Norway’s government procurement centre (ANS) and the Agency for Public Management and e-Government (Difi) are preparing the country’s first procurement frameworks related to IT. The first call, on telephony services, will be published in the next few days. The second call, for telephony and PC workstations, is expected around 24 April. Calls will be published on both Norway’s and Europe’s procurement portals, Doffin and Ted.
Preparing and centralising procurement should help save Norway’s public sector billions, DIFI writes in its announcement. Norway’s government procurement centre (Department for Public Procurement) was established in January 2016. Joint purchasing lowers transaction cost, and can result in lower prices for goods and services, the agency writes. It also frees up time for procurement officers, who can focus on the more strategic tenders.
The procurement centre has divided IT procurement into six main topics:
- consulting;
- development;
- operations;
- equipment;
- solutions; and
- maintenance.
In addition, the agency is providing practical advice on five themes: Agile development, Cloud Computing, standards, procurement and project management, and free and open source software. For example, in January and February, DIFI published a standard contract and templates for public agencies looking to procure software-as-a-service.
Barring exceptions, the use of the central framework contracts is mandatory. Parliament, the Armed Forces and some healthcare organisations are exempt, but may choose to use the frameworks.
More information:
IT procurement (in Norwegian)
Difi announcement (in Norwegian)