ODU SHARES PROCUREMENT KNOWLEDGE

Old Dominion University and the Virginia Department of General Services, Division of Purchases and Supply, are teaming with the University of Notre Dame to share knowledge and the lessons learned from implementing e-procurement and strategic sourcing programs.

ODU joined Notre Dame at the National Association of Educational Buyers (NARB) e-Procurement Institute and presented Virginia's e-procurement program for universities and other institutions for higher education to reduce administrative costs and leverage buying power.

Tim Gibney, assistant vice president of procurement services for the University of Notre Dame, served as a keynote speaker at the annual Public Procurement Forum Dec. 9, and shared the strategies implemented to launch their successful e-procurement and strategic sourcing program.

"Our eVA program is the smart way to do business throughout the Commonwealth, and it's time to realize that restructuring procurement processes and conducting business electronically, reduces administrative costs, allows more services to be provided and improves overall efficiency," said Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner.

EVA, Virginia's internet based electronic portal, has provided Virginia the opportunity to make purchasing faster and easier, buy in bulk, and leverage the commonwealth's purchasing power. More than 171 agencies and universities, and 342 local government entities currently use eVA. As of Dec. 1, more than 205,481 purchases have been made, more than 15,480 vendors registered, 805 catalogs and four million products available and more than $1.5 billion has been spent through eVA.

Virginia's annual Public Procurement Forum started in 1987 to educate government purchasers statewide about the Virginia Public Procurement Act, while providing a forum to exchange ideas. In 2001, it was expanded to provide private businesses an opportunity to learn how to do business with state and local governments.

The forum was sponsored by the Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of General Services, Division of Purchases and Supply. For more information on the Commonwealth of Virginia's e-procurement program log on to www.eVA.state.va.us <http://www.eva.state.va.us/> or contact Ron Bell, (804) 786-3846.