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First Meeting of the Digital Agency Information Systems Procurement Reform Study Panel

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Outline

  • Date and Time: Tuesday, June 21, 2022 from 15:30 to 17:00
  • Place: Conference Room 1, Zenkoku Choson Kaikan
  • Agenda:
    • 1. Opening
    • 2. Proceedings
      • 1. Background and Purpose of the Investigative Commission
      • 2. Issues and review themes to be drawn from the procurement discussions to date
      • 3. How to proceed with the survey before the Review Meeting
      • 4. Free Discussion
      • 5. Flow of the Investigative Commission
    • 3) Closing

Data

Relevant policy

Summary of the proceedings

Date and time

  • Tuesday, June 21, 2022 from 15:30 to 17:00

Place

  • Conference Room 1, Zenkoku Choson Kai

Attending committee member

Member Kajikawa, Member Arikawa, Member Kawasawa, Member Kimura, Member Sakashita, Member Sumiya

Summary of the proceedings

After the Secretariat explained the background and purpose of the Study Group and the process of the study, discussions were held and the main opinions from each member were as follows.

On the whole

  • Since there are many items to be considered, it is necessary to discuss them by prioritizing them based on the degree of difficulty in realizing them.
  • Government procurement of IT systems has been studied and researched by various organizations since the 1998 s. We would like to clarify how past discussions, identification of issues, and research have been utilized.
  • I would like to hold discussions while keeping in mind the KPIs and outcomes that we want to achieve through public procurement reform. For example, from the perspective of having diverse procurement participants participate, it is necessary to collect data on whether diversity has actually increased. Furthermore, from the perspective of efficiency in the use of taxes, it is necessary to accurately grasp the amount. I would like to build through the review committee a system that collects and discloses such data as public property and allows for repeated discussions based on it.
  • We would like to discuss a system to evaluate the fairness of orders. In the future, IT procurements will become more specialized and complex as technology develops. In light of this, we would like to discuss an environment where the reskilling of purchasing skills is constantly maintained and a system where knowledge is mutually exchanged.
  • The discussion covered a wide range of issues one by one. Keeping in mind which issues are feasible, I would like to advance the discussion one by one in the short term, starting with feasible issues, while leaving new initiatives as medium-term issues.

Issue A: Review of the procurement process and strengthening of the system

  • Making the budget system more flexible is a difficult task, but it may be possible to quickly clarify existing procedures, such as advance payments and estimated payments.
  • While there is room for innovation within the framework of the current law, such as entering into a basic contract for the entire project and making individual contracts into multi-stage contracts such as discretionary contracts, there are concerns about ensuring fairness and competitiveness in the case of long-term projects, and transparency and information disclosure are considered important.
  • With regard to making the budget system more flexible, the steady implementation of BPR will be a point of contention.
  • With regard to contract-related procurement, we would like to refer to cases of local governments as advanced initiatives. With regard to start-up support, we would like to consider referring to successful cases of local governments, such as discretionary contracts. In addition, while the government summarizes multi-stage contracts into a single contract, there are an increasing number of cases in which private companies respond to information system development by concluding individual contracts while concluding basic contracts, which we believe is a good reference.
  • If it is possible to form a basic contract by Digital Agency and an individual contract by each ministry and agency, the contents of the contract will be more high-quality and each ministry and agency will be able to work on it more easily. On the other hand, it is assumed that the basic contract will lose its meaning depending on the scope of discretion of the individual contract. In addition, it is considered that the impact will be large not only in the case of information systems but also in the case of public procurement in general.
  • The standardization of procurement clauses is expected to enhance transparency, and the use of a standard form for electronic contracts, etc., may enhance transparency.
  • With regard to public budgets, while flexible budget execution is important, flexibility should be considered from the perspective of budget control by the people.

Issue B: Diverse vendor participation and appropriate vendor selection

  • Digital marketplaces, along with the introduction of mechanisms, need to be translated by human resources who can stand between startups and government officials and understand both what is practical in public institutions and how to apply startup solutions to the field.
  • A digital marketplace is a system where all you have to do is place an order, so it cannot cover large-scale procurement. For other procurement systems as well, we would like to discuss what kind of procurement portal is necessary and how to position the digital marketplace within that, taking into account the UI/UX of simplicity of administrative procedures from both the ordering and entrusted sides.
  • The participation of a wide range of companies is expected to enhance fairness and competitiveness, while at the same time, the number of procurements is expected to increase due to the fragmentation of procurement units.
  • Just setting up a platform does not necessarily mean that venture companies will go to see the public announcements and notices of the administrative public call. For example, if we can use corporate numbers to find out which companies have what kinds of technologies, we can encourage venture companies to participate by recommending that they take on such jobs. Without such a system, we cannot create opportunities.
  • In the future, loose coupling will be required, and it is common practice in other countries to procure in a modular and interoperable manner. Based on the premise that loose coupling is inevitable in Japan as well, we believe that it will be necessary to have a system that pursues principles and simple processes in operation.
  • Regarding the transparency of procurement information, we would like to standardize and disclose procurement information so that it can be utilized by Civic Tech, etc. We would like to refer to other countries that are actively disclosing information and reviewing measures by using data standards for procurement information.

Issue C: Clarification of processes, improvement of transparency, etc.

  • Although the degree to which the Cabinet Office and each Ministry are engaged in unilateral bidding varies, efforts are being accumulated. Isn't it important to build information systems into existing administrative reform efforts?
  • It remains to be seen to what extent the Cabinet Office and each Ministry can make in-depth improvements to the content of the specifications, including the issues of APIs and loose coupling.

Others.

  • According to Ministry of Finance's "Balance of Payments Statistics," more than half of its trade surplus is repatriated overseas in fees for using overseas cloud services.

Greater Than