The project goal is to make public procurement more efficient by its digitalization. Indeed OECD in a 2016 report on corruption in public procurement considered electronic tools could be a major way to improve competition processes and there for help fight against corruption. Then, GIP Maximilien works on the construction of an efficient public service of buying. The digitalization offers a way to make it more transparent for citizens whereas public procurement seems to be a complicate and obscur field for them. This is why GIP Maximilien works hard for the construction of a readable big data of public procurement with the publication of essential data.
The barriers met hold in technical (1) and human (2) issues.
(1) From a technical point of view, public procurement requires a high level of security in the biding process. Compagnies send to administrations very sentive informations that have to be kept secret. Digital plateforms have to be quite strong to protect trade secrecy of compagnies involved in the biding process against hacking. On the other hand, these plateforms have to be quite open and approachable to guarantee a sufficient competitiv process and therefore maximizing value for money. Thene-procurement plateforms are very complex digital tools that have to make conciliation with very contradictory goals as transparency towards citizens and secrecy of the tenders.
Related to this technical difficulty, there is an important work on transposition of legal regulations and practices into digital tools. Indeed, digital tools have their own constraints in their way of working. Then, it is sometimes complicated to be sure it answers perfectly to the legal practice one had before digitalization. It is here the general issue of digitalizing legal processes.
(2) From a human point of view the digitalization requires a strong backing of administrations employees. Indeed, using new tools involve using new methods of working, and new ways of buying. Therefore a strong program of professionnal training had to be set up and then implemented. In the perspectiv of avoid split in digitalization GIP Maximilien had to take into account the many differences of skills related to digital tools between administrations.
Another human issue GIP Maximilien had to face is the lack of trust in digital tools. Indeed, for a very sensitiv field as public procurement, it is hard to think computers and internet are able to give an equivalent safety than material letters given hand to hand. There has been also a strong work of pedagogical communication. For example, the electronic signature is a hard tool to understand and then to trust for many elected politicians or administration employees. There is moreover a kind of an affectiv attachement to the hand made signature, with a proper pen. There has been then a pedagogical discourse to set up to obtain adherence to electronic signature.
How to be sure it answers to a real need ?
Public procurement is a complex field for people who do not work in and even for those who do. A fortiori it is a complex field for citizens whereas it is their money that is used by administrations. In France, Article 15 of french universal declaration of rights of man and citizens provides “society has the right to demand that every public official be accountable to his administration”. One can considers the public service built by GIP Maximilien fulfill this objectiv by making public procurement more transparent and more efficient.
Indeed, a 2016 OECD report on corruption in public procurement underlines the fact that the first target of bribery is public procurement. Then, digital tools offer an improved traceability of the biding process. Indeed, everything on the internet let tracks. If it raises problems when it concerns citizens activities we can be less concerned when it aims public service and administrations activity. Considering value for money and fight against corruption as needs for society, an efficient e-procurement system offers a way to decrease darkness and therefore risks of corruption. In addition, using a digital canal for tenders offers the possibility to have a more open competition process. And if there is more competition in the process there is also a greater maximization of value for money wich is a good achievement for the tax payer and so far for the citizens.
Transparency of public action is a real need for society and especially in public procurement. It is clear GIP Maximilien public service brings a huge contribution with its work in e-procurement and furthermore in e-administration. Citizens will be able to understand better and better how public funds are spent.