Spend Network have been awarded €60,000 by Organicity, an EU project at the centre of the development of future cities. Organicity aims to test how the cities of the future could offer a service for experimentation with urban data and is a collaborative research project funded by the European Commission.

Spend Network are a data analysis company, compiling UK Government spending data at www.spendnetwork.com and tender data at openopps.com. The funding will be used to create a visualisation of government spending and contract data in London and will make use of new data assets from Organicity. They’re working on a new tool that combines and analyses spending, markets, supplier information and contracts.

The project will enable Spend Network to provide SMEs – who often struggle to participate in public procurement – with a better understanding of the public sector market, to help generate informed proposals and identify opportunities to sell to government.

“We’re delighted to be part of the Organicity process,” said Ian Makgill, founder of Spend Network. “This project is going to make it easier for SMEs to sell to government while broadening London’s open data environment. It’s a testament to our experience in government procurement data and we’re looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

Spend Network are looking for beta users who would be willing to try and give feedback on the tool. These beta users should be SMEs who have considered doing business with London’s public sector bodies. Previous experience of conducting business with these bodies is not required. If your company has not been able to trade with the public sector, or finds the process impenetrable, Spend Network would like to engage with you to understand if their tool is making the process of trading with governments easier to understand. Contact Helen for more details.