2. Classificazione: Consip public
2
Public procurement for growth
Transformation from a
clerical activity into a
strategic lever for growth
Sustainability
Market Governance
Innovation
• Externalities (say, on the environment)
• Lowering the risk of dominant positions
and lock-in; favor cross-border
competition
• Spurring the adoption of innovative
solutions and procurement processes
• SMEs
• …
Increasing
complexity
New
opportunities
Inclusion
Spend
rationalisation
3. Classificazione: Consip public
3
More opportunities than ever…
Opportunities
Regulatory framework
• Recognition of “social” value
for money
• Enhanced flexibility for
innovative procurement
• Primary role of e-
solutions/tools
• Promotion of new
organisational models (e.g.
central purchasing bodies)
• …
4. Classificazione: Consip public
4
…but there is no free lunch!
Complexity/risks
Misuse of discretion
Conflicting goals
Human capital’s limited ability
to handle complexity
• Emergence of a new “Babel” of
PP practices
• Barriers to entry into local
markets
• Limited ability to evaluate trad-
offs (e.g. demand aggregation
strategies vs. SMEs participation)
• Performance evaluation
5. Classificazione: Consip public
5
Two main challenges ahead
What are the main prerequisite for public procurement systems to
become an effective lever for growth?
Existence of decision centres (why not just one?) setting
possible multiple and non-contradictory objectives, and
periodically assessing whether the system works coherently
with those objectives
Development of a professional workforce able to tackle and
successfully handle the sources of complexity in public
procurement design
