[open-sustainability] Groundbreaking new open data on UK Government supply chain sustainability

[Tyler Christie]

Hi Everyone

Today AMEE released a groundbreaking new study using open data to assess
the impact of the UK Central Government supply chain. Working with Spend
Network <https://spendnetwork.com/> we mapped open data covering over £44Bn
in spend to AMEE environmental data in the first study of its kind using
open data to assess sustainability performance and risk. Check it out
below!

*Explore the data - *All of the data is accessible via AMEE's supply chain
software, which we have opened up to at the following link -
https://www.amee.com/government-departments

*Read about the results - *I have posted the full press release (also on
our blog here
<http://blog.amee.com/2014/11/12/press-release-environmental-and-economic-impact-of-uk-government-spending-revealed/>)
below where we highlight some of the key findings such as £844M is spent on
high financial risk companies while £4.6 billion was spent with low energy
efficiency suppliers.

*Infographic - *We have also posted a useful infographic distilling the
data on our site here -
http://blog.amee.com/2014/11/11/infographic-environmental-and-economic-impact-of-uk-government-spending-revealed/

Please share around to help drive more awareness in Government of these
findings and the opportunity to use data more effectively to improve. Feel
free to contact me if you have any questions!

Best

Tyler

Chief Executive Officer
AMEE
www.amee.com

*email: tyler at amee.com <tyler at amee.com>*


*skype: tyleratameetwitter: @wtylerchristie*

---PRESS RELEASE---

Environmental and economic impact of UK government spending revealed -
millions invested in high-risk supply chains and energy-inefficient
suppliers

Research out today <https://www.amee.com/government-departments> by AMEE, a
company that helps businesses become more energy efficient, and Spend
Network, who analyse government procurement, shows more than £844m was
spent on high financial risk companies by central government in 2013/14.

The analysis, using open spending data, also shows wide variations in
carbon efficiency. Over the same period, £4.6bn was spent with companies
who have low energy and carbon efficiency (when compared to
better-performing peers).

Today's study is the first of its kind and uses each Department's open
spending data to identify spending with companies. This amounts to £44
billion of expenditure in 12 months. This data has been supplemented by
data about supply chains and carbon efficiency for individual companies
sourced from AMEE. Using this information, the researchers were able to
estimate that Government procurement could influence up to 97 million
tonnes of carbon emissions from all supplier activities, representing 15%
of total UK emissions, with 4.7 million tonnes directly related to
Government activities. A concerted effort by Government, engaging all
suppliers to reduce their total carbon footprints, would provide a large
contribution toward reducing total UK emissions and achieving the UK's
carbon budget.


Best and worst performers

The findings show which central government departments are the least
efficient and which have supply chains with the highest financial risk. Of
17 departments assessed, the Department for Education comes out as the
least energy-efficient with a ratio of 193 grams of carbon emissions per £1
spent. This is compared to the best performer, HM Treasury, with just over
15 grams for every £1 spent.

The study found the Home Office to have the most financially risky supply
chains with 25% of spend going to suppliers that have high or very high
risk. In contrast, The Ministry of Justice was found to have the least
at-risk spend profile with 0.2% of spend going to high or very high risk
suppliers.

Social value

It's hoped that today's research will provide a useful tool for policy
makers and citizens interested in procurement, supply chains and
sustainability. Specifically, it helps to address obligations under the Social
Value Act 2013
<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-value-act-information-and-resources/social-value-act-information-and-resources>,
which requires public organisations to incorporate sustainability into
procurement decisions.

Tyler Christie, CEO of AMEE said "These findings indicate the immense
opportunity for Government to cut costs, reduce risk, and achieve its
carbon budget goals through improved data-driven supply chain policies and
management. This is the first analysis of its kind and provides specific,
public data and guidance to implement the Social Value Act in order to
drive carbon reductions and mitigate climate change."

Ian Makgill, MD of Spend Network said "This is a great example of the
potential impact of publishing government spending data as open data. Now,
for the first time ever, the public can see the environmental impact of the
buying decisions made by Government. AMEE and Spend Network will continue
to work together to allow the public to monitor the progress that
Government makes with their supply chain."

Both AMEE and Spend Network are part of the Open Data Institute (ODI)
network. The ODI is an organisation committed to unlocking the social,
economic and environmental value of open data. The ODI's Technical
Director, Jeni Tennison said:

"If government's procurement decisions are to factor in environmental
sustainability, they need to be able to access data about their prospective
suppliers. This study demonstrates how open data about supply chains and
environmental impact could help inform those decisions, and lead to greater
accountability, driving towards a positive environmental impact.

Departments and companies that release open financial, supply chain and
environmental data should be applauded for their transparency, as should
organisations like Spend Network and AMEE who clean, aggregate and extract
value from this data, particularly when they then publish it as open data.
There is much more to do here, in terms of data being available and being
exploited, to help inform the decisions that can reduce the government's
environmental impact."

-ENDS-

Media enquiries:

Tyler Christie, CEO at AMEE. tyler at amee.com Tel: 07554683359

Ian Makgill, MD at Spend Network. ian at spendnetwork.com Tel: 07968348721

Enquiries relating to the ODI: helen.desmond at theodi.org Tel: 07879 644805

Notes to Editors:


   1.

   Today's study analysed all available supply-chain data, for 17
   government departments, all spending that could be attributed to companies
   registered with Companies House amounted to a total spend of £44bn. This
   represents approximately 25% of the overall total spend by these 17
   departments in the financial year 2013/14.
   2.

   All data and findings are available through a public portal on AMEE's
   website here <https://www.amee.com/government-departments>with a
   infographic illustrating key findings on AMEE's blog
   <http://blog.amee.com/2014/11/11/infographic-environmental-and-economic-impact-of-uk-government-spending-revealed/>.
   All data from the research has been made open to improve awareness of the
   Government's supply chain risk and climate impact. Visitors can explore the
   data to compare departments, find detailed analytics for each department,
   and also search through all listed suppliers to see the spend they received
   and their risk and environmental performance data.


About AMEE:

AMEE's mission is to empower businesses to be resilient, competitive and
responsible by making sustainability data more accessible and useful.
Businesses face a range of growing pressure due to social concerns,
environmental risks, and economic volatility. We believe easy access to
data and collaboration with others with enable the innovation businesses
need to overcome these challenges and build a more sustainable economy.
AMEE technology company based in London backed by leading venture capital
investors OATV, Union Square Ventures, and Amadeus Capital Partners.


About Spend Network:

Spend Network is a database of public transactions gathered from published
spending statements and OJEU tenders. Spend Network is the most
comprehensive UK database of spending by Government, and the only national
spend analysis in Local Government. We are a business that publishes data
openly so that anyone can access it and make use of it. We charge for
access to augmented data and for completing research projects. Spend
Network is also part of the Open Data Institute's start up programme.


About the ODI: http://www.theodi.org

The Open Data Institute catalyses the evolution of open data culture to
create economic, environmental, and social value. It unlocks supply,
generates demand, creates and disseminates knowledge to address local and
global issues. Founded by Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt and Professor Sir
Tim Berners-Lee, the ODI is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan
company.
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