E-Government Procurement Workshop The Singapore E-Government Procurement Experience Carol Lo S Chia Assistant Director

1. E-Government Procurement Workshop The Singapore E-Government Procurement Experience Carol Lo S Chia Assistant Director, EBIZ Defence Science & Technology Agency

2. Agenda Singapore Government Procurement Regime What is GeBIZ? Project Management Structure Design Principle e-Procurement Methods Implementation Approach Challenges Faced Benefits New developments in GeBIZ

3. Singapore Government Procurement Regime Singapore is party to many international agreements, such as the 1994 WTO-Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) and various Free Trade Agreements, which cover government procurement. • These agreements entitle Singapore suppliers to an open, transparent, and non-discriminatory treatment when they participate in business opportunities presented by the overseas governments.

4. Singapore Government Procurement Regime 3 PRINCIPLES

5. Singapore Government Procurement Regime • As a city-state, Singapore does not have local government/ sub-central authorities • The bulk of Government Procurement (GP) activities in Singapore is decentralised to individual government agencies • However, they must adhere to central procurement guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance • Centralised purchasing is carried out for common goods and services and the government agencies can purchase off service-wide contracts

6. The Singapore Government, has been transforming to E-Business as early as the year 2000 In 2000, it launched the Government electronic Business System (GeBIZ)

7. Users Users Internet Intranet Global Suppliers Other Market Places Partner Enterprise Fixed line, Internet Internet Dial - up, Broadband, Wireless etc. Local Suppliers Government Procurement Executives Workplace Ministries Statutory Boards GeBIZ Public Sector Organs of States Government Electronic Business (GeBIZ) • GeBIZ is an Integrated One-Stop Electronic Business Centre which: • provides a convenient channel for Public Sector officers to interact with their trading partners for procurement and revenue tender activities • enables suppliers to trade with the entire Government

8. The Partnership • Joint collaboration among: • Ministry of Finance (MOF) • System Owner • Provide policy guideline in Government Procurement • Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA) • Technical Agency • Manage the development and operation of the GeBIZ Portal • Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) • ICT Authority in e-Government • Provide policy guideline in IT implementation

9. GeBIZ Management Structure Composition MOF,IDA,DSTA, and GeBIZ Pioneer Sites Project Management Committee (Chair: MOF) Applications Implementation Working Group (Chair - DSTA) Business Processes & Policies Working Group (Chair : MOF) Technical Working Group (Chair : IDA) (Co-Chair : DSTA) Management of GeBIZ Business Processes & Polices related to the Public Sector and Suppliers Community Management of GeBIZ Technical Infrastructure & Standards Management of GeBIZ Application Development and Operation

10. Design Principle of GeBIZ • GeBIZ has the features of private sector business portals e.g. convenient on-line shopping experience but adheres to public sector procurement disciplines which are compliant to the requirements of WTO-GPA: • Transparency • Open And Fair Competition • Value for Money

11. Characteristic of GeBIZ • GeBIZ is a centrally managed system but procurement activities can be decentralized to the individual government agencies • Support end-to-end transactions with trading partners for various modes of purchasing for all goods and services • Support lead agency to establish service wide period contracts and the decentralized purchasing off these contracts by other government agencies • Support personalization & configuration by Agencies • GeBIZ is independent of the financial system used by the agencies. It can support end-to-end transaction integration with financial systems such as SAP, Oracle and Peoplesoft

12. E-Procurement Methods in GeBIZ • Small Value Purchase • for estimated purchase value up to S$3,000 • Invitation To Quote (ITQ) • for estimated purchase value up to S$70,000 • Invitation To Tender (ITT) • for estimated purchase value greater than S$70,000 • Catalogue Buy - Purchase off Established Period Contract through • Electronic Catalog • Printed Catalog • Framework Agreement (FA) • Request For Quotation (RFQ)

13. Phased Implementation Approach June 2000 Catalogue Buy e-Tender Publication 2001-2003 Online supplier registration Online Invitation and response to tender and quotations Purchase from framework agreements Small value purchases Interface to financial systems Project Implementation

