The information system allows for online scheduling of all public tenders as well as Internet broadcasting of any communication relative to the assignment of public tenders. It also includes the possibility of online management of each step of a contracting method (additions, possible changes, cancellation etc.), online rectification of publications, and e-mail communication of rectifications to all registered applicants, as well as easy and transparent monitoring through the public administration of, for example, building progress, project variations, costs, etc. Statistical data is collected and evaluated in the system. The information system can be accessed by external users at no cost.
Policy Context
In accordance with European Lisbon Strategy and the European Action Plans (eEurope 2002 and eEurope 2005), the Action Plan "2004-2008 E-South Tyrol for the Development of the Information Society in South Tyrol“ has been formulated. The action plan contains the strategies for promoting the widespread use of new information and communication technologies in the coming years in the province of South Tyrol (Italy). In light of the development of modern public services (on the provincial and municipal level as well with regards to publicly owned companies), the plan aims to provide all citizens with the opportunity to participate in the global information society, to promote private investments and the creation of workplaces, and to boost business productivity. These goals are to be achieved by promoting online services, applications, and contents on the basis of a widely accessible broadband infrastructure. With regards to modern government and administrative activities, the Provincial Government of South Tyrol has set the following overarching objectives: flexibility, efficiency, transparency, and participation. eGovernment consists of the re-orientation of organizational structures along the lines of Information Technology with the goal of enhancing the performance of and accelerating the work of government agencies. It is a central component of the modernization of public administration. The E-South Tyrol Action Plan was approved by the Provincial Government on March 7, 2005 (Resolution No. 646). The online public tendering information system has been developed in accordance of the above cited action plans.
Description of target users and groups
Public tenders are published through the Civic Network of South Tyrol Internet portal www.provinz.bz.it. This portal is mainly targeted at South-Tyrol inhabitants, but the information system is open to all interested enterprises and is mainly used by north-Italian firms. All local administrative authorities in South Tyrol (municipalities, public health institutions, local administration etc.) use this information system on a regular basis.
Description of the way to implement the initiative
The project was realized in cooperation with the Department of Statistics of the South Tyrolean Provincial Administration, Office for Economic Statistics, and Südtiroler Informatik AG Multi-channel issues: The tenders portal is the most-important communication channel, where interested parties can print the documents. The municipalities also publish the tenders by public display in their buildings. Public agencies can send information on the tenders and their attachments to registered companies by e-mail. Those tenders which attain E.U. threshold values are automatically sent by the system to the E.U. in XML format so that they can also be published in the Internet edition of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union - TED (tenders electronic daily).
Main results, benefits and impacts
Since the the summer of 2005 to the May 2007, 314 successful tenders were completed and closed via the portal. There are ca. 9,00 registered users who make a regular use of the service. 1,000 of them are employers of the local government agencies, the rest are mainly enterprises. In 2006, approx. 5,500 public works projects of all local agencies were processed using this system. This figure includes 220 new tenders; 148 tenders were successful. An estimate was made to determine the actual impact. This estimate was made by dividing the service in steps and by evaluating the difference between traditional methods and the Internet. According to this estimate, each company saved approx. 12.54 work-days per tender in the course of 2006. This was because all the information was easily accessible and contained in standardized forms. In the course of 2006, all local public agencies saved approx. 7,950 work-days through the use of this system instead of traditional methods. As well as the saved work-time, online work also helped to reduce paper costs and mailing costs. Likewise, newspaper publication costs were lowered considerably. The online service also increases quality of service and data consistency sensibly. Innovation: This portal with all of its many different functions is an innovation for Italy. It is greatly changing organizational processes in public agencies and allows effective control. The option of sending corrections (errata) to all companies via e-mails with attachments is a breathtakingly new possibility. Very innovative is also the content syndication with the EU: Those tenders which achieve E.U. threshold values are – simultaneous with the publication in the South Tyrolean Citizens' Network – automatically sent (in XML format) to the E.U., and are thus published in the Internet edition of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union - TED (tenders electronic daily) at http://ted.europa.eu
Return on investment
Return on investment: Not applicable / Not availableTrack record of sharing
A similar logic will be applied to the new service called "Changing Municipal Building Master Plans." The portal called "Observation Site for Public Tariffs" contains the tariffs sets by publicly owned companies. The goal and purpose of this observation site is to provide – at a single website – all of the information and instructions on tariffs at the municipal level. The tariffs can be visualized on the basis of topics, individual municipalities, or types of families.
Lessons learnt
Lesson 1 - At the begining of a project, it is very important that an analysis be carried out exactly, that experts be invited to participate, and that the participation of all involved parties be effectively coordinated. This makes it easier from the very beginning to pursue a consistent strategy and thus keep a ceiling on the budget. Lesson 2 - Because the persons who use this portal acquire an effective benefit, the service is enjoying widespread acceptance and increasing use. Lesson 3 - The standardization of tenders (according to E.U. templates) eases daily work and increases transparency. It is easier to monitor public activities – from programming to execution – with regards to costs, progress status, project variants, etc. Lesson 4 - Crucial is also the cooperation of the local administrations and the legal endorsement of the use of the tender portal.
Scope: National, Regional (sub-national)