Ian Makgill founded Open Opportunities to make government procurement data genuinely usable for the businesses that bid into the public sector. He has spent over twenty years working with procurement data building tools, advising governments and suppliers, and writing about how the public sector buys. Ian and his team built Spend Network the world's largest open procurement datasets covering over 800 sources across 180+ countries. The work involved deep collaboration with national governments, civil society organisations, and academic researchers studying public-sector spending patterns. Subsequently he has built Open Opportunities - a service to help suppliers find and win contracting opportunities across the world. His writing focuses on the practical reality of selling into government: the data you actually have access to, the patterns that emerge from real contract awards, and the strategies that distinguish winning suppliers from the ones who never quite break through. He pays particular attention to international markets, framework agreements, and the ways procurement data tells stories about how governments are changing. When he isn't grinding his teeth about the quality of some of the published tender data, Ian can be found walking his dogs on the beach, watching cricket or dreaming about watching cricket. Connect with Ian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianmakgill/

Articles by Ian Makgill (50)

Data sovereignty tips for businesses selling into EU governments - Pt 2: Long term service contracts

If you sell long-term services into European public sector buyers, the ground is moving under your feet. In April 2026, the European Commission awarded its first sovereign cloud tender, worth &euro

Data sovereignty tips for businesses selling into EU governments - Pt 1: Professional services projects

Ian Makgill
Digital , Technology , Business , Export , Software
21 Apr, 2026

Something has shifted in how European governments buy from their suppliers. In April 2026, the European Commission awarded its first sovereign cloud tender, worth €180 million, to four Europea

How to win government contracts and tenders in Canada 2026

Ian Makgill
Guides
01 Apr, 2026

Comprehensive Guide to Securing Government Contracts in Canada (2026) Canada's government procurement market presents significant opportunities for businesses of all sizes. This guide prov

How to win government contracts and tenders in Chile 2026

Ian Makgill
Guides
01 Apr, 2026

Comprehensive Guide to Securing Government Contracts in Chile: A 2026 Perspective Chile's public procurement market offers significant opportunities for businesses, both domestic and inter

Twice-daily collection now live across hundreds of sources

Ian Makgill
Release notes
23 Mar, 2026

Open Opportunities now collects data twice daily from a growing number of sources, running overnight and again mid-morn

The £73 Million Uniform Wave: Why 383 Expiring Contracts Represent Your Next Big Opportunity

If you are holding a contract won in 2022, look at your calendar. Across the UK and the European Union, 383 workwear and PPE contracts are set to expire in the next 12 months. This represents a mas

How SMEs Can Find and Win Public Sector Contracts Under the UK's New Procurement Act

Ian Makgill
Guides
03 Mar, 2026

The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, replacing four separate sets of EU-derived regulations with a single, unified framework. The government says it will open up nearly &po

A Guide to Government Procurement for Cybersecurity Training and Workforce Upskilling

The global public sector is currently facing a critical cybersecurity skills shortage. With the UK cybersecurity market valued at approximately €14.28 billion and workforce upskilling requirem

More German Sources: Research, Defence and Development

Ian Makgill
Release notes
25 Feb, 2026

We're continuing to deepen our German coverage with eight new sources, and this batch is a strong one. We've added procurement portals from some of Germany's most important institutions. The

The Space Economy Is Booming, and It's Creating Procurement Opportunities You Might Not Expect

The global space economy hit $613 billion in 2024 and is on course to pass the trillion-dollar mark within the next decade. That trajectory is reshaping not just how we think about space, but who g

Why AI Makes Data Quality Matter More, Not Less

Ian Makgill
Business
16 Feb, 2026

AI has made it remarkably easy to build procurement search tools. With the right prompt and a few open data sources, anyone can put together a working tool in a matter of hours. If you need to moni

Our data quality robot is busy

Ian Makgill
Release notes
03 Feb, 2026

We've built a new robot.Our data quality robot checks all our notices on every run we do. And we'll be publishing the results of our data gathering for everyone to see.

New sub-national sources for Germany

Ian Makgill
Release notes
21 Jan, 2026

13 New German Procurement Sources Now Live

Tabs are gone

Ian Makgill
Release notes
20 Jan, 2026

Our old tabs are gone. Whilst they guided users across their searches, they were clunky to navigate - swapping a tab meant having to build a new

What Happens to American Suppliers If Europe Starts Closing Doors?

The EU's Anti-Coercion Instrument gives Brussels a powerful new tool: the ability to exclude companies from unfriendly nations from public procurement across all member states. While designed with

New Sources for Austria & Germany

Ian Makgill
Release notes
13 Jan, 2026

We've been working hard on the DACH region. In November we added twenty new Austrian sources including sources for the Tirol, Vienna and Salzburg. Just befor

New search tools: Strict search

Ian Makgill
Release notes
10 Jan, 2026

We've added a new "Strict search" toggle to keyword filtering. When enabled, your results will only include opportunities that contain your search terms, while still being smart about it. St

Christmas deadlines 2025, fewer Christmas tenders but at what cost?

Ian Makgill
Insights
12 Dec, 2025

5 years ago I started publishing our "Christmas Grinch" series. Essentially all we did was name names and point fingers at the procurement villains wh

United Kingdom, a glossary for government procurement

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

Below we outline some of the most commonly used terms for procurement in the United Kingdom.Procedures

What are CPV codes and why do they matter?

