Date:
24/06/2021

Public procurement (around 13% of the EU’s annual GDP) is a powerful tool for achieving social impact and is key to countries’ performance, especially amid crises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, procurement is used to ensure access to life-saving medicines and to expand opportunities for small and medium businesses devastated by lockdowns. How can governments better leverage procurement as a public service to maximise social impact? How can open approaches to procurement, through open data and accessible digital tools, help us achieve better social impact, including more competition, inclusion and sustainability?

In the session “Rule of Law, Transparency, Accountability”, a panel composed of public officials and civil society champions wrestled with those questions and surfaced some specific ideas for how to make procurement in pandemic recovery more successful for everyone.

Speakers:

  • Karolis Granickas, Senior Program Manager for Europe, Open Contracting Partnership;
  • Helen Darbishire, Executive Director, Access Info Europe, OGP Civil Society Steering Committee Member;
  • Laura Valli, Board Member, Italian Anticorruption Authority;
  • Warren Smith, Deputy Director, Government Digital Service; and,
  • Isabel Maria Da Rosa, Digital Procurement team leader, DG GROW, European Commission.