About Us

The International Research Study of Public Procurement (IRSPP) is a multi-national research study of Public Procurement practices and policies which develops international comparative procurement benchmarks and enhances the body of knowledge in government procurement. The research group was founded in 1992 by two eminent scholars: Professor Jan Telgen and Professoressa Christine Mary Harland. Both retired in December 2023. 

IRSPP has developed to become a unique and prestigious group of eminent procurement executives and academic researchers from centres of excellence in procurement around the world who are endeavoring to develop the procurement body of knowledge and the procurement profession.

Approximately every two years, a selected number of senior practitioners (CPO, heads of department) from countries and international organizations are invited to meet in person and exchange ideas and visions through an intensive workshop. The research findings from these workshops are shared through practitioner reports, books and academic journal articles.

Details of the countries and organisations that have participated in IRSPP meetings can be found HERE.

IRSPP 10 – August 2024 

We recently held our tenth research meeting (IRSPP10) in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. This IRSPP focused on understanding how to build the contribution and capability of procurement so that it can play an ever-greater role in delivering public value, and creating opportunities for the grand challenges ahead.  

The 2024 workshop addressed how emerging technologies are being used to strengthen public procurement for greater impact on societal challenges. Cases were built and they are currently being analysed around two key questions:

Q1) How does public procurement contribute to addressing pressing societal challenges (SDGs)? 

Q2) In this context, how are emerging technologies being deployed to strengthen PP capability? The summary report can be found here: HERE