(Washington, DC) – For the second year in a row, the District of Columbia's Office of Contracting and Procurement won the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) George Cronin Silver Award for Procurement Excellence. The award was presented to the District for its innovative procurement “wiki” pages during NASPO’s Annual Conference held September 8th-11th, in St. Louis, Missouri.  

“This award recognizes the dedication, hard work and creativeness our team is putting into making procurement work,” said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “Taxpayers can rest assure that their money is being well spent and that we are using technology to improve our purchases of the best of goods and services.” 

Using “wiki” technology, contractors are given easy access to procurement updates, documents, ideas, suggestions, images and videos. Through its “Questions and Answers” section, wiki allows real-time collaboration between contractors and government officials. Additionally, vendors are able to view recordings of the pre-solicitation conference as well as press conferences regarding the procurement. “An open web forum like our wiki procurement pages allows all interested parties to have the same access to the same information, thereby ensuring a level playing field that is often lacking in the world of procurement,” said Gragan.

“With the help of the Office of the Chief Technology Officer and committed employees, we are truly raising the standards for the District by ensuring that the procurement process is transparent and accessible by District residents and businesses,” said Chief Procurement Officer David P. Gragan. “The Cronin Award is a great honor for us and highlights the improvements we’ve made over the last year. We intend to use this method as a model for future procurements.”

The Cronin Award honors outstanding public procurement initiatives and promotes the adoption of these ideas and practices throughout the Country. Since 1985, the Cronin Awards have recognized innovative state procurement programs and promoted the sharing of ideas between states. NASPO was formally established on January 29, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. 

The National Association of State Procurement Officials is a non-profit association dedicated to strengthening the procurement community through education, research, and communication. It is made up of the directors of the central purchasing offices in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories of the United States.

For more information about the District's procurement process, please call (202) 727-0252.  For more information about NASPO, please visit their website at naspo.org.