The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) hosted an awards ceremony at GW Law earlier this month, recognizing the law school's Government Procurement Law Program for the contributions of its professors in support of USTDA's Global Procurement Initiative: Understanding Best Value (GPI). Faculty members in attendance were also honored for their commitment to promoting international best practices in public procurement around the world.
The GPI provides training to government procurement officials in emerging market countries, with the goals of enhancing transparency and demonstrating the benefits of best value procurement versus least cost procurement. This training, led by the professors of the Government Procurement Law Program, provides the tools for governments to make smarter, longer-term investments with overall savings, while also enabling U.S. companies to compete on a level playing field for international tenders.
USTDA Acting Director Thomas R. Hardy said in a press release, in part, "We appreciate the opportunity to partner with GW and look forward to building on our success with these outstanding professors."
For four years, USTDA and GW Law have partnered under the GPI. The ceremony celebrated several successes the partnership has produced, including the development of new public procurement degree awarding programs at the Universities of Botswana and Romania, with professors providing significant contributions on curriculum development for the former.
"We have been delighted to partner with USTDA in their global procurement initiatives. It has been very rewarding to work with developing countries and to hear how our work has transformed their procurement systems," said Jessica Tillipman, Assistant Dean for Field Placement.
"This partnership created among government officials, academia, and industry is a tremendous step toward achieving best value contracting and broadening transparency," said Dean Blake D. Morant in his opening remarks. "Moreover, our students are privileged to witness our faculty as the model of ethical lawyering leadership. I am proud of our faculty's engagement and the perspectives we bring to our students every day."