Digitizing procurement processes leads to a more efficient procurement process and makes doing business with the government easier for suppliers. Sylvia Vertegaal, portfolio manager Digitalizing Government Procurement is coordinating this transition within the national government. She does this at the behest of Chief Procurement Officer André Weimar. "Our goal is for suppliers to experience that they are doing business with one Rijksoverheid , regardless of which ministry they are facing," Vertegaal explains. Although the focus is on the central government, the ambition in the future is to also connect fellow governments, such as provinces and municipalities, to a uniform and streamlined procurement process.
Vertegaal: "We are already well advanced with the digitization policy for the Government procurement. The processing of e-invoices has been successful for some time. And recently we realized digital business with the e-order and the e-timecard. Now we are also focusing on the initial phase of the procurement process, such as tenders, offer processing and contract management. At this stage, there are still many opportunities for further digitization. I want to explore how we can best support departments in that phase."
About the needs within the national procurement system and the technical possibilities, Vertegaal is in ongoing discussions with stakeholders. On the one hand, these are the implementing organizations that provide support and expertise, such as Logius, the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO), the Nederlandse Peppolautoriteit (NPa) and the Rijksinkoopsamenwerking (RIS). On the other hand, these are the departments and the organizations under them. They cooperate in their procurement processes according to the principle of "managed diversity. This means that they have room to set up their own procurement processes, while suppliers do experience 1 Rijksoverheid when doing digital business with the State.
"The goal is to provide 1 unified experience regardless of which department suppliers do business with." - Sylvia Vertegaal portfolio manager Digitalization Government Procurement
Says Vertegaal, "With the digitization of the entire procurement and tendering process, we are increasing the efficiency of the procurement process for both the central government and its suppliers. It leads to faster, more accurate and more transparent procurement processes for all involved. Central to this is that the national government must work for suppliers as 1 government. Suppliers must always be able to do business with the Rijksoverheid in the same way, regardless of which department they are dealing with. Behind that unity, however, are many different systems, applications and unique procurement processes. The challenge is to organize that diversity internally while providing a unified experience externally."
We are working on this by implementing open ICT standards and centralized facilities. This allows government departments to tailor their procurement processes, while suppliers experience the benefits of uniform and consistent collaboration. Our ultimate goal is a uniform procurement process for the entire government. Although the digitization of procurement in the national government is leading the way, the dot on the horizon is a government-wide consistent experience. This means that in the future suppliers will no longer experience any difference in their cooperation with the central government, municipalities, provinces, water boards and other government organizations.
"In my previous work as a project manager in the business world, I have seen how, by setting up software properly, you can simplify the entire procurement process from start to finish," the portfolio manager says. From that experience, she expects to be able to effectively link the digitization policy for government procurement with implementation. "By working closely together and listening carefully to the procurement needs within and outside the central government, we can achieve a successful e-procurement chain for the Rijksoverheid and its suppliers."
