to keep posted as we intended to be launching different Euroalert.net products in the days to come and will be providing you more details.

We are therefore very proud to present you the features of one of the products with a highest demand among those developed by Euroalert.net: the 10ders Customized Product Report on Public Procurement.

In the last two decades the way to internationalise a company and start exporting has changed dramatically and traditional ways of doing it are no longer valid: acting quickly, gathering relevant information, analysing it and directing commercial actions within your Internationalization Plan in the most suitable markets, has become the most necessary elements of a strategy. Although international fairs and commercial missions might still have their role to play, what it is really critical now is to always have more information than your competitors about the characteristics of the market to make the most of any commercial action your export department undergoes.

As export manager in an SME, wouldn't it be interesting to know who's the distributor who has sold the most to governments in your sector in any given market? Wouldn't' you like to know who's your perfect partner to provide the installation or maintenance services for your product? Or maybe knowing the public bodies which have been the most active in purchasing your product or service in any market? What about knowing who's your major competitor in one particular market and analyse whether it is accessible in this moment?

These questions and many more have now answer thanks to 10ders Product Reports on Public Procurement from 10ders Observatory which offer you the information and listings of the most active economic actors and contracting public authorities which have purchased the most your products and services by publishing tender announcements.

Only with a few clicks and for only 35 €, a really very accessible cost for any company no matter its dimension, you will have your own customized report in your e-mail.

They are very simple to request: you only need to follow the indications to buy your 10ders Customized Product Report in Public Procurement from 10ders Observatory at the Euroalert.net on-line store. First, you need to select the country or countries you want to analyse with the report, and then you describe your product or service. If your already know the cpv codes which define your product just indicate them but if you don't, don't worry, with the 10ders Product Reports in Public Procurement special launching offer, you only need to describe them and we will define the codes for you with no extra cost.

And remember that the more reports you ask in one same order, the more you will save in each of them: 10 product reports in public procurement will only cost 290 €, and you will save 15% in each of them.

If you have any question or wish to make any suggestion that will help us to improve this new service, you only need to send us an email to TenderReports@euroalert.net and we will answer all your questions.

Besides, now you can also benefit from the 10ders Product Report Special Launching Offer and get you customized reports in the very best conditions! Aren't you trying?

Euroalert.net universalizes market intelligence in international tendering and brings it closer to SMEs

Over the past months, access of SMEs to public procurement has jumped to the forefront of Government agendas in almost all EU countries. In several occasions the Commission has shown its determination to support smaller companies in their access to public procurement market, many strategies and documents have been drawn up in this regard, a European code of best practices facilitating access by SMEs to Public Procurement Contracts was published in June 2008, Commissioners have made declarations on this issue... All this is fine, but what companies really need are facts, actions and instruments to achieve the real opportunities that public procurement provide to SMEs.

From Euroalert.net team we have gradually reinforced a conviction we already had when started in all this project: the huge amount of data which is available and waiting to be used by companies of any size who aim at having an international presence...

The participation of Euroalert.net in various forums related to EU Public Procurement, as well as company's consulting activities with firms operating in international tendering or our intervention in events organized by our partners in their sectors of interest have confirmed our conviction.

Euroalert.net already provided you with tools to publish in your website or Intranet procurement notices or awards which represent real business opportunities for your business. Now, with 10ders Observatory you will have a full set of information tools on public procurement and the necessary data to plan your strategy on international tendering markets and bid for public contracts, to adapt your plan of internationalization and to analyse the best way to access the opportunities offered by the public sector in the European Union. Our goal is to provide business support organizations as well as companies with the best tools tailored to each of their needs.

One product for each need, so you can pick only what you really need in order to get maximum value at the minimum cost: this is our goal. A purpose which becomes particularly important in the current economic scenario.

• If you want macro statistics to evaluate the performance of your sector in different markets, what you need are the 10ders Trends Statistical Series on Public Procurement adapted to your targeted sectors
• If what you want is the list of the main economic operators in your area of interest, either awarded companies or contracting authorities, then you are looking for 10ders Product Reports on Public Procurement
• If you already know which are the markets you will focus on and you want to be informed about the business opportunities, announcements or awards that are coming up in them, then what you need are the 10ders Alerts on Public Procurement
• But if, before all this, the first thing you need is to know how your product or service is defined in public procurement contracts (cpv), then you will probably need 10ders Code Advice on Public Procurement to help you identify the code your product or service is defined by and take advantage of other information tools

We will be soon presenting you all these products step by step, as well as all those which will be developed to complete the series of 10ders Observatory products. Remember that each one of them is a separate product, so that you can make up your own "à la carte" public procurement information system. Also, like all Euroalert.net products, 10ders Observatory is designed to be accessible to small companies and organizations, with products which are all quite cost-effective.

