Sweden is working on a potential project to launch an online platform with open procurement data. As part of the joint project, Transparency International Ukraine will share experience with launching the Prozorro system in Ukraine and engaging the public in monitoring, as it has been done with the DOZORRO community.
The OpenProcurement portal will be built based on the same model as the Prozorro public procurement system, which inspired this project, according to the creators of Open Knowledge Sweden and DIGG. The transparent process is likely to save at least 1% of the total cost of procurement in Sweden — SEK 7 billion a year (about USD 700 million). In Ukraine, in its four years in operation, the Prozorro system has saved about UAH 100 billion.
Sweden has one of the most opaque procurement systems among EU countries. There is still no database of public tenders in the country. Thus, citizens are often helpless in preventing corruption, since they find out about procurement scandals from the media, long after they are over. The participants call the proposal filing process exhausting. While public institutions try to foster competition, they have no resources to assess the efficiency of their procurement.
The OpenProcurement online platform will offer interactive tools and open data on each stage of the procurement process. The portal will consist of three components: a data register, a BI module for visualization of public expenditures (following the example of BI Prozorro) and API for simple use of data sets. The project will also include Data School for public officials, private companies, journalists, and social activists.
Initiators of the Swedish Open Procurement project believe that open contracting will enable the government to provide higher-quality services for the same price, helping citizens understand how their taxes are spent and prevent corruption and mistakes in public tenders.
The project is organized by Open Knowledge Sweden and DIGG together with Transparency International Ukraine, Open Contracting Partnership, Öppen Upphandling, and the Swedish Association of Investigative Journalism.
