The project for the introduction, application and deployment of a total solution for conducting public procurement competitions in Cyprus using electronic means has been successfully completed in November 2009 within the set timeframe and budget. As of November 2009, Cyprus has a fully operational eProcurement Platform and a linked subsystem for electronic catalogues and electronic ordering. The effort has shifted to the management of the eProcurement System and the corresponding building of an electronic market in the form of eCatalogues out of which Contracting Authorities will place eOrders. The Public Procurement Directorate of the Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus (PPD) is the Competent Authority for Public Procurement and is the Owner of the Cyprus eProcurement System (CyePS). The CyePS supports the electronic preparation and execution of public procurement competitions and has been ranked first amongst the EU eProcurement Platforms in the 2009 Benchmarking Study concerning the area of pre-Awarding and has also been awarded the Good Practice Label by epractice. The CyePS is transparent, non-discriminatory, is reliable and interoperable, it provides unhindered access, it is secure, easily accessible, supportive of fair competition and facilitative for equal market access. The system covers the full range of public procurement procedures in Cyprus, while it also supports the electronic submission of notices to the EU Publications Office as an e-Sender and collects online statistics.

Economic Operators (EOs) and Contracting Authorities (CAs) are granted access to the CyePS via a username and a password which is common for the eProcurement Platform and the linked eCatalogue and eOrdering subsystem. Every EO in Cyprus and abroad is enabled to register free of charge from his own office. For their validation they have to send offline to the administrators a signed declaration confirming their details as prepared by the CyePS. CA registration is restricted and managed by the administrators. Currently the system has registered all the Cypriot CAs and more than 1.000 EOs from Cyprus and Abroad. As of 1 November 2009 all procurement competitions are published on the CyePS and registered EOs are notified automatically via an email for every public procurement opportunity that might be of interest to them, using the CPV matching. This has given a great boost to the CyePS adoption as EOs in Cyprus and Abroad know that there is a single place to look for Public Procurement opportunities in the Republic of Cyprus.

From thereon, CAs can upload their tender documents on the Cy ePS and EOs can access the documents and ask for clarifications electronically, Contracting Authorities can respond to clarification requests or issue addenda whilst the interested Economic Operators are automatically notified. The EOs can submit their tenders electronically and the CA can prepare electronic documents to have the system conduct an automatic preliminary evaluation of Tenders received. Then the awarding process is carried out electronically and the statistics module records the competition results.

The electronic market subsystem is linked to the core eprocurement system and hosts electronic catalogues under framework agreements for unlimited electronic ordering whilst free electronic catalogues can be published for small value electronic orders. This subsystem manages the creation of electronic catalogues and the placement of electronic orders, providing the facility for product comparisons, creation of wishlists, approval of orders, acceptance or rejection of orders, order delivery information, delivery confirmation, acceptance of goods and invoicing details.

Overall the Cyprus eProcurement System provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art solution that is available free of charge to all stakeholders in the Cypriot Public Procurement Market.

Policy Context

The applicable legislation governing the use of the Cyprus eProcurement System consists of Laws N.11(I)/2006 "The Coordination of the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors" (harmonised with EU Directive 2004/17/EC) and N.12(I)/2006 "  The Coordination of Procedures for the Award of Public Works Contracts, Public Supply Contracts and Public Service Contracts and Related Matters" (harmonised with EU Directive 2004/17/EC) and the Relevant Regulations.

The introduction of the Cyprus eProcurement System forms an integral part of the Strategic Framework that consists of the Cyprus Government policies for strengthening eGovernance and boosting better regulation. This aligns with the EU Policies as they stem from the Lisbon Strategy.

The approach employed for the introduction of the eProcurement System was the development of one easily accessible and user friendly electronic system, to serve all Contracting Authorities in Cyprus, which would be established as the single point of reference for all procurement related matters in the Republic.

This effort was aligned with the EU Commission Action Plan for the use of electronic means in public procurement by 2010 and the Functional and Non-functional requirements as adopted by the European Commission were utilised.

In pursue of the wider uptake of the eProcurement System and for ensuring the proper application of the principles governing the use of electronic means in public procurement as analysed in the Interpretative Document issued by the European Commission, the Regulations 149/2009 and 150/2009 for the use of Electronic Means in Public Procurement in Cyprus were applied. The application by Contracting Authorities of the above Regulations also serves maintaining online statistics for the purposes of fulfilling the statistical reporting obligations stated in the EU Directives.

