Federal Procurement: An Instrument to Increase the Rate of Innovation
Abstract
The author's conception of the idea of using Federal procurement to stimulate innovation in public service programs was formulated during his summer employment in 1964 in the Office of the Secretary of Defense while drafting a subcommittee report to the Committee on the Economic Impact of Defense and Disarmament. A President's Science Advisory Committee panel met to discuss a similar proposal on November 15, 1965, at which time it became apparent that other Federal agencies had given prior thought to implementing the proposition. As a student of business control, the author became interested not so much in whether the proposal would work, but rather in its conceptual foundations and general significance for public policy. The latter is the general concern of this paper.
Description
A paper written by Mr. Blaschke for a Harvard University, Science and Public Policy Seminar (Government 260). This paper focuses on how slowly efficient technologies are brought into public service programs at the state and local level including education, housing, and transportation. Institutional and political pressures have worked to maintain the status quo. However, if these barriers can be overcome, innovation will lead to increased economic performance and GDP. The purchasing power of the Federal government is the instrument offered to increase innovation.Collections
Citation
Blaschke, Charles L. (1965). Federal Procurement: An Instrument to Increase the Rate of Innovation. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /158564.