10ders Observatory is ready to work with you and help you to find the best way to maximize your sales abroad, you just have to send us an email to info@euroalert.net and we will contact you.

Euroalert.net and 10ders Observatory provide you with information and data about international public procurement opportunities, then is your turn to use them to do business and make money.

The EU policies and EU funding, described in Euroalert

As all those who follow us already know, Euroalert.net is a primary source for keeping abreast of developments in EU funding regarding to both calls for proposals and European programmes, as we publish daily all information concerning the policies adopted by the EU in our EU Funding section.

To finance these policies, the Union relies on EU Programmes and Initiatives that are later developed in the form of calls for proposals. Euroalert has been maintaining and publishing for more than ten years a comprehensive database in which you can find over 400 European Programmes and Initiatives published since 1972 and over 1,500 calls for proposals. In addition, we are continually updating the quality of such contents.

Well, besides putting these tools for searching funding opportunities at your disposal, in Euroalert we want to improve our section of EU funding and so we have published new pages on which we explain in detail the ins and outs of EU funding: where it comes from, how it is managed, to which areas it is addressed...

• On the one hand EU funding sources explains where the EU obtains the necessary funding to develop its policies, what it does spends these funds on, and how it develops its budget.
• In addition, we dedicate a space to programmes and initiatives that fund the policies of the European Union, and to explain it, you can find four groups of programmes: instruments of cohesion and regional development, instruments of common agricultural and fisheries policy instruments, cross-border cooperation programmes, transnational and interregional and other instruments or policies.
• Finally, the section Calls for proposals describes how these funding opportunities generated for the development and implementation of the various community policies are disseminated.
  
  

Moreover, if you want to know which Euroalert category covers a singular policy of the EU, or the policies covered by each category, you can consult the table that we have developed and which is also available along with a description of EU policies, in the same Euroalert EU Funding section.

Thus, Euroalert keeps on moving its mission of becoming an authority on electronic information about the EU, joining in a single source all the relevant information on EU funding. Soon, we will announce a major step in this line that we are preparing for the whole Euroalert community.

Euroalert will participate in the PSI Meeting 2010, organized by Proyecto Aporta and ePSIplatform

Lately we have announced you that Euroalert has been participating in several events and conferences where we share our experience and learn from our collegues. And we love it.

Our next participation will be in June, when the director of Gateway SCS, José Luis Marín, will be one of the speakers at the PSI Meeting 2010 "Realising the value of Public Sector Information", a meeting aimed to evaluate the economic and social benefits of the policies for the reuse of public sector information.

Invited by the organizers of the event, ePSI Platform (European Public Sector Information Platform) and Proyecto Aporta, our director will participate in the second round table, entitled "Turning the reuse of public sector information into new business models and innovative services", where he will contribute with the Euroalert experience at creating a business model which daily offers you the best content about the European Union, adding value to public sector information: call for proposals for funding projects, daily news about EU and tenders in european countries.

You can already consult the draft agenda of "PSI Meeting 2010" and, though the names have not been made public yet, we can tell you that several high profile speakers representing very high-level institutions in the field of Open Data have confirmed their assistance. The other three round tables are entitled:

• Overview of Europe’s Information Society Strategies: Best practices in policies to release the economic potential of PSI re-use.
• Measuring the economic potential of PSI re-use
• Social Value of PSI

The Proyecto Aporta, under the framework of Plan Avanza, aims to contribute to place Spain in the European vanguard in terms of reuse of public sector information. To this end, from the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Aporta promotes a culture of reuse of information in the field of public administration. For its part, the ePSIplatform, funded by the eContentPlus programme of the European Commission, aims to stimulate the action, to report and to monitor progress towards a stronger and more transparent environment for the growth of national and European reuse markets.

Recently we have been announcing events, initiatives and other activities where Euroalert.net has shared its experience and knowledge, as our participation in FICOD 2009, contributions to the community of open data, such as the publication of data on the British public bodies with notices in the OJEU, or as a case study in terms of business model, as happened with the book Web 2.0. The Business Model with the chapter "Doing business by selling free services", focusing on Euroalert.

The last time was a few months ago when Euroalert participated in the seminar "Smart construction: doing business in the Netherlands", organized by Enterprise Ireland, where we contributed with our experience in tendering and business opportunities with the public sector across the European Union.

You can already register to attend the event in Proyecto Aporta website. We remind you that the meeting will be at the headquarters of the Secretariat of State for Telecommunications and Information Society of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, at 41, Capitán Haya street, Madrid, on June 8 from 8.30 am . See you there!!