14. GeBIZ has become the main Channel of Government Tenders and quotations Government Procurement in Singapore Response Publish

15. Government Procurement in Singapore All Procurement functions like Purchase Orders, invoice and payments can be done electronically in GeBIZ

16. GeBIZ Facts and Figures In FY05, more than 60,000 business opportunities from 120 government agencies worth a total of $10B were published on GeBIZ

17. Challenges Faced • Legal, Security & Audit Issues • Terms & Conditions to govern the conduct of e-procurement electronically • Protection against security threats from internet • Supplier registration and authentication • Maintain traceability and accountability

18. Challenges Faced • Project Management Issues • High level Management Support • Standardization of e-Procurement policy and processes across agencies • Getting the users on-board • Overcome resistance to change • Convincing Business Case • Training & Education • Develop critical mass of buyer & supplier • Proactive call centre support

19. Challenges Faced • Design Challenge • Design for ONE system for ALLagencies and ALL purchases • Diversity of requirement & practice across different agencies • process rationalization & streamlining • flexibility in configuration to cater to specific scenarios • Standardization of Financial System Interface for different financial systems • Technical Challenges • Scalability and robustness • Handling high volume and complex transactions across multiple networks

20. Benefits of GeBIZ - Policy Makers • As a custom-built system, the design of GeBIZ adhered strictly to the public sector procurement policies and principles. It helps to • Increase transparency in Government Procurement • standardize the government policy and processes across agencies • ensure compliance to the international agreements • Provide overview of procurement information across the entire public sector for decision making and policy review • e.g review of criteria for supplier registration

21. Ministries Statutory Boards Organs Of States GeBIZ Benefits of GeBIZ - Policy Makers • Facilitate demand aggregation across the entire public sector and the establishment of service wide period contracts or framework agreements • enables government agencies to enjoy bulk discounts from economy of scale • e.g. in FY04, DSTA undertook demand aggregation for 18 procurement categories and achieve a total annual savings of S$15M for the public sector

22. Benefits of GeBIZ - Government Agencies • Global reach to suppliers • Visibility of procurement activities and purchasing patterns within the agency • Improved work efficiency and reduce procurement lead-time • Streamlined workflow processes eliminate duplicated data entries • Facilitate internal audit & spend analysis • Cost savings due to • better procurement visibility and control • increased market competition • use of service wide period control Typical saving of 3-20% in procurement value depending on the procurement category

23. Benefits of GeBIZ - Suppliers • Open access to business opportunities • transparency of opportunities and information on government procurement • Convenience • One-Stop Business Centre to trade with entire Government sector electronically • Online transactions & enquiry • Increased confidentiality • All bids are encrypted • Reduction in business costs • Low entry cost to government procurement market

24. New Developments GeBIZ has become a key channel for government agencies to communicate policy changes and initiatives to supplier communities e.g. Government Pre-procurement Plan

25. New Developments In line with the policy on efficient use of resource, a decision was taken by MOF for DSTA to manage and operate GeBIZ as a central procurement portal for GOS on a self-funding model from 1 Apr 04 GeBIZ has since then transformed from a fully-funded project into a Self-Funded Business Portal through direct fee collection from its users This has resulted in changing mind set and behavior - More cost conscious - More customer focus

26. New Developments Commercialisation of GeBIZ Intellectual Property The successful implementation of GeBIZ has drawn commercial interest. Several vendors approached DSTA to explore the possibility of licensing GeBIZ for implementation overseas • A tender was called in early 2005 to outsource the maintenance of GeBIZ application. The successful tenderer would be granted the license to customise and sell the GeBIZ solution to other governments and foreign organisations • NIIT Technology was awarded the GeBIZ contract

27. e Conclusion • GeBIZ will continue to be the means for Singapore to explore new business model and processes enabled by technology. • It will also be the primary means to promote e-commerce adoption among trading community in Singapore e.g. • GeBIZ Mall for small value purchases (Just launched) • A pro-business initiative to enable SMEs to market their product and services directly to the public sector buyers

28. Thank You Welcome to visit us at : www.gebiz.gov.sg