On the 12^th and 13^th of June, Geoscience Ireland attended a two day United Nations (UN) procurement conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event was jointly organised by Enterprise Ireland and its equivalent organisations in the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Netherlands and Denmark. In addition to Geoscience Ireland, seven other Irish companies who supply United Nations agencies across a range of areas were present. The UN represents a global market of over USD 10 billion annually for all types of goods and services.

The purpose of the procurement was to give companies the opportunity to meet with the agencies outlined below.

• United Nations Secretariat (UN Secretariat)
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
• Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
• United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
• World Food Programme (WFP)
• World Health Organization (WHO)

The United Nations Global Market (UNGM) website is the primary procurement portal used by the UN agencies to advertise the services they require. The UNGM acts as a single window, through which potential suppliers may register with the 18 UN Agencies using the UNGM as their supplier roster. These agencies account for 95% of the total UN procurement spend.

Beyond UNGM, another possible route to success comes in the form of the UNOPS Possibilities Portal. The Possibilities Portal is a free and easy-to-use portal that enables innovative companies to “pitch” their unique solutions and potentially elevate their visibility within UNOPS. Through the Possibilities Portal, UNOPS engages with the private sector and the supplier community to raise its awareness of the “possibilities” available beyond traditional solutions. The advantage of this approach is that a company with an innovative approach to a particular issue the UNOPs faces can be put forward outside of the typical procurement process.

For further information about UN procurement opportunities, please contact stephen.walsh@gsi.ie.