Fredo Schotanus holds the chair of Public Procurement, Utrecht University's School of Economics. He is also part of the management team of the Utrecht University Centre for Public Procurement (UUCePP). This is an interdisciplinary research centre in the field of public procurement both from a legal and economic perspective. For the chair of Public Procurement, he studies procurement that takes price, quality, people and the environment effectively and efficiently into account. His inaugural address, entitled “A better world starts with public procurement”, explicitly explains his views about, among other things, the (potential) role of public procurement to create a more sustainable and social world, while still procuring efficiently and effectively. 
 
'With the help of public procurement, a major impact can be made on our society. Every year, governments in the EU purchase for billions of euros. The way in which governments purchase works, services or supplies vary enormously: from purchasing on the basis of lowest price only to purchasing while taking into account the achievement of policy objectives such as innovation, sustainability, circularity, air and soil quality, social entrepreneurship, participation, etcetera. The question is how this can be done effectively. What does and does not work well under different circumstances: what, for example, are successful methods for including policy objectives in public tenders?'
 
Specific examples of his research interests include:

• Fulfilling policy objectives with public procurement;
• Social (entrepreneurship), innovative, circular and sustainable purchasing; 
• Effective and efficient public tenders; 
• Public procurement in the healthcare sector;
• Joint purchasing by governments;
• Open public procurement data;
• Economical aspects of supplier selection and contract incentives.

Schotanus' research results have been published in books and journals. For his research, he has received several awards. Currently, he is guest editor for a special edition of Public Management Review about strategic public procurement.

The chair is funded by the Ministeries van Defensie, BZK/DGOO en J&V, Gemeenten Amsterdam & Den Haag, Belastingdienst, Nationale Politie, UBR|HIS, UWV, Stichting Rijk and Nevi. 
 

• Inaugural lecture: a better world starts with public procurement
• Interview European Commission's Green Public Procurement (GPP) News Alert
• Special Issue in the journal Public Management Review: Strategic public procurement
• ResearchGate
• Google Scholar
• Utrecht University Centre for Public Procurement (UUCePP)
• DemoTrans project
• Publications overview and links to webinars, interviews and podcasts