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

IntroductionIn the complex world of public procurement, clarity and standardization are paramount. The European Union (EU) has developed a system known as Comm

France, a glossary for government procurement

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

Below we outline some of the most commonly used terms for procurement in France.Procedures

Germany, a glossary for government procurement

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

Below we outline some of the most commonly used terms for procurement in Germany.ProceduresOffenes Verfahre

Spain, a glossary for government procurement

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

Glossary of Public Procurement Terms in SpainProceduresProcedimiento Abierto: Open Procedu

Italy, a glossary for government procurement

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

Glossary of Public Procurement Terms in ItalyProceduresProcedura Aperta: Open Procedure

Netherlands, a glossary for government procurement

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

Glossary of Public Procurement Terms in the NetherlandsProceduresOpenbare Procedure: Open

Norway, a glossary for government procurement

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

Glossary of Public Procurement Terms in NorwayProceduresÅpen Anbudskonkurranse: Open Proce

Sweden, a glossary for government procurement

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

Glossary of Public Procurement Terms in SwedenProceduresÖppen Upphandling: Open Procedure<

Denmark, a glossary for government procurement

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

Glossary of Public Procurement Terms in DenmarkProceduresOffentligt Udbud: Open Procedure<

Portugal, a glossary for government procurement

Ian Makgill
Guides
23 Nov, 2025

Glossary of Public Procurement Terms in PortugalProceduresProcedimento Aberto: Open Proced

How to search by keyword

Ian Makgill
Help
23 Nov, 2025

Searching by keyword is easy using Open Opportunities.

How to search by exact keyword

Ian Makgill
Help
23 Nov, 2025

To get more control of your search you can add some extra features. If you haven't read our guidance on how to search by keyword already, it might help to

How to search by buyer

Ian Makgill
Help
23 Nov, 2025

Searching for a specific buyer is easy using Open Opportunities.

How to search by category

Ian Makgill
Help
23 Nov, 2025

You can easily search by types of opportunity using our category search. Every item in our database has been given a classification, that means that you can search by across all of our tende

How to search by language

Ian Makgill
Help
23 Nov, 2025

Looking for opportunities in a specific language is easy with Open Opportunities.

How to search by country

Ian Makgill
Help
23 Nov, 2025

Looking for opportunities by country or continent is easy with Open Opportunities.

How to create a saved search

Ian Makgill
Help
23 Nov, 2025

Saved searches are searches that you can repeat again and again, creating one is easy in Open Opportunities.

How to delete a saved search

Ian Makgill
Help
23 Nov, 2025

Deleting an old search you no longer want to use is simple with Open Opportunities.

How to load a saved search

Ian Makgill
Help
23 Nov, 2025

Saved searches are searches that you can repeat again and again, creating one is easy in Open Opportunities.

How to search by supplier

Ian Makgill
Help
23 Nov, 2025

Searching for a specific supplier is easy using Open Opportunities.

Making tender searches easier

Ian Makgill
Help
27 Oct, 2025

A flurry of new sources

Ian Makgill
Release notes
19 Oct, 2025

We're adding new sources at a gallop. In September we added fourteen new sources, including grants from Australia, data from Bahrain, two new sources in the Nordics, a new NATO source and ye

Download attachments within OpenOpps

Ian Makgill
Release notes
12 Oct, 2025

How much do you hate the digital obstacle course that is part of qualifying bids? The real data that bidders need is hidden in the specification docs but these can't be

USA Expansion: Opportunities in 4 new states

Ian Makgill
Release notes
09 Oct, 2025

We've just added four new states to our USA opportunity data. Welcome to the Open Opportunities family Montana, New Mexico, Iowa and Delaware. Users can now search for contract and tender opportuni

Better context for users: adding lozenges to your searches

Ian Makgill
Release notes
07 Oct, 2025

We've added new context for customers typing into our search boxes. A long list of search terms can be hard for users to make sense of. We also wanted to add extra search context for our customers.

New user interface feature: Country collections

Ian Makgill
Release notes
06 Oct, 2025

Users can now create their own groups of countries in Open Opportunities. If you're responsible for selling into a specific market, whether that's EMEA or DACH or the Nordics it can be bothe

How to win government contracts in Slovenia

Ian Makgill
Guides
28 Aug, 2025

Winning Government Contracts in Slovenia: A Comprehensive GuideNavigating Slovenian public procurement requires understanding local laws, registration requirements, documentation needs,

300+ US Tenders Monthly: New Sources for Bid Success

Ian Makgill
Release notes
08 May, 2025

Building on our March announcement of 126 new data sources, we're excited to unveil our latest expansion of US procurement coverage.

How to win government contracts and tenders in Poland

Ian Makgill
Guides
25 Apr, 2025

Comprehensive Guide to Securing Government Contracts in Poland: Navigating Regulatory Frameworks and Strategic Opportu

Sell to the USA: We Have Added 126 New Sources

Ian Makgill
Release notes
13 Mar, 2025

Breaking into the American market is a goal for many businesses, and we've got exciting news that could help you achieve just that. We've recently added 126 new data sources, opening up more opport

3,000 New Opportunities in Argentina Now Available

Ian Makgill
Release notes
10 Oct, 2024

We're thrilled to announce a significant update to our Open Opportunities platform: the addition of nearly 3,000