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Do you feel as if you can't believe your eyes? That's only to be expected, because right now you're looking at this year's eBF programme :-) Thanks to all those who will speak, join in the discussions or take part in any way. We are all part of an intricate mosaic that put together makes a spectacular whole. Let's do it! We look forward to seeing you all :-)

A relationship with a supplier is often like a partnership or even a marriage. There isn’t always a cloudless sky and sometimes there is a storm on the horizon which can build to a crisis needing to be resolved in some way, or at least ironed out. To find out how to maintain good supplier relationships in procurement and to share her valuable experience we have invited Petra Vrbová, who will be joined by a further trio of experts: Róbert Obmaščík, Magdaléna Slámová and Monika Weiss.

Karel Otýs has a lengthy wealth of experience as a procurement manager. He has decided to take advantage of this and pass on his professional know-how to his followers. In Wednesday’s programme he will lead the Buyers & Procurement Teams block, where he will be joined by Martin Růžička and Ctirad Fischer discussing today’s ideal buyer and whether human resources are really finding the right people for procurement teams. Completing the line-up is Vojta Klézl, who has conducted extensive research on this subject. Together, they should come up with recommendations on how to develop a modern buyer and how to strengthen their role within the company.

Our exhibition space is starting to be filled up with some interesting pieces of art from you. For example, Angus McIntosh has sent us this photograph of a concrete ceiling at Bonn airport, whose rich shades strike him as redeeming somewhat a generally ugly and badly-designed place. We look forward to hearing more stories from anyone who has at least a little artistic soul. :)

This year's eBF conference will be no exception, and will be held under the auspices of the Mayor of Ostrava. We greatly appreciate the support of Mayor Tomas Macura and our home city, which itself supports the idea of the e-enabling of public procurement. This year Mr Tomáš Kotyza, the Director of the Moravian-Silesian Regional Authority, has also added his patronage. We thank him for his support.

Jaroslav Lexa, who is seen by many as a respected authority on public procurement, is running for the Council of the Office for Public Procurement. Jarek spends a lot of time studying and analyzing European judgments, and keeps his finger on the pulse of trends in public procurement, and in many cases develops and improves them. He fights not only for transparency in procurement, but also for efficiency and logic. We're crossing our fingers! At eBF Jarek will share his experience along with Daša Paláková on Dynamic Procurement Systems and Framework Agreements and along with Mário Biňas will present revolutionary guidelines on how to apply methods from corporate procurement practice in public procurement in the case of investment tenders.

Relationships with internal clients are often very complicated. They could be compared with an Argentine tango where the experienced buyer must know all the complicated dance figures, steps and turns to be able to come out of this relationship with his head held high. Monika Weiss, the Head of Procurement at British American Tobacco for Central Europe, is coming to share her solution for elegantly dealing with internal clients with her years of experience in purchasing and supply chain management.

In the programme block “The Present and Future of eProcurement in the EU” current eProcurement trends will be discussed by leading public procurement representatives from countries that indicate the fundamental direction of digitisation in Europe. They will be joined by Ivo Locatelli, who is team leader in the Innovative and e-Procurement Unit in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. Ivo is deputising for Nikita Stampa, who has had to withdraw for work reasons.

At the top of their field, Mr Angus McIntosh and Mr Miloš Olejník have one remarkable ability in common, which is to relate their considerable negotiating skills in a compelling manner. They also both have many years of experience buying for large multinational concerns. At a recent conference, Angus heard from the auditorium that in today’s world automation drives negotiations and will do so even more in the future. The presentation will look at what an important strategic ability being able to negotiate is for the buyer in in the modern procurement world, and will introduce us to the different roles negotiations play in the new world of eProcurement.

Are you really buying what you want to buy? At first glance, two identical oranges sitting side by side other might look exactly the same, but you want to choose the juiciest one. It's not that easy, but it can be done. Coming to tell us about the art of specifications for difficult commodities is Michal Kristiňák, a master of specifications for commodities which are seemingly impossible to compare.