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How do you communicate in a world of good ideas? The new StartUp stage will bring some really great stories of young people who have succeeded in America or through Startup Yard, and who have become among those developers working most closely with Google developers, or collaborate with other successful startups such as Dropbox and Airbnb, among others. These projects are potentially of great use to all and we have something new to look forward to. 3, 2, 1... STARTup!

A brand new event at this year’s eBF will be the unveiling and launch of The Procurement Dictionary 2020, a publication that should find a home on the bookshelves of all serious procurement teams. This professional procurement dictionary will primarily be a quick and clear guide to unified eProcurement and eSourcing terminology, along with a logical overlap into those business, logistical and managerial concepts that buyers commonly encounter.

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The situation is very challenging this year, but we believe we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The preparations for the festival are continuing apace, and the addition of the best is always very welcome. We are pleased that APUEN SK has accepted our invitation to dance, and Marcelka Turčanová will lead the curation of the newly created APUEN stage at eBF. Like OTIDEA in the Czech Republic, APUEN is one of the leading Slovak consultation and educational entities in the field of the digitalisation of public tenders.

The APUEN STAGE will respond to the current market situation and will reflect this by staging real-life practical examples from the public procurement environment. The puzzles and riddles of public procurement will be solved live. There’ll be tricks, advice and recommendations that will both enrich and entertain you.

Every year we are looking for some new inspiration that will enhance eBF a little further. So we look forward to the role of curator being taken on by Katka Koláčková, who will head preparation for the newly established OTIDEA stage. The administrators and lawyers at OTIDEA are undoubtedly aces in their field and it rightfully ranks among the leading companies in public procurement in the Czech Republic. Their energy and knowledge will thus help to increase the professionalism and prestige of the festival.

The OTIDEA STAGE will be a space full of practical examples of public procurement, including expert analyses, recommendations, case studies and the sharing of best practice.

The awarding of the Grand Prix, or the eBF organizers' prize, has always been a nice tradition, always picking personalities with who have brought extraordinary benefits to public or corporate procurement. This year's winner was Martin Zelinka from Siemens. "Thank you very much. It is a great honour for me and I greatly appreciate it. I am very happy about this meeting and for eBF's growth. I enjoy coming here and meeting people who like procurement too,” said Martin Zelinka.

There was also a brilliant surprise this year, when a special Grand Prix was awarded to our Zuzka for everything she does for eBF every year. Congratulations!

The new seventh stage, the Kraljič Stage, attracted many curious people who were able to see that the iconic purchasing matrix published in 1983 is still a very practical and effective tool for strengthening the competitiveness of companies, amongst other things. Martin Zelinka and his colleagues took the matrix literally into the last quadrant, and on Wednesday afternoon this “best of” stage was so full that the latecomers were hard-pressed to find an empty seat. We believe that Peter Kraljič would be very happy about this.

Wednesday's gala evening again included the announcement of the FSA awards, which are awarded annually for extraordinary ideas and results in both corporate and public procurement. The new format of the competition and the minimal differences between the winners will be discussed, but now is the time to introduce the winners and runners-up in each category:

IDEA (private sector) - 1st: Radoslav Delina, 2nd: Jan Vašek, 3rd: innogy ČR
IDEA (public sector) - 1st: eBF festival, 2nd: Moravský Krumlov, 3rd: Leopoldov
TREND (private sector) - 1st: innogy ČR, 2nd: Asahi, 3rd: Ray Service
TREND (public sector) - 1st: Banská Bystrica Region, 2nd: Masaryk University Brno, 3rd: Moravian-Silesian Region
MASTER (private sector) - 1st: Tomáš Veit (Asahi), 2nd: Zdeněk Pytlíček (innogy CR), 3rd place: Martin Olejník (Ray Service)
MASTER (public sector) - 1st: Zuzana Krajčovičová (Public Procurement Office Slovakia), 2nd: Ondrej Kuruc (Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic), 3rd: Naďa Voráčová (Masaryk University Brno)

Congratulations once again and thank you very much for the award for our festival in the IDEA category!

How, where and why the role of procurement is shifting was the focus of the Asahi Stage, which was, as is traditional now, presided over by Tomáš Veit.

He talked about new approaches to procurement along with speakers with experience from a variety of countries and businesses. Many topics filled the air, of which perhaps sustainability was of particular interest to both businesses and the public sector. In practice, buyers are faced with the decision of what commodities to buy to protect the climate or environment wherever their businesses do business.

We were looking forward to seeing the legend of corporate procurement Peter Kraljič, who participated in the curation of the seventh stage at the Puppet Theatre. Unfortunately, for health reasons, he was not able to come to Ostrava, for which we are very sorry. We wish him a quick recovery and send our applause and encouragement from a distance that all will be well soon.

We always love to see our partners supporting the idea of ​​eBF and helping to develop our festival every year. It is encouraging when they too confirm its mutual attractiveness. “I am very pleased that an event such as eBF is taking place and that thanks to it Ostrava is perceived as a centre of innovative thinking,” said the Director of the Moravian-Silesian Regional Authority Tomáš Kotyza during the opening ceremony, which was broadcast live for the first time ever.