South San Francisco Gets ‘Next-Gen’ Procurement Platform

The city of South San Francisco has adopted the G-Commerce procurement platform as a means of doing more business with vendors within city limits.

The solution, provided by Glass, connects the local government with “small, local and sustainable” businesses throughout the city, furthering the city’s goals of being a “regional leader in digital innovation and inclusive, ultra-local procurement.”

The city has an annual budget of about $303 million, with about $4.7 million toward IT in FY 2025-26. Its population stands at just under 66,000 residents.

Since the pilot of the G-Commerce platform in September, nearly a dozen vendors have signed up, offering 376 products and services, according to a press release. The products and services hosted on the platform range from office and cleaning supplies to technology-related equipment and more.

“South San Francisco has strong support for local small businesses,” Economic Development Manager Ernesto Lucero said in the release. “Through our economic development initiatives, the city wants to increase small-business opportunities for e-commerce and government procurement.”

The G-Commerce platform also includes a digital business directory component that allows city procurement officials to search for local suppliers more easily, as well as spending analysis and reporting dashboards that offer insights into vendor and service preferences.

South San Francisco-based vendors interested in joining the city’s G-Commerce network can apply through the city’s portal.

The IT department lists several projects for this fiscal year in the city budget, including the implementation of a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, cybersecurity improvements, migration from the existing voice over IP (VoIP) to a cloud-based solution, and the replacement of outdated computers and hardware, to name a few.