OECM, in collaboration with three cross-Canada provincial Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs), BCNET from British Columbia, Interuniversity Services Inc. from Nova Scotia, and Cybera from Alberta, has developed a joint national procurement project for an Electronic Research Administration System (eRAS).
We are proud to share that OECM, in conjunction with the three partner organizations, was awarded an Honourable Mention as part of the 2024 Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO) Quality and Productivity Awards Program for their collective efforts and work on the eRAS project. The award ceremony was held in early June at the CAUBO national meeting in Montreal.
OECM’s Director of Strategic Sourcing, Perry Arzumanian, received the award on OECM’s behalf. Perry shared his thoughts on the recognition, “This award recognizes the collaborative efforts we have accomplished so far with our national GPO partners, and we look forward to working alongside our partners to deliver on this highly anticipated project.”
This exciting procurement project, titled Fostering Collaborative Excellence: A Unified Approach to Research Administration Systems in Canadian Campuses – The eRAS Project, aims to acquire a system for Colleges, Universities, and Hospitals that are looking to implement a research administration system with the opportunity to benefit financially and operationally through a national multi-institutional collaboration.
The system will help institutions manage information related to pre-award, funding, risk management, researcher data, approvals, resource management, post-award, and research outcomes. It will include services such as configuration, implementation, transition, integration, support, and professional services. The project is expected to launch by September 2024. This recognition acknowledges the project as a vital enabler for fostering collaboration among supply chain leaders nationwide and reinforces our collaborative efforts to drive procurement excellence across the broader public sector. This is the first time CAUBO has recognized non-post-secondary education institutions through these awards.
