The Digital Transformation of Public Procurement in Ireland

3. Towards a Digital Transformation Strategy for Public Procurement

Abstract

This report focuses on an assessment of the current state of digital procurement in Ireland, but also provides broad recommendations and considerations for the future development of a national digital transformation strategy. In doing so, it seeks to build on Ireland’s strengths and address areas for improvement. This chapter is organised around four broad recommendations that will be central to a successful digital transformation of public procurement. Within these broad themes, it identifies choices and opportunities that should be considered in Ireland’s digital transformation strategy.

3.1. Establish a clear vision and ambition for digital transformation

Ireland should define a clear vision and ambition for the digital transformation of public procurement. Working with partners and stakeholders from inside and outside procurement, the OGP should lead the development of a credible strategy and roadmap for digital public procurement. The strategy should define the roles and responsibilities of CPBs, contracting authorities and other stakeholders and establish clear governance structures to facilitate decision making and collaboration across the lead institutions. The strategy should outline a roadmap and the necessary investments in capacity building, training, communications and change management to make the vision a reality. It should recognise the opportunity for the digital transformation of public procurement to support policy goals in areas such as the environment and social inclusion, while acknowledging the needed resources and investments for transformation to be successful.

Ireland should carefully consider its level of ambition: how far and how quickly does Ireland want to go in the digital transformation of public procurement? What is the appetite and capacity for change across stakeholders? What are the incentives to participate in collaborative approaches and to what extent is there a willingness to impose mandatory requirements on CPBs and contracting authorities?

The national strategy cannot be driven by the OGP alone: it will require a joint effort of many public bodies. For example, increased use of the Unique Business Identifier, when implemented, would require close collaboration with the CSO. More broadly, the engagement and participation of OGP’s CPB partners will be critical to both ensure the interoperability of existing and future procurement systems and that procurement systems are interoperable with financial shared services systems across sectors. Ireland should consider whether existing governance arrangements in procurement and digital are adequate or whether new governance is required.

To build support, the vision should focus on users and clearly articulate how digital transformation can reduce the burden and improve the experience of contracting authorities and economic operators. In the 2023 survey of contracting authorities and the workshops carried out by the OECD, respondents noted that an increase in the use of digital tools would require intuitive systems accessible to users working in organisations without dedicated procurement functions. This focus on users should carry through to implementation and ultimately aim to make the use of digital systems a choice of users rather than an obligation.

3.2. Digitalise the full public procurement lifecycle

Ireland should develop interoperable applications and tools that can adapt to the needs of various stakeholders across the full public procurement cycle. Digitalisation should take a holistic approach that seeks to identify opportunities to expand digitalisation in the pre-tender and post-tender phases. Efforts should focus on making public procurement processes more efficient by connecting systems and putting in place a consistent experience for contracting authorities and economic operators. At the same time, digitalisation should not be pursued for its own sake, but only when it can improve the experience of public buyers and suppliers. Leveraging user insights can help to ensure digitalisation is successful in delivering systems and tools that contracting authorities and economic operators want to use.

Choices in how to approach the digitalisation of the lifecycle are closely linked to the overall vision and ambition for digital public procurement. The further Ireland seeks to go in digitalising the full lifecycle, the more digital transformation will impact the pre-tendering and post-tendering phases, areas outside of what has traditionally been seen as public procurement. For example, linking contracts with expenditure is essential to understanding how public money is being used. The strategy could consider opportunities to accelerate the uptake of e-invoicing and connecting payment and procurement systems. While these are the areas with significant opportunity for benefits from digital transformation, they may also be the most challenging for stakeholders.

Digitalisation of the full lifecycle does not imply the imposition of a single, centrally managed system. There are opportunities to invest in the interoperability of existing systems, particularly between CPBs. The new implementation of eTenders, launched in May 2023, provides increased opportunities for information and data exchange with other systems that could be leveraged in the future.

It will also be important to prioritise through the development of a roadmap to target projects for implementation at different time scales. The strategy should also seek to identify opportunities for quick wins and to demonstrate the potential for digital transformation to improve the user experience. The digital transformation of the Capital Works Management Framework may be one such opportunity.

3.3. Improve the availability and use of data

The OGP and the procurement system more generally are already taking a more ambitious approach to the collection and use of data. To be successful, a digital transformation strategy will need to continue down this road. This includes a commitment to transparency and openness to fully benefit from the opportunities that greater data availability can provide. This could include using the functionality of the new eTenders platform to improve access to procurement data and seeking to make historical procurement data publicly available on a consolidated basis.

Ireland should leverage existing data governance efforts to define and implement a procurement data governance strategy. This strategy should seek to improve data consistency and quality through an ambitious approach to initiatives such as eForms, the PPDS and e-invoicing. It should enable data access and exchange and smooth communication between various stakeholders, promoting a unified digital procurement ecosystem with an increased incentive to open procurement data. Data should be used to ensure seamless integration between systems and applications and support evidence-informed decision making. Public procurement data should also be leveraged to support oversight bodies and made publicly available to contribute to the transparency and accountability of procurement processes and government spending. This could, for example, include making more procurement data available through Ireland’s open data portal.

Data needs to be approached from a whole-of-government perspective. The OGP should work closely with partners from across the public sector to leverage existing data governance efforts and structures, such as the National Data Infrastructure. At the same time, continued investment in public procurement data management and governance will be required to build on Ireland’s implementation of eForms and improve data consistency, quality and use. European initiatives such as the PPDS provide an opportunity to advance the collection and use of data. Ireland will need to consider to what extent it should pursue these opportunities.

3.4. Establish the required building blocks to take advantage of innovative and emerging technologies

Ireland’s digital transformation strategy should include a co-ordinated approach to the deployment of innovative and emerging technologies in public procurement. This could include identifying requirements for the use of innovative and emerging technologies, such as access to big data, data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, and low-code, no-code solutions. Implementing innovative and emerging technologies in a co-ordinated way can help ensure that different stakeholders can learn from each other’s experiences and co-design interfaces and enhance interaction with platforms and applications.

The digital transformation strategy should determine the boundaries of Ireland’s vision for the use of innovative and emerging technologies, including in areas such as the tolerance for risk and the role of the public procurement as a tool to foster innovation. Emerging technologies also provide opportunities to facilitate more agile and innovative procurement processes that can adapt to changing demands and market conditions.

A number of building blocks, such as access to extensive and timely data, are preconditions for the successful implementation of many innovative and emerging technologies. Ireland’s digital transformation strategy should identify these building blocks and how they can be put in place. At the same time, it should identify potential quick wins to use emerging technologies to facilitate data input and reduce the administrative burden for contracting authorities and economic operators.