6.4: Open Policy Design
Creating an open public contracting policy that is easily accessible and useful to all creates public trust and empowers the private sector to make wiser investments. A modern economy needs open public procurement as a smart, user-friendly, digital public service, bringing governments, businesses, and citizens together to build one partnership.
Designing an Open Public Contracting Policy — Essential Considerations
Establish Open Principles on Policies and Laws
Writing policies that align guiding principles with statutory mandates ensures that the regulation’s implementation reflects lawmakers’ goals. A successful open contracting policy will align with existing law, recognize the public’s right to access information generated by the contracting process, commit to releasing data as a default and include stakeholders in the oversight process.
Real Cases in Public Procurement: Learning from Experience
The Open Data Policy at Scottsdale, Arizona
Issue: In May 2016, the Scottsdale City Council approved an agreement with What Works Cities (WWC). The agreement advanced the Council’s priorities by improving the city’s practice of evidence-based decision-making and aimed to develop an open data policy.
Background: Several cities refer to the idea that data should be “open by default” (proactively released and as complete as possible), in the resolution, introducing open data policies for all government information, including procurement. However, most do not include it in the actionable portion of the bill. An exception is Scottsdale, which clarifies in Resolution 10548 (Section 1) that all departments should see their data in this light. Section 2 orders the city manager to take actions consistent with this, among other policies.
Outcome: Without statutory authority, open data champions within the government may not be able to effectively advocate for compliance with these policies.
Discussion Question:
- If all governments implemented a totally open policy, how would this affect other regulations?
Sources: Based on information from the Scottsdale City Council’s agreement with What Works Cities (WWC). (Updated May 2016.) In Scottsdale City Council Meeting Minutes. Retrieved on November 12, 2024. Scottsdale City Council Meeting Minutes – ScottsdaleAZ.gov; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA in Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities. Retrieved on November 12, 2024. Scottsdale, AZ Resolution (Aug 31, 2016) from the Sunlight Foundation’s Open Data Policy Hub. Retrieved on November 12, 2024.
Draft Policies with Clear Aims, Data Outputs and Consultation
A few measures should be considered as policy is being written to ensure it achieves the goals of the open contracting program. Consult stakeholders when drafting the policy, as their support will help drive it forward, and their expertise may help drafters avoid preventable mistakes. For example, many municipal professionals have identified technology procurement as a key pain point due to high costs and low competition. Higher-risk procurements like these can be highlighted in policy drafting. Ensure the policy includes a clear discussion of objectives and a description of what will be published (while making clear that the list is a minimum, not an exhaustive maximum). Use the drafting process to reinforce and reform existing procurement laws.
Develop the Technical Framework
The technical aspect of rolling out an open contracting program is more than a mere detail. Properly done, it will reinforce other open data policies and improve procurement outcomes, which in turn will impact every government program. Key objectives include ensuring that the data is captured in a way that reflects and describes the entire procurement process, that this data is stored in a platform that is open and doesn’t tie the program to one supplier or vendor, and that it is stored in a standard fashion that is machine readable, licensed for open access, and well-documented, so people understand how to use it.
Ensure Data Quality and Timeliness
Policy regulations and their implementation have an impact on government processes and staff workflows that determine whether data is accurate and collected regularly. A commitment from top managers to prioritize the release of data can ensure those processes are initially implemented in an effective way. Assigning clear roles and responsibilities among the departments involved will keep these processes running effectively as the program becomes established.
Real Cases in Public Procurement: Learning from Experience
Montreal Prioritizes Data Release
Issue: Montreal has been successful in keeping its datasets timely, especially when compared with local area governments.
Background: Montreal recognizes the important role that data has in strategic planning. The Data Governance Directive in Montreal creates opportunities to use data to improve the delivery of municipal services and decision-making, allowing the city to improve its contribution to the common good and exert a greater impact on the community. While Montreal ensures its contract data is updated at least monthly, some of its autonomous local governments, like Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce only release updates in annual batches.
Outcome: The difference in approach highlights the impact of policy champions in management in an environment where both administrations work under the same regulatory regime and are subject to the same mandates.
Discussion Questions
- Does the cost of data improvements support cost savings?
- How does a clear process support the confidence of a team?
Sources: Based on information from Montreal’s Data Governance Directive. (Updated October 2023.) In City of Montreal Open Data Portal. Retrieved on November 12, 2024. City of Montreal Open Data Policy (June 2022) from Montreal Open Data Portal. Retrieved on November 12, 2024.
Focus on Key Data Release Points
To prevent backlash or poor implementation, start with a data catalogue that lists the available datasets, and focus on establishing sustainable practices on one or a few processes in the procurement cycle that generate larger amounts of data.
Consider Sensitive Information
While city policy should presume that most government business can take place in the open, valid reasons may arise for withholding sensitive data, such as confidentiality, privacy, or security. These concerns can be addressed by adding release consent clauses to bid submissions, contract offers and issued contracts. A record of any information withheld should be made in a “redaction profile,” as a separate form of metadata that describes what is withheld, why, and how.
