Webinar – Recovering from the Pandemic: European Initiatives, U.S. Perspectives – 14 May 2020

Thursday, May 14, 2020 – 9:00 Eastern US – 14:00 UK – 15:00 CET

Register here

The European Union has launched important initiatives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in joint procurement and funding innovation to drive the recovery. In the United States, governments’ initial response was marred by fierce competition between federal and state governments for critical medical supplies.  But U.S. governments have a long tradition of joint procurement (called “cooperative purchasing”) among governments, and in funding innovation through various initiatives including the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.  International organizations, including the United Nations, have also played an important part in coordinating international relief efforts in procurement. 

Join a free hourlong webinar held through George Washington University Law School’s Government Procurement Program and the University of Turin’s School of Management and Economics, to discuss the European Union and its member states’ initiatives, and U.S. and transnational perspectives.  Experts will present the European initiatives, with commentary from U.S.-based businesspeople, attorneys and academics with long experience in cross-border procurement and innovation through public procurement. 

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Program SlidesPDF

Program Chat

Background Article for Webinar

Registrants were from over thirty countries across five continents

Panelists

Lucian Cernat
  • Lucian Cernat, Chief Trade Economist, European Commission – welcoming remarks.
Bertrand Wert
  • Bertrand Wert, PhD, Innovation Maker for the European Innovation Council, Accelerator, in the Business Acceleration Services team, where he has been in charge since 2015 of supporting innovative SMEs that are members of the Accelerator to gain access to public and private procurers of innovation. The EIC Accelerator programme supports the most innovative European SMEs, via grants and equity, to commercialise their innovative solutions and to look for investors. Bertrand worked from 2009 to 2015 for Directorate General GROW of the European Commission, in the team developing the “Innovation Union” strategy. Meanwhile, piloting demand-driven policy interventions, he managed several public procurement networks or “buyers’ groups” of innovation (Pre-Commercial Procurement & Public Procurement of Innovation).
Jekaterina Novikova
  • Jekaterina Novikova is Innovation Policy Coordinator at the European Commission, Directorate General for Research and Innovation in the newly created European Innovation Council Task Force. Her areas of responsibility include innovation procurement and the connection of innovation ecosystems under the Horizon Europe program.  An EU official since 2005, she spent five years in management positions implementing FP-7 and Horizon 2020 research projects. As an EU fellow, she spent the academic year 2018-2019 in the US, at the University of California, Berkeley where she conducted research on how the US government, universities and industry facilitate the transition of research results to market. Jekaterina is a Certified Chartered Accountant and holds an MA in European Affairs from Lund University, Sweden.
Ivo Locatelli
  • Ivo Locatelli, Senior Expert–Team Leader in innovation procurement at the European Commission (DG GROW (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs)).  Ivo has written on innovative procurement in the European Union, and will draw on his assessment of Europe’s experience to discuss next steps in joint procurement among the member states.
Stephan Corvers
  • Stephan Corvers (s.corvers@corvers.com), managing director of Corvers Procurement Services (Netherlands), a private company which has been operating in the field of European procurement since 2000. Corvers has been involved in a wide range of procurement projects, relating to new markets, new products or services, new distribution channels, and new technology. Corvers is a contractor for the EAFIP-initiative of the European Commission.

Discussants

Benedetta Audia
  • Benedetta Audia, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) as Corporate Legal Advisor, where she heads the commercial and institutional law practice and has played a lead role in UNOPS’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  She is an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School, a Visiting Professor of Public International Law at LUISS Guido Carli University.  She holds a Juris Doctor degree in Public International Law and two Masters Degrees (in Corporate Law and Legal Advanced World Studies).
Justin Kaufman
  • Justin Kaufman, General Counsel, NASPO ValuePoint, leading U.S. publicly led “cooperative purchasing” vehicle, coordinated through the National Association of State Procurement Officers (NASPO) and used by all 50 states and hundreds of local governments across the United States. Justin has worked for many years in cooperative purchasing in the United States, and was a contributing author to Joint Public Procurement and Innovation:  Lessons Across Borders (G. Racca & C. Yukins, eds., 2019).
Thomas Hendrix
  • Thomas Hendrix, Managing Partner, Decisive Point, a venture advisory and investment firm focused on advanced technology. Tommy works regularly with emerging companies in the SBIR program, building innovative solutions for government.  Tommy served in the US Army for nearly 10 years as a Ranger, Green Beret, and Commander in a counter-terrorism response force.  He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS in Law and Legal Systems from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and is a candidate for a Master of Studies in Law at George Washington University. Prior research he has done on improving innovation in government-funded research and development is here.

Moderators

Gabriella Racca

Professors Gabriella Racca (University of Turin) and Christopher Yukins (George Washington University

A special note to the international procurement community — the World Bank needs your help in its worldwide survey of emergency procurement practices for the COVID-19 pandemic, available here

Past Webinars

Published by

Christopher Yukins

Professor Christopher Yukins teaches in the government procurement law program (founded in 1960) at The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C.

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