Santa Monica, Calif., Upgrades How It Makes Purchases
With the full integration of a new procurement solution, the Southern California city aims to simplify how it makes purchases by increasing automation and data analytics capabilities — while meeting compliance requirements.
The city of Santa Monica, Calif., is increasing procurement efficiency with a new e-commerce platform announced Monday that aims to make government purchasing more straightforward for buyers and suppliers alike.
As the pace of procurement work increases for government, technology can play a role in system modernization to better prepare cities for emerging technologies.
“The new platform introduced substantial upgrades in user interface, approval workflows, and vendor integration — enhancing both our control mechanisms and our ability to meet operational needs with greater efficiency and effectiveness,” the city’s procurement leadership said in a statement, explaining that the new platform will provide enhanced visibility into spending.
The new procurement solution, powered by Glass’ technology platform G-Commerce, enables city staff to make compliant purchases from vendors while automating certain workflows and managing budgetary needs.
The platform first rolled out internally as the minimum viable product in May 2024, but Monday’s announcement marks its full integration and access to additional features and capabilities, like the full cross-departmental integration of the platform and the Government Procurement Concierge — essentially, a support system for users, according to Gerardo Mateo, Glass’ director of government platforms.
Using data from publicly available procurement records, the platform supports about $3 million in annual transactions and serves more than 10 city departments, including Fire, Finance, Public Works, and Community and Cultural Services.