Commitment: Electronic innovations for more transparency and efficiency of public procurement
Commitment Description:

The Public Procurement Agency (PPA), with the support of the World Bank (WB) and the Department of International Development (DFID), and in cooperation with the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) actively works on the introduction of the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS). It should be noted that the OCDS implies the introduction of an open data standard for the publication of structured information on all stages of a contracting process: from planning to implementation.

The works of the Stage 1 have been completed to ensure the OCDS introduction by the time the OGP Georgia Action Plan 2018-2019 was drafted, which implies regular disclosure of the available information about both the aggregate and individual purchases in the special machine-readable format (JSON) on a new dedicated webpage.

OCDS sets out 4 levels for disclosure (3 main and 1 additional: 1) basic; 2) intermediate; 3) advanced; and 4) additional. The PPA intends to meet the standards of the 3rd level in accordance with the OCDS. Moreover, the PPA undertook the responsibility to extend the OCDS even more, which implied the disclosure of the procurement organizations' annual procurement plans in a special readable format and creation of application of program interface (API) and a new visualization website for direct access to the open database.

Outcome: Public finances monitoring process is simplified
Timeline: Start date - January 2018, End date - December 2019
OGP Thematic Areas: Transparency, Access to Services, Accountability, Engagement
Reporting Period: 2019, Annual
Lead Agency: LEPL – Public Procurement Agency

By the end of the Action Plan, Public Procurement Agency achieved considerable progress, though the complete implementation of some of the activities is still pending.

In 2018, PPA, with support of the WB and DFID project for the improvement of public procurement efficiency and transparency, introduced Open Contracting Data Standard in the sphere of public procurement. Due to this fact, public procurement information became available for the stakeholders in a special, machine-readable format (JSON) on a new dedicated website: www.opendata.spa.ge in an aggregated form.

The PPA also created a program interface (API) and a new visualization website vod.spa.ge with the support of the World Bank in 2019. This was done to deepen the Open Contracting Data Standard even more, thus enabling the private sector and civil society to engage in the public procurement process more actively and ensuring easy access to the open database. Both tools enable the accessibility and availability of any information concerning electronic tenders.

Besides, as a result of technical activities conducted by the PPA in 2018-2019, within the timelines established by the Action Plan, it became possible to indicate rather detailed (minimum of the second level) instructions of the CPV codes in electronic tenders of the annual electronic plans (ePlan) of the PPA. Challenges in implementing this activity are, for the most part, related to technical integration into the e-Government system.

The website based on the OCDS opendata.spa.ge has complete data disclosed on electronic tenders conducted in Georgia in 2011-2019 and the current procurement plans. At the stage of preparation of this report, the data for 2019 are public available only as of the first quarter.

According to the Secretariat's assessment, the commitment is mostly implemented within the timeline as defined by the Plan. A new website for electronic tender data visualization and the application of program interface (API) has been created, though the database developed in accordance with the OCDS has not been fully updated.

Contact point: Dimitri Gulisashvili - Head of International Relations Department