I was awarded a Mid-Career Fellowship by the British Academy for academic year 2022/23.
The fellowships ‘support outstanding individual researchers and outstanding communicators who will promote public engagement and understanding of the humanities and social sciences’. The award was a great honour and a big opportunity for me.
My project was entitled ‘Digital technologies and public procurement. Gatekeeping and experimentation in digital public governance’ and this is the high-level summary:
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technologies by the public sector … Big data, blockchain, machine learning, and other forms of artificial intelligence increasingly underpin public governance and public services, such as digital healthcare. Procurement regulation plays a dual role in this context: gatekeeping and experimentation. Firstly, procurement rules are the gatekeeper of the development and acquisition of digital technologies, control the interaction between public and private actors, and guide the deployment of digital technologies. Secondly, procurement practice is itself a living lab for experimentation with digital technologies to improve governance and prevent corruption, collusion, and the wastage of taxpayers’ funds. Aiming to improve public governance and public service delivery in the digital space, this project examines the dual role of procurement in relation to digital technology adoption.
The project involved writing up the identically titled monograph, as well as a series of blog posts based on working papers, policy briefings, online workshops and a public lecture. This page provides links to all these materials (as available).
Blog posts and analysis items (generalist)
What are the main governance opportunities and challenges for procurement digitalisation? (University of Bristol Law School Research Blog, 5 December 2022).
‘The UK public sector is already using AI more than you realise – without oversight it’s impossible to understand the risks’ (The Conversation, 24 May 2023).
‘Can the government just go and “confidently and responsibly” buy artificial intelligence?’ (University of Bristol Law School Research Blog, 26 May 2023).
‘The UK wants to export its model of AI regulation, but it’s doubtful the world will want it’ (The Conversation, 7 June 2023).
Blog posts (specialist)
Public procurement governance as an information-intensive exercise, and the allure of digital technologies (HTCaN, 12 September 2022).
Digital procurement governance: drawing a feasibility boundary (HTCaN, 29 September 2022).
Emerging risks in digital procurement governance (HTCaN, 21 October 2022).
Governing the assessment and taking of risks in digital procurement governance (HTCaN, 21 November 2022).
Ensuring algorithmic transparency through public contracts? (The Digital Constitutionalist, 24 November 2022).
Regulating public and private interactions in public sector digitalisation through procurement (HTCaN, 8 February 2023).
‘Procurement tools for AI regulation by contract. Not the sharpest in the shed’ (HTCaN, 24 February 2023).
‘Two roles of procurement in public sector digitalisation: gatekeeping and experimentation’ (HTCaN, 10 March 2023).
‘External oversight and mandatory requirements for public sector digital technology adoption’ (HTCaN, 12 April 2023).
Working papers
‘The technological promise of digital governance: procurement as a case study of “policy irresistibility”’ (12 September 2022).
‘Revisiting the promise: A feasibility boundary for digital procurement governance’ (29 September 2022).
‘Identifying emerging risks in digital procurement governance’ (21 October 2022).
‘Governing the assessment and taking of risks in digital procurement governance‘ (21 November 2022).
‘Regulating public and private interactions in public sector digitalisation through procurement: the clash between agency and gatekeeping logics’ (8 February 2023).
‘Procurement tools for AI regulation by contract. Not the sharpest in the shed’ (24 February 2023).
‘Competition Implications of Procurement Digitalisation and the Procurement of Digital Technologies by Central Purchasing Bodies’ (2 March 2023).
‘Two roles of procurement in the transition towards digital public governance: procurement as regulatory gatekeeper and as site for public sector experimentation’ (10 March 2023).
‘Discharging procurement of the digital regulation role: external oversight and mandatory requirements for public sector digital technology adoption’ (7 April 2023).
Policy Briefings and Written Submissions
‘Successful procurement digitalisation requires more data, in-house expertise, and improved governance mechanisms’ (Dec 2022) University of Bristol Policy Briefing 123.
‘Guaranteeing public sector adoption of trustworthy AI - a task that should not be left to procurement’ (Jun 2023) University of Bristol Policy Briefing 133.
Submission to the public consultation on the UK’s March 2023 White Paper "A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation" (19 June 2023), co-authored with A Charlesworth, K Fotheringham, C Gavaghan and C Torrible (Centre for Global Law and Innovation, University of Bristol Law School).
Webinars and Public Lecture Recordings
‘Tech fixes for procurement problems?’ (University of Bristol Law School and GW Law Government Procurement; 15 December 2022). Slides (here) and recording (here).
‘Can procurement be used to effectively regulate AI?’ (University of Bristol Law School and GW Law Government Procurement; 30 May 2023). Slides (here) and recording (here).
‘AI in the public sector: can procurement promote trustworthy AI and avoid commercial capture?’ (University of Bristol Law School; 4 July 2023). Slides (here) and recording (here).