Description of target users and groups

The target users of the e-Procurement system are the following: 

• All Contracting Authorities in the Republic of Cyprus;
• All Economic Operators at EU level;
• General Public interested in information related to public procurement in the Republic of Cyprus and abroad.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

During the project implementation, a Project Steering Committee was set up with the responsibility of managing the Project. The project management methodology used in the e-Procurement project for the Republic of Cyprus has evolved through practice, taking into account all the significant aspects of three widely accepted methodologies and standards affecting project management that have become international best practices, namely the PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environments) method for IT project management, IBM’s Rational Unified Process (RUP) for system implementation, as well as the ISO 9001-2000 Quality Management System. The Contractor of the project was EUROPEAN DYNAMICS S.A. (ED) with its headquarters located in Athens, Greece. The implementation of the eprocurement system was successfully completed in November 2009 within the initial timeframe and the available budget. The major success factor for the implementation of such a multitask project was the concentration in one Project Steering Committee of decision makers and professionals from both the public procurement sector and the IT sector. This provided the Project Team with flexibility and immediate availability of feedback which are the cornerstones in flawless project implementations. Further to the above, the relationship established with the Contractor was excellent and it has evolved over the project implementation duration from a Beneficiary – Contractor relationship to a win-win partnership relationship.

Following the implementation of the Project, the Public Procurement Directorate of the Treasury of the Republic, has established a multidisciplinary Project Team comprising with five Public Procurement Specialists and two IT Specialists. The team was faced with the challenge to ensure that the eProcurement System operates flawlessly, and in parallel to promote the use of the eProcurement System and ensure the appropriate user uptake. Towards the second goal, a promotion contract was signed with a public relations firm for the promotion of the system use. This effort entailed the publication in newspapers and magazines of articles relating to the Cyprus eProcurement System, the use of tv, radio, internet and press advertisements and the issue of user guides and the organisation of open seminars for both Contracting Authorities and Economic Operators. The Promotion campaign was completed in November 2009. The part of the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus that cotains all publications of Public Procurement Competitions in Cyprus is prepared by the eProcurement System.  Therefore, there is no way that a competition of any kind is procured by a Cypriot Contracting Authority without being published on the Cyprus eProcurement System website (www.eprocurement.gov.cy). This also guarantees the 100% system uptake by Contracting Authorities and will eventually result in 100% uptake by the Economic Operators. Having secured the system operation and user uptake, the Public Procurement Directorate of the Treasury has organised a Helpdesk facility to provide immediate support and specialised trainings to the users of the system.

In Parallel, having secured the 100% use by the Contracting Authorities for publishing their competitions, the PPD is implementing a strategy to motivate and assist Contracting Authorities to make use of the full system spectrum including the upload of Tender Documents and electronic clarification handling, the electronic submission of tenders and the electronic awarding of contracts. The module of electronic certificates is implemented towards the support of electronic submission of tenders. Furthermore, the Collaborative Procurement initiative launched by the Public Procurement Directorate aims at fully utilising the facilities provided by the Electronic Catalogues and Electronic Ordering Modules. More specifically, Framework Agreement competitions are procured by the Public Procurement Directorate as a Coordinating Contracting Authority. These agreements are concluded and awarded following a collaboration with the contracting authorities – buyers and the economic operators – suppliers to establish the competition parameters and are utilised via the built-up of electronic catalogues. These electronic catalogues are included in the electronic market in which all Contracting Authorities in Cyprus are enabled to place their electronic orders.

The key success factor is the commitment to achieving the project results, the involvement at all stages of the key stakeholders and the collaboration of all the parties involved aiming towards a win-win end result.

Technology solution

The standards/technologies used in the project comprise amongst others, UML language, J2EE, XML. HTML, LDAP, JDBC, timestamping, data encryption (symmetric & asymmetric) and JAVA script.

To ensure non-discrimination, all tenders received electronically are time-stamped by an external Time-Stamping Authority. All notices created through the system abide to the DTD 2.0.6 specifications of the EU Publications Office and are submitted through an e-Sender implementation, in line with the communication standards set by the Office.

The system is accessible by end-users through Internet-enabled workstations, by the use of a standard web-browser application, ensuring that all users require minimum system configuration for using the e-Procurement system. In addition, the e-Procurement system provides a desktop, offline application, implemented in the Java language, guaranteeing that its users can use the offline application in any operating system, further promoting the equality of treatment of users.

The architecture of the system is intended to provide security/confidentiality of data, access and communications allowing no single-point-of-failure. Availability metrics were set at 24X7 with 99% uptime and expandability is set to cover for an anticipated increased volume of system use of around 30%

Summarising we could say that the Cyprus eProcurement System is Secure, Available, and is provided free of charge to all users with a PC, an internet connection and a valid e-mail account.

