How to win public sector contracts through sustainability

Supplier relationships with the public sector have come under increased scrutiny in recent years as strained supply chains, rising costs and stronger demands around sustainability have began to make an impact. The public sector naturally has stricter rules of engagement with its suppliers than other industries due to the critical nature of the work it undertakes and the pandemic has only amplified this. However, as the need to tackle wider planetary challenges such as resource preservation and climate change, the sustainable rules of engagement are creating a new supplier dynamic.

For the IT industry in particular, there's one major target that all suppliers and partners should have in mind when working with the public sector, the Greening Government ICT and Digital Services Strategy 2020 - 2025. This strategic policy sets out how the government will work in partnership with industry and other sectors to provide ICT and digital services to: help achieve the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals, implement the UK Government's 25 Year Environment Plan and help meet the Government's net zero obligations and commitments.

Within the greening government ICT policy, there are three business rules outlined that suppliers are asked to follow in order to support the public sector and foster healthy relationships.

Rule 1: Going Net Zero in Carbon.

The current government message around reaching net zero is a target of 2050, however, continued monitoring of progress is likely to mean a growing focus as years go by. By eliminating Scope 3 emissions where possible through its supply chain, the public sector can make huge steps towards carbon neutral processes on the way to net zero.

Suppliers can help the public sector go net zero by decarbonising their own processes and using innovative procedures such as remanufactured hardware is a key way the IT channel can do so. By adopting carbon neutral processes, suppliers can assist the public sector in reducing Scope 3 emissions by cleaning up its supply chain, as well as assisting with knowledge and expertise on their specific industry.

Rule 2: Creating a circular economy

The long-term success of a sustainable public sector will ultimately depend on the development of a circular economy within its supplier base. Reducing carbon emissions in the short term is a priority but the long-term success will depend on a developed circular economy to reduce the stress that carbon reduction has on processes. Protecting natural resources is also a growing concern and carbon offsetting can only go so far in the long term.

Resource perseveration should be the number one overall goal of a sustainable public sector, ensuring that the natural environment is exploited as little as possible, while prolonging the already scarce resources that the planet has. By creating a circular economy that the public sector can operate within, suppliers in the IT channel can improve time to delivery, reducing the growing pile up of e-waste and positively impact their own bottom line by taking in old technology to be re-used.

Rule 3: Increasing assurance in the supply chain

Reporting in public sector supply chains is now a top priority, both to ensure environmental targets are hit but also that wider ESG initiatives are met. While sustainable targets might be the most widely reported focus, cleaning up the supply chain goes beyond the E of ESG targets. Social and Governance initiatives will be looked at to ensure that forced, bonded and modern day slave labour is eradicated from supply chains, as well as assurance that products are not made from conflict minerals.

Operational resilience also remains a key factor in assured supply chains to protect the critical services supplied by the sector - the global chip shortage recently showed that supply chains aren't bullet proof. With global disruption likely to continue, utilising the existing resources sat in the mountain of e-waste created over the last few decades is a good place to start. And with the technology available to us to create good-as-new second life hardware, this should be the top of every supplier's priority list.

The opportunity lies in sustainability

There is a huge opportunity for the IT channel to be the frontrunners in sustainable engagement with the public sector by abiding by the three rules outlined above. The public sector needs effective, up to date technology as it undergoes digital transformation but wants to do so sustainably and on a tight budget. The latest innovative technology and processes such as remanufacturing allows resellers and suppliers to support the sector across its three rules. It has both short term returns of cost saving and reliability of supply, as well as long term investment into the sector through sustainability and circular economy processes.

Working with the public sector in a sustainable manner is now a necessity and the IT industry should be taking the lead in best practice, but suppliers must either learn to adapt to meet the new sustainable rules of engagement or seek support in doing so, otherwise they ultimately will miss out on securing contracts due to lack of focus on sustainability targets.

Steve Haskew is head of sustainability and social leadership at Circular Computing