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Comment by mdifrgechd | Hacker News Reader

Procurement is one of the root causes, specifically running the procurement out of a government bureaucracy where the actual tactical outcomes (refurbishing the train station in the example above) are way down the list from other priorities such as the appearance of fairness in procurement, and other government aims like job creation etc.

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In the US, it common for local or federal RFP's (requests for proposals) to include a hard requirement that qualified vendors have done the same kind of project before. This usually excludes any new players from the game.

How many companies build large bridges, airports, subways, railroads, tunnels, etc? Not many.

It is part of the racket that discourages innovation.

Yeah, that is one facet of the overall institutional approach to procurement that treats everything like a commodity that can be perfectly substituted and comes down just to cost (and maybe a few other checkbox categories). A flexible approach that procures for outcomes but doesn't prescribe how to get there is much better at admitting creative delivery solutions, including those from new entrants.

Of course past experience is still a logical thing to consider when judging the overall risks of a project. But if you look for creative solutions you can get away from "look, this entrenched legacy business is the only one meeting out experience requirements".

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