 

Technology choice: Standards-based technology, Mainly (or only) open standards, Accessibility-compliant (minimum WAI AA), Open source software

Main results, benefits and impacts

eNotification Module:The productivity is increased for Economic Operators (EOs) as they can find all procurement opportunities regardless of their value, published in one web place. Taking this one step further, the Cyprus eProcurement System (CyePS) notifies automatically the registered EOs for every competition published and might be of interest to them through CPV matching. EOs are saving money and man-hours that are currently wasted in searching for procurement opportunities everywhere. Furthermore, the Tender Documents are available for free download allowing EOs to access all information about a competition from the comfort of their own office limiting the unnecessary travelling to/from Contracting Authority offices. Another beneficial functionality for EOs is the clarification request that is available online in a very simple manner. A very important qualitative benefit stemming from the use of the eNotification module is the increase of competition as all information is available 24X7 free of charge and can be easily accessed from everywhere.

The productivity is also increased for Contracting Authorities (CAs) as they have only one procurement notice to complete and the CyePS undertakes the dispatch of Notices to the Official Gazette of the Republic and the Official Journal of the European Union. In addition, the publication of tender documents electronically saves both time and money wasted on printing and copying tender documents. Administrative costs are further reduced due to the CyePS handling of clarification and addenda communications as the system keeps a registry of all interested EOs in the competition and notifies them automatically upon the issue of any clarification or addendum.

Users of the CyePS have found the eNotification Module as highly satisfactory and have quickly adopted the use without any significant resistance to change. It is estimated that the savings in the non-value adding transactional costs associated with the notification phase of a competition is in the area of 60 to 70%.

 

eTendering Module:The CyePS supports the electronic submission of tenders with validation mechanisms to assist EOs to avoid making logical mistakes or omissions that could cost the rejection of their tenders. EOs are alerted when there is a problem in the submission of their tenders and are given a confirmation upon the timely submission of a tender. Another significant benefit associated with the use of the eTendering Module is the enhancement of the level of transparency, non discrimination and security as perceived by the participating EOs. The increase in the competition is further enhanced as a qualitative benefit as the electronic tender box is available 24X7 and can be easily accessed from everywhere. It is estimated that the transactional costs to be saved by EOs when using this module will be in the area of 80%.

 

eAwarding and eAuctions Modules:The whole procurement procedure is benefited from the use of the automated notification as the lead time is significantly shortened. The CAs are saving time and money as the CyePS undertakes most of the non-value adding activities associated with the evaluation of tenders including the communications for the notification and announcement of the end results. It is estimated that the transactional cost savings will be in the area of 40 to 70% depending on the degree of automation a Contracting Authority is applying. The use of eAuctions are expected to give a further cost saving of 5% on prices due to increased competitiveness.

 

eCatalogues and eOrdering Modules: The operation of a framework agreement based electronic marketplace, within which all CAs in Cyprus are enabled to click-and-shop to satisfy most of their common use item needs (such as photocopy paper, stationery, computers, laptops, printers etc), eliminates a significant amount of non value adding activities associated with the procurement of similar competitions from various CAs. A qualitative aspect that adds value to the whole procurement process is that these common use items will be available to CAs to cover their requirements immediately as the need arises which renders them more productive and allows to shift focus on their core area of operations.

EOs are also greatly benefited from the operation of this electronic market as they do not have to respond to numerous tender procedures for similar items and they are relieved from time consuming and costly procedures associated with receiving and delivering orders offline. It is estimated that the transactional cost savings associated with the operation of the electronic marketplace will exceed 90% for the CAs placing electronic orders from the available electronic catalogues and successful EOs will be benefited by an increase in demand of about 20%. The nature of framework agreement operation also secures an increase in the quality of goods the CAs are purchasing. All of the above justify the estimation of a further cost saving in the area of 10% in the quoted prices.

Last but not least, the introduction by the public sector of this electronic marketplace is expected to give eGovernment and eBusiness application in Cyprus a significant boost which coincides with a strategic goal set by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

eStatistics Module:The quality of statistics is enhanced with the immediate availability of a wide range of reliable data and information which is a very productive tool in the hands of the policy and decision making centres in the area of public procurement. More specifically, eStatistics provides better management of information, reduction of data entry errors and repetition of information, highly detailed and easily accessible data through electronic documents, as well as advanced searching and auditing facilities. Thus, the expansion of management reporting, monitoring, financial analysis and forecasting capabilities are greatly enhanced

Return on investment

Return on investment: Larger than €10,000,000

Track record of sharing

The Cyprus eProcurement System was implemented based on the guidance provided by the functional and non functional requirements issued by the European Commission in 2005 and has utilised the dynamic demonstrators that were developed to assist member states in implementing electronic procurement systems in line to the European Directives of 2004.

