Download a preview of Public Spend Forum’s inaugural Public Procurement Technology report today! Join us for the first ever Public Procurement Technology Symposium, to be held on October 18, 2017.
As governments all around the world search for ways to be more efficient and better serve their citizens, public procurement technology could be an easy answer. Worldwide, public sector organizations spend nearly $10 trillion to purchase goods and services. To spend that money well, governments continue to search for ways to improve transparency, collaborate more effectively with suppliers and internal programs, increase competition, and reduce costs.
While more policies and legislation seem to be the favorite answer of legislators and policymakers, some of the leading public sector agencies are finding that procurement technology is a better approach. Procurement technology brings enormous benefits, from improving visibility into spending and advancing social goals to reducing process times and enabling better market research.
It’s good to see that government agencies are seeing the possibilities:
- According to the U.S. National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) 2015 Survey of State Procurement Practices, of the 47 responding states, 36 states use an eProcurement system
- Using technology to enable government processes, including purchasing, is a key part of the S. Federal government management agenda
- Per the World Bank’s 2017 Benchmarking Public Procurement report2, a vast majority of economies across the world – both developing and developed – have adopted an e-procurement system as a national policy. In the EU alone, “central purchasing bodies should move to full electronic means of communication including electronic bid submission by April 2017”
- The OECD recommends “improving the public procurement system by harnessing the use of digital technologies to support appropriate e-procurement innovation throughout the procurement cycle”
Many examples of enormous benefits already exist. For instance, California’s System increased procurement process and spend transparency by allowing data views, e.g., into purchase orders as soon as they are ready to be sent to vendors. Meanwhile, Florida’s MyFloridaMarketPlace (MFMP) system Reduction in procurement cycle times, reduce cycle times for requisitions by 40 percent, and for invoice processing by 45 percent.
Internationally, Portugal’s e-procurement platform, launched in 2009 for all public entities and public contracts above €5,000 resulted in savings of €185 million between 2009 and 2011 alone.
These are just a few examples of the power of procurement technology. To learn more about the possibilities and the rich market base of procurement technology vendors from Coupa to Amazon Business to , download a preview of our upcoming Public Procurement Technology Report.
Also, join us for the first ever Public Procurement Technology Symposium, to be held on October 18, 2017. You will hear from speakers from the World Bank, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California and more. The secret to efficiency and effectiveness may just be waiting in the wings.
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