Gain Buy-in from Stakeholders
It is important to win the support of and take input from a broad range of stakeholders, from municipal staff to vendors and citizens. Make a case for the initial effort and cost of opening up contracting data by regularly communicating the benefits of the approach and evidence that it works. Particular attention should be paid to emphasizing the internal communication benefits, external communication labour/cost savings, increase in internal compliance enforcement, reduction in staff-related misconduct, and increase in public trust. Each of these overarching themes can connect to specific challenges faced by stakeholders.
Planning
The earlier a municipality gives suppliers or vendors a sense of its future needs, the more preliminary planning they can do. This leads to more submissions and higher-quality proposals that are more responsive to governments’ needs. Beginning with a unique identifier for the contract and an entity identifier for the purchaser (that are included in all contract phases), publish data related to the budget, rationale for the purchase, and other relevant documentation. Documents about upcoming opportunities, such as draft solicitations or information about the pipeline of upcoming contracts and contract rebids are ideal to publish, as they may raise market awareness and permit nontraditional contractors to assemble the resources and capabilities needed to submit a credible proposal.
Solicitation
Share all available information about new contract offers with potential vendors. This should include information about the good/service to be purchased, the value of the procurement, and any accompanying documents that justify or explain exemptions from regular procedures and requirements (such as sole source contracts). This information should remain publicly available even after the solicitation period has ended. Any direct communication between the city and a potential vendor should be shared with all vendors at a minimum, and ideally with the public as well, to avoid bias in the bidding process.
Award
Publish details about the government’s decisions, stipulating the winner, price, and reasons for contracting with a particular vendor. This should include non-competitively awarded contracts, such as direct purchasing and purchases using procurement cards. Release documents for successful and unsuccessful bids after the decision, to ensure the selection process is fair and to give potential vendors insight into the needs and decision-making of the department. In Canada, the government’s decisions are published on Canada Buys.
Contract
Publish the full text of signed contracts, including all amendments. In Canada, the contract and the amendments are published on Canada Buys. Ensure a digital copy of that document is accessible on the same open data platform as the contract listing, and make key details such as awardee, amount, date, etc., available as structured data. Any modifications to the contract should be published proactively and promptly.
Implementation
Disclose information on the implementation of contracts. This might include the projected completion date, implementation milestones, actual completion date, and information on funding extensions outside the scope of the original agreement. Publish periodic evaluations of contracts underway, and past evaluations of contracts and vendors. Once the project is complete, ensure all materials related to the contracting process are linked together, and shared with vendors and the public. In Canada, this information is disclosed on Canada Buys.
Real Cases in Public Procurement: Learning from Experience
Financial Transparency at Austin, Texas
Issue: Like many cities, Austin publishes a list of currently active contracts. What is unusual is that Austin releases details for each contract about the maximum expenditure, the amount currently ordered, and the amount spent up to this point.
Background: Texans follow the direction of transparency in government spending with the goal of leading to greater accountability. The revenue and expenditures dashboard publishes information on municipalities, counties, school districts, and special purpose districts. These details provide some insight into the progress of each contract over time. The dashboard also displays a list of current contracts for each supplier or vendor. While this information can be assembled from the published data of other cities, doing so automatically makes the data more accessible to less technically savvy stakeholders.
Outcome: Cities can take various steps to improve their residents’ financial health. Feedback from taxpayers supports enhanced programs and policies that focus more directly on residents’ financial health.
Discussion Question
- Should the transparency at Austin, TX be considered a best practice?
Source: Based on information from the City of Austin’s Financial Transparency Initiative. (Updated October 2023.) In City of Austin Open Data Portal. Retrieved on November 12, 2024.
Highlight Specialized Data
Identify unique subsets of city contracting data that have specialized uses. Republish them in tailored resources so that relevant stakeholders can interact with the information in the most productive way possible.
Build User-Centred Interfaces
People with different needs will be more likely to use open contracting data if it’s presented to them in ways that are conducive to their aims and capabilities. Data visualization and simple interfaces are good for the general public, who wants a clear aggregate view and to drill down to particular projects. Search tools are good for journalists who want to dig into the data to, for example, find connections between departments, vendors and staff. Vendors will want automated alarms and notifications, as well as detailed information about deadlines, past contracts, and the past decisions of key staff. Documented Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and unique IDs will help tech experts interested in developing their own tools with the data. This applies to government users, too — clearly defining ways for internal oversight bodies to use the data will help to make intergovernmental information-sharing processes more agile and the work of these institutions more efficient.
Checkpoint 6.4
Attributions
“6.4: Open Policy Design” is adapted from “Open Contracting: What Works for American Cities” by Sierra Ramirez (2017), Sunlight Foundation, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
The multiple choice questions in the Checkpoint boxes were created using the output from the Arizona State University Question Generator tool and are shared under the Creative Commons – CC0 1.0 Universal License.
