Public Procurement and eProcurement to be Merged into New Agency from 2008

On 1 January 2008 a large new player enters the Norwegian public procurement arena when the “Agency for Public Management and eGovernment” (DIFI) will be established. The new directorate will be responsible for socially useful, cost-effective public procurement. eProcurement, environmental requirements and skills upgrading are at the top of the new directorate’s targets for next year. André Hoddevik, the leader of the Ministry of Government Administration and Reforms’ eProcurement secretariat is pleased with this development, which enables an overall responsibility for public procurement.

Targets for the new directorate

• Dissemination of expertise regarding public procurement.
• Initiating, developing, and running electronic solutions in public procurement.
• Following up the Norwegian Government’s action plan for environmental responsibility and community accountability in public procurement.
• Participating in international collaborative efforts to encourage standardisation and implementation of public procurement across borders.

Tasks in 2008

In 2008, the agency will administer and develop the existing services of Ehandel.no and Doffin.no. It will ensure cost-effective and easy access to electronic tools which support the process of public procurement, and it will collaborate with users to develop tools to simplify and improve the procurement process.
The agency will also give guidance and disseminate information to facilitate the increased use of electronic tools in the Norwegian public sector. The use of eTools will improve profitability by promoting more efficient procurement processes.

Satisfied

In a comment regarding the agency’s responsibilities and tasks, the leader of the eProcurement secretariat, André Hoddevik, said that he is satisfied that the agency now has the opportunity to assume overall responsibility in the area of public procurement.

“Experience shows us,” he said, “that basic procurement competence is a prerequisite for success in the work of ensuring environmentally sound procurement and electronic procurement. The responsibility for procurement in the Norwegian public sector is decentralised, and many enterprise leaders need assistance in safeguarding this responsibility. In this field the new agency can play a central role, in cooperation with The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) and the excellent procurement communities, of which we have many in Norway.”