Image: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay While procurement typically happens behind the scenes, experts on a recent Global Government Forum webinar highlighted its front and central role in helping governments meet their goals, from reducing carbon emissions to delivering better public services. The panellists agreed that digital transformation is necessary in public procurement to meet policy objectives and protect against leakage, error, fraud and corruption – but there is still significant work to do to achieve this. Dag Strømsnes, chief procurement officer in Norway’s Agency for Public and Financial Management, illustrated the scale and importance of public procurement, explaining that around 15% of Norway’s gross domestic product (GDP) flows through it. “The big thing in Norway now…is that we have actually developed public procurement from being a back-office function to being seen as a strategic input factor for the goal achievement of different organisations in Norway,” he said. “We are not just working to achieve goals within the different contracting authorities. I think the government sees the procurement function as an important tool to also…achieve the ambitious Paris agreement with a huge reduction of the CO2 emissions.” Matthieu Cahen, senior policy analyst, Public Governance Directorate, OECD, observed that this is […]
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