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This paper examines the strategies and practices of Ireland’s Office of Government Procurement (OGP) and how the Irish procurement system’s effectiveness is currently measured. It then applies the OECD framework for measuring public sector productivity to some of the centralised procurement activity in Ireland to better understand effectiveness drivers within procurement processes.

In Malta, public procurement accounted for approximately 6% of GDP in 2019 and is recognised as a strategic instrument for achieving government policy goals, including recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite recent efforts, the public procurement system still faces several challenges in several areas. This report provides an overview of the procurement system and tailored recommendations in six main areas: i) the organisational structure of the public procurement system, ii) public procurement processes, iii) risk management, iv) the strategic use of public procurement, v) the professionalisation of the procurement workforce, and vi) the performance measurement framework.

Representing approximately 12% of GDP across OECD countries, public procurement is an important pillar of public service delivery. However, successful public procurement is threatened by risks in areas as diverse as compliance, sustainability, and operations. Governments can address these challenges by identifying, assessing, treating, and monitoring risks throughout the procurement process. To do so, they use general tools such as risk registers and risk matrices, as well as more targeted measures aimed at specific challenges, such as supply chain risks. The procurement of complex goods, services and infrastructure involves different and often more consequential risks linked to market structures, the size and length of contracts, and the interconnected nature of decision making. In addressing this broad array of risks, the development of a national risk management strategy is a crucial step to ensure a co-ordinated and consistent approach.

This policy paper describes the current state of play of the measures taken by countries to promote the professionalisation of the public procurement workforce. The paper focuses on the main elements of professionalising the public procurement workforce: i) assessing the current state of professionalisation, (ii) developing a professionalisation strategy, (iii) developing a competency model and a certification framework, (iv) developing capacity-building systems, (v) setting up incentive mechanisms, and (vi) promoting collaborative approaches with knowledge centres. The analysis is based on desk research and builds on data collected through the 2020 OECD Survey on Professionalisation and the 2018 OECD Survey on the Implementation of the 2015 OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement.

Like many other OECD countries, Greece has embarked on an ambitious digital transformation of its public sector to make it more effective, sustainable, proactive and people-centred. However, digital transformation projects present challenges in terms of governance, procurement, implementation and institutional capacities. This review explores how Greece could overcome these challenges to ensure that digital government investments address critical bottlenecks such as the procurement process and result in policy coherence, achieve value for money, and deliver intended outcomes. It also highlights the crucial role of whole-of-government co-ordination.

This report provides Colombia with key recommendations and policy options related to the future improvement of their supplier registry system, Single Suppliers Registry (Registro Único de Proponentes - RUP), in order to enhance further the participation of companies of all sizes into public procurement, in particular for micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs). These recommendations represent a key input for the upcoming National Development Plan (2022 – 2026).

This report provides Hungary with key recommendations and policy options to establish comprehensive and user-friendly methodologies and tools for the greater uptake of life-cycle costing (LCC) methodology in public procurement. The report introduces the concept of LCC and its links to the wider sustainable public procurement agenda, and maps the current practices in Hungary and existing LCC tools in other EU and OECD countries, with a view of drawing insights to promote the development and uptake of LCC tools.