The Cyprus eProcurement Case was awarded the Good Practice Label by the ePractice in 2009 and has ranked first in the Benchmarking Study of 2009 concerning the Pre-Award functionalities of eProcurement Systems across the European Union.

The System covers electronically the full scope of Public Procurement, from the preparation and publication of notices (e-sender) and contract documents, the automation of communications during clarification requests, the electronic submission of tenders, opening and automated evaluation of tenders, all the way to the notification of results and contract award notice. Furthermore, the system includes e-Attestations, e-Auctions, e-Catalogues and e-Ordering modules that complement the core eProcurement system in a comprehensive electronic procurement solution. The Cyprus eProcurement System is centrally managed-operated and is used by all Contracting Authorities in Cyprus, including Bodies Governed by Public Law, Utilities, and Local Authorities.

Having all the above in mind, we consider the Cyprus e-procurement case as the ideal starting point for every Public Administration in the European Union that is considering the development or the enhancement of its electronic procurement platform. The Cyprus eProcurement System, offers online training facilities, electronic access to user manuals and interactive walkthroughs that can be accessed by everyone free of charge. The production environment is replicated into a test and training environment that allows prospective interested administrations to experiment with the system functionality.

The most important factor that renders a case suitable for exchange, transfer and replication is the willingness of the people involved to share. On our behalf we have demonstrated our commitment to sharing and we will be happy to be given the opportunity to assist any Public Administration in the EU which is considering developing or enhancing its e-procurement system.

Envisaged best practice in sharing our experiences starts with an initial contact from the interested Public Administration stating the focus of their interest. Then we would grant access rights to them to experiment with the test and training environment of the system and get a feeling of how the system operates. Then we could discuss some first views and opinions identifying the various options to move on. The sharing could move in more depth by hosting a study visit in Cyprus for the interested Public Administration.

Our track record of sharing involves: Hosting a study visit In June 2009 by a Bulgarian Public Sector Delegation to share experiences and knowledge. Creating User accounts for a Greek Public Administration in January 2010 to experiment on the Training Environment of the System as a first step prior to hosting a study visit for the Greek Delegation. Telephone and e-mail exchange of views on electronic procurement application with collegues from EU Public Administrations. In addition, presentations have been carried out during public procurement related forums in Vienna and AthensMore information of how the system operates can be found on www.eprocurement.gov.cy under the "Interactive Walkthroughs" and the User Manuals can be accessed via the "Electronic Public Procurement" selection. Further information on how any EU Public Sector Actor can benefit from this case can be obtained either by phone at +35722602255 or by email to Stelios Kountouris at skountouris@treasury.gov.cy or Philippos Katranis at pkatranis@treasury.gov.cy

 

 

Lessons learnt

1. The first lesson learned touches the preparatory work that a competition of this size and nature must undergo. The technical specifications published in the tender documents for the e-Procurement project of the Republic of Cyprus were based to a large extend on the Functional and non Functional Requirements on eProcurement Systems disseminated by the European Commission in 2005. As such, these documents have not only provided a good starting point for our case, but also proved that similar initiatives by the European Commission can significantly assist Member States in designing ICT systems in line with EC Directives/Regulations. However, it is of paramount importance to correctly assess and take into consideration, the environment within which every ICT system will be put in operation. Towards this task, we have involved early in the process all stakeholders identified in the Public Procurement cycle in Cyprus and have shaped the system requirements to fit our case. During this project, it has been confirmed that the majority of rules/regulations described in the EC Directives (2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC regulating Public Procurement procedures in the European Countries) can be implemented in an ICT system that controls and guides users on the procedures/actions to be performed for conducting public procurement competitions, without sacrificing each Member State specificities that would have a negative impact on the end result.

2. As a second lesson learned we would state that it has been made clear that in order for an electronic system to be widely adopted in a short period of time by the public procurement community, effort should be dedicated in aspects related to change management, promotion and dissemination of results. These aspects play a major role for building trust and getting end-users from both Contracting Authorities and Economic Operators, to adopt the use of an electronic public procurement system in its full scale. Having done that, we have observed minimal resistance to change and a relatively fast system uptake by end users.

3. The third lesson learned is that the introduction, application and deployment of eProcurement (as is the case with any other ICT system) forms a constantly evolving and adopting living entity. Maintaining an eProcurement System up to date, efficient and effective is an ongoing task that requires continuous monitoring, testing and adjusting. Listening to the end users is imperative and trying to keep everybody satisfied might prove a difficult undertaking. The Cyprus-wide application of eProcurement and the one fits all approach followed, was successful in our case mainly because we opted to leave outside the system development scope of any particular Contracting Authority specificities and did not pose any barriers to users in the form of System decision making.

Scope: Cross-border, International, Local (city or municipality), National, Pan-European, Regional (sub-national)