Page 16 - Procurement guidelines for smart sustainable cities - A U4SSC deliverable

• Singapore: Announced in October 2016, the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) was
launched in Singapore to spearhead the government’s digital and data strategy, partnering with
public agencies, industry and citizens to transform public service delivery through the use of
technologies such as data science and analytics, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.

• Canada: Announced in July 2017, the Canadian Digital Service (CDS) was launched to modernize
how the Government of Canada designs and delivers digital services. The CDS would partner
with departments in providing measurably improved services, rethinking the service design
and delivery process from the user’s perspective, and engaging users every step.

Many governments have followed consistent principles, approaches and methodologies when
setting up their central digital agencies. In several cases, they have re-used open-source public
goods (e.g., platforms, products, standards, codes of practice) from other governments. The Amazon
Web Services (AWS) curated collection of “Open Government Solutions” contains references to
many of these re-use cases, including the online accessible version of these Guidelines, the Digital
Buying Guide, under the “Digital Delivery” category.

These Guidelines aim to support city technology by facilitating the adoption of disruptive
technologies and formulating a core procurement policy framework to shape a smart city model that
provides accessible digital services, including access for persons with disabilities. (SmartCities4All)
Furthermore, the Guidelines facilitate accessibility and lay down the criteria for deciding how goods
and services are purchased and ensuring equitable development and participation.

1.1 From Procurement to Commissioning

Government ICT spending reform is integral to, and often indistinguishable from, digital government
transformation. However, to achieve the ambitions and opportunities that digital transformation
represents, a much-needed cultural and capability paradigm shift is required that fits the Internet
era, and steers away from narrow perspectives and 20th century approaches to ICT and public
procurement.

In 2016, following the annual meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) Working Party of Senior Digital Government Officials hosted in Tallinn,
Estonia, several new country-led groups were established to pool the collective experiences of
what has and has not worked in OECD countries across various digital government themes.

This initiative explored how commissioning is much broader than traditional procurement
approaches, which are very relevant for transforming public service delivery, and include:

• defining and measuring outcome-based commissioning, highlighting the long-term changes
that services and related activities can achieve;
• developing the market to work with a broader range of more diverse service providers, including
those from the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sectors;

2 Procurement guidelines for smart sustainable cities | May 2023