Simplifying procurement to get benefits to Kiwis sooner

Engaging companies to deliver digital services can be a challenge when you work for government. You’ve got 71 procurement rules to follow and a fast-changing tech landscape to navigate.

Luckily, there are things you can do that make it simpler. As a result, it’s easier to find the right people for the job, you can get projects started faster and you deliver benefits sooner.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a guide showing three ways to simplify procurement:

1. Delivering projects in small stages.
2. Using the Marketplace procurement panel.
3. Building relationships with your procurement team and potential suppliers.

Agile in 15 minutes video

Since our Agile training is on pause for maternity leave, we thought Henrik Kniberg’s classic Agile Product Ownership in a Nutshell video might tide people over.

It’s coming up to its 10th birthday and is still one of the best summaries of the Agile way of working out there.

Gran joins the Manila team

Like his fellow greats Socrates, Gandhi and Liberace, Gran goes by his last name.

We have Clarisa to thank for getting him on board. They’re besties from way back and she suggested he apply for the Finance Manager role he now shares with her.

After working for one of the big four accounting companies, Gran has been inspired by Boost and the clients we choose to work with. “We don’t have things like FinCap in the Philippines for example. And it made me think, maybe I could do something to help people in financial hardship.”

“I love it at Boost. Everyone's so fun and welcoming and I'm still adjusting to the chill and relaxed pace. But it's an adjustment I’m willing to make.”

Not least because it leaves plenty of time for Korean barbecue eateries. “Me and my friends are having a blast exploring those, cooking our own food, having conversations through the smoke.”

State of the arts

Aotearoa New Zealand’s cutting edge digital arts and culture conference is now on YouTube.

The National Digital Forum (NDF) conference shares insights on the mahi that’s bringing our art, culture and heritage to life in the digital world. In 2022, NDF went fully virtual for the first time.

This year the presentations included talks on the Pacific Virtual Museum project from Tim Kong (the PVM product owner) and Nick Schuler (the Boost designer).

There are two related challenges when designing an app for people on isolated islands with limited internet access. How can you involve actual users in the design process? And how can you ensure that the app is easy to use regardless of location or bandwidth? The talks share how the team negotiated these challenges just as New Zealand went into the first COVID lockdown.

All NDF22 talks on YouTube