SPEAKER_00 0:02

It's Five for Friday on May 9th. I curate five articles every Friday for people interested in public sector operations in general and public procurement specifically. And from time to time, I record an audio companion, which is what you are listening to now. So first, State Scoop has a timely report that due to recent changes in FCC broadband maps, at least half of the locations proposed for bead funding are no longer eligible for It is the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Grant, which has reach across almost every state and local jurisdiction. So this is obviously an important topic to review and understand and to incorporate for contract and grant administrators of these funds. Second, the Procurement Excellence Network is hosting a webinar next week on sourcing innovation. And it's called Beyond the Boilerplate, Designing RFPs that Work for Everyone. That's on Wednesday, May 14th at 3 Eastern, featuring Waldo Jakith from U.S. Digital Response. Third, NIGP hosts a learning lab webinar on risk analysis and mitigation, which is the most important part, on Thursday, May 15th at 3 Eastern, led by the esteemed Kirk Buffington. Fourth, the UN and the SDG local action team share insights on effective procurement in cities, focusing on procurement preparation, planning, selecting the right counterpart, managing contracts, and incorporating sustainability into the procurement process. And finally, Public Knowledge posted about the recent hour-long discussion between me and Stacey Moss, their president, and I listened back a bit, and it really was a great discussion, so congratulations. Take a listen if you haven't, and I also recommend subscribing to their podcast channel if you have not yet done so. This week, I was at the National Association of Education Procurement Conference, which gathers leaders in higher education procurement from public and private from across the country. It was solid as always, very professionally managed, and most importantly, lots of great conversations. And an opportunity to talk about all the things going on in procurement and higher education. So glad that event came off well. And I hope everyone who attended got home safely, even through some rain that popped up on the last day that made the airport pretty interesting. So with that, have a happy Friday.