Good and effective governance requires interaction between different groups, political accountability, checks and balances in operations, decentralization, and participation at the local level.
Effective and successful governance is founded on three principles:
- Getting more for your money.
- Making it easy for people to use public services.
- Allowing the private sector to lead growth.
Public procurement is vital to reforming governance because it affects all three pillars.
Procurement processes can thus be seen as fostering good governance and reforming governance systems. What exactly is electronic government procurement (e-GP)? In its broadest sense, e-GP means using electronic technology to manage any or all parts of the public procurement process. However, there are various formal definitions as well.
The World Bank defines e-GP as “E-Government” refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that can transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve various ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management” (e-Government, n.d.) .”
Zambia’s 2012 fire truck scandal highlights the need for open e-procurement systems.
“One case that ignited interest in cracking down on poor procurement practices was a controversial deal to purchase fire trucks.
In 2012, the government of Zambia announced that it intended to improve fire safety, and embarked on a process over the next few years to obtain the necessary equipment. A competitive procurement process was announced, awarded, challenged and then confirmed over the course of 2015 and 2016. The government bought 42 fire trucks for US$ 42 million. Despite the lengthy and fraught process, there remained questions as to whether the trucks were in good condition, appropriate and good value, and whether the winning contractor was a shell company.
Six people who took part in an anti-corruption protest against the result were arrested and charged with “disobeying lawful orders,” a move that one of the activists described as typical of the intimidation used against government critics. After this and other explosive procurement scandals, the Zambian Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) began working to make public procurement more transparent, accountable, and effective.
As part of this work, they have introduced a new electronic government procurement (e-GP) system developed by European Dynamics” (Learning Insights Zambia: Open Contracting Enhances an e-GP Project but Faces Political Challenges to Achieving Scale – Open Contracting Partnership, n.d.)
Value of e-procurement
Governments and public sector organizations that have implemented e-GP systems have highlighted a number of important benefits, including:
- Tender notices, contract award notices, and online bid filing have resulted in increased transparency.
- Greater bidder participation as a result of increased awareness and access to opportunities
- Savings on procurement costs due to reduced bid prices as a result of more open and competitive bidding
- Improvements in procurement reporting and analytics to closely monitor procurement processes;
- The way procurement tasks were done was sped up by online workflow.
- It strengthened capabilities for combating fraud and corruption.
- Reduced printing, distribution, and storage of paper documents.
Who is implementing
Globally
Currently available e-GP systems are in various phases of development. Some countries, such as the Republic of Korea, have advanced, fully integrated e-GP systems that work from start to finish. Others have been using e-GP systems for about a decade, including Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, and Portugal.
Bangladesh and Georgia began using e-GP about 2010, and they intend to deploy full-fledged e-GP systems. A few countries have already developed preparations, but they have not yet begun implementing e-GP. Some countries have not even begun to take the first steps.
In Africa
Challenges of e-GP Integration
e-GP demands cross-government reforms.
Implementing a full-fledged e-GP system is a transformational undertaking that involves the entire government establishment and supplier community. Transitioning from manual to electronic public procurement requires meticulous planning and commitment.
Government officials and vendors will have varying levels of experience with IT systems. As a result, training is required for them to become proficient with e-GP technologies. Existing public procurement legislation must be updated to facilitate and permit electronic procurement.
Concerns with e-GP must be addressed via training, workshops, and capacity-building initiatives. Any IT and network connectivity deficiencies in government offices must be corrected, and it may be necessary to construct facilitation centres to facilitate the process. E-government procurement (e-GP) deployment involves more than just technological standards. Political considerations must also be addressed.
The Rwandan path to deployment could serve as a model.
- After passing a new procurement law in 2007
- Later establishing the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority,
- The country began looking at relevant experience on how to modernize its procurement system.
- The Rwandan government approached the World Bank to fund a feasibility study on the implementation of its e-GP system. The feasibility study identified major challenges and recommended solutions.
- The system was developed as part of a World Bank-funded public-sector reform program-for results.
- Trainings later conducted
OCDS adoption
Open data creates new opportunities for analysis as well as citizen interaction and participation by requiring data sharing in a structured, reusable, and machine-readable format. The Open Contracting Data Standard was developed to apply these concepts throughout the contracting lifecycle, including planning, tendering, awarding, contracting, and implementation.
The open data standard allows governments and cities around the world to publish their contracting data, enabling greater transparency in public procurement and promoting accessible and in-depth study of the efficiency, effectiveness, fairness, and integrity of public contracting systems.
The OCDS combines the data published at each stage into a single open contracting process using an identifier: the OCID. An OCID is made up of a prefix registered by the publisher with OCP and a unique process identifier specified by the publisher.
The OCID assists users in joining data across the whole contracting process, which is a significant feature and advantage of publishing and utilising OCDS data. The identifiers enable the publication and use of the data in both “push” (publishers publish the data) and “pull” (other systems can request this data from publishers) processes and also allow information to be aggregated from different publishers, increasing re-usability.
Role of CSOS in eGP implementation
CSOs can work toward implementing development initiatives, such as the e-GP, that have a long-term, positive impact on the public sector as well as enhance public confidence and trust in government institutions. Government oversight cannot be everywhere to ensure that contracts are carried out in accordance with their terms. For effective contract monitoring and feedback, e-GP platforms must proactively publish procurement data in a timely and accessible manner.
CSOs can promote participatory governance in contracting processes by focusing on contract transparency and citizen engagement
References
Learning Insights Zambia: Open Contracting Enhances an e-GP Project but Faces Political Challenges to Achieving Scale – Open Contracting Partnership. www.open-contracting.org/2019/03/13/learning-insights-zambia. Accessed 1 Nov. 2022.
e-Government. www.worldbank.org/en/topic/digitaldevelopment/brief/e-government. Accessed 1 Nov. 2022.
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