Action plan on innovative public procurement published

The action plan on innovative public procurement contains 14 measures, divided into four categories: management, information sharing, skills development, and concrete tools such as risk management tools. Procurements should be included in performance guidance to ensure a systematic approach, organisations should assign a person in charge of procurements, and training in innovative public procurement should be organised in administrative branches.

The action plan measures aim to promote a more strategic approach to innovative procurement and better management and preparation of procurements in administrative branches. Another goal is to create a systematic development process for cooperation across central government sectors and administrative branches. The measures will promote the Government objective to raise the share of innovative procurement of all public procurement to 5 per cent.

The plan was drawn up by Owal Group Oy and Motiva Oy. They were selected for the task through competitive tendering.

Measures to be implemented in the project’s second phase

In the project’s second phase, the administrative branches will be challenged to consider what the proposed measures could mean for them. Support and coaching, tailored to the needs of each administrative branch, will be provided to promote the implementation of the measures. The second phase is already underway in the form of coaching meetings for each administrative branch. These meetings will continue until January next year.

The action plan supports the forthcoming centre of excellence for public procurement

A network-based centre of excellence for sustainable and innovative public procurement will be established to promote public procurement. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will grant funding for the centre’s founding and operations and for Green deal piloting for three years. The deadline for applications was 8 December, and the Ministry received one application from a project consortium. The network-based centre of excellence is planned to start operating on 1 March 2018.

The now published action plan includes several elements to support the operations of the forthcoming centre of excellence. The objective of the network-based centre of excellence is to promote sustainable and innovative public procurement and thereby improve the effectiveness and quality of public procurements and services. Another goal is to promote the attainment of long-term policy objectives.

The centre of excellence should also increase market dialogue and facilitate better processes for the preparation and planning of public procurements: how to incorporate performance and effectiveness targets in procurements and how to create together an efficient procurement process. The centre of excellence will also work to create and disseminate new, scalable and light-weight operating models. It will also develop peer support practices and education models together with municipalities and expert organisations and create links between Finnish experts and European exemplary cities.

Inquiries
Minna Mattila, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 5047 179, minna.mattila@tem.fi (action plan and centre of excellence)
Mia Toivanen, Partner, Owal Group, +358 40 566 7536, mia@owalgroup.com (action plan)

Report
Action planFilen öppnas i en ny flik pdf 682kB to boost innovative public procurement in the central government (in Finnish)

Background
In May 2017, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment launched a project to create an overview of public procurement practices in the different administrative branches, produce a concrete action plan to facilitate innovative procurement, and create a systematic development process for cooperation across central government sectors and administrative branches. Following competitive tendering, the Ministry chose a group formed by Owal Group Oy and Motiva Oy to carry out the project.

The action plan was drawn up in cooperation with ministries and government agencies. A workshop was organised for each administrative branch to discuss the views and needs in the administrative branch regarding the development of innovative public procurement. All the administrative branches were invited to the joint opening and concluding workshops, and background and planning meetings were organised with each of the administrative branches.

The action plan promotes the implementation of the objective of increasing the proportion of innovative procurement of all public procurement, which is one of the measures in the Government key project Strengthening competitiveness by improving conditions for business and entrepreneurship.