1. The Singapore E-Government Procurement Experience
E-Government Procurement Workshop
The Singapore E-Government Procurement Experience
Carol Lo S Chia
Assistant Director, EBIZ
Defence Science & Technology Agency

2. Agenda Singapore Government Procurement Regime What is GeBIZ?
Project Management Structure
Design Principle
e-Procurement Methods
Implementation Approach
Challenges Faced
Benefits
New developments in GeBIZ

3. Singapore Government Procurement Regime
Singapore is party to many international agreements, such as the 1994 WTO-Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) and various Free Trade Agreements, which cover government procurement.
These agreements entitle Singapore suppliers to an open, transparent, and non-discriminatory treatment when they participate in business opportunities presented by the overseas governments.

4. Singapore Government Procurement Regime
3 PRINCIPLES

5. Singapore Government Procurement Regime
As a city-state, Singapore does not have local government/ sub-central authorities
The bulk of Government Procurement (GP) activities in Singapore is decentralised to individual government agencies
However, they must adhere to central procurement guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance
Centralised purchasing is carried out for common goods and services and the government agencies can purchase off service-wide contracts

6. The Singapore Government, has been transforming to E-Business as early as the year 2000
In 2000, it launched the Government electronic Business System (GeBIZ)

7. Government Electronic Business (GeBIZ)
GeBIZ is an Integrated One-Stop Electronic Business Centre which:
provides a convenient channel for Public Sector officers to interact with their trading partners for procurement and revenue tender activities
enables suppliers to trade with the entire Government
Organs
of States
Statutory
Boards
Government
Procurement
Executives
Ministries
Workplace
Public Sector
Intranet
Internet
Users
Partner
Enterprise
Local
Suppliers
Global
Other
Market
Places
GeBIZ
Fixed line,
Dial -
up,
Broadband,
Wireless
etc.

8. The Partnership Joint collaboration among: Ministry of Finance (MOF)
System Owner
Provide policy guideline in Government Procurement
Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA)
Technical Agency
Manage the development and operation of the GeBIZ Portal
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA)
ICT Authority in e-Government
Provide policy guideline in IT implementation
Quick intro on what is GeBIZ

9. GeBIZ Management Structure
Composition
MOF,IDA,DSTA, and GeBIZ Pioneer Sites
Project Management Committee
(Chair: MOF)
Applications Implementation Working Group
(Chair - DSTA)
Business Processes & Policies
Working Group
(Chair : MOF)
Technical Working Group
(Chair : IDA)
(Co-Chair : DSTA)
Management of GeBIZ Business Processes & Polices related to the Public Sector and Suppliers Community
Management of GeBIZ Technical Infrastructure & Standards
Management of GeBIZ Application Development and Operation

10. Design Principle of GeBIZ
GeBIZ has the features of private sector business portals e.g. convenient on-line shopping experience but adheres to public sector procurement disciplines which are compliant to the requirements of WTO-GPA:
Transparency
Open And Fair Competition
Value for Money

11. Characteristic of GeBIZ
GeBIZ is a centrally managed system but procurement activities can be decentralized to the individual government agencies
Support end-to-end transactions with trading partners for various modes of purchasing for all goods and services
Support lead agency to establish service wide period contracts and the decentralized purchasing off these contracts by other government agencies
Support personalization & configuration by Agencies
GeBIZ is independent of the financial system used by the agencies. It can support end-to-end transaction integration with financial systems such as SAP, Oracle and Peoplesoft

12. E-Procurement Methods in GeBIZ
Small Value Purchase
for estimated purchase value up to S$3,000
Invitation To Quote (ITQ)
for estimated purchase value up to S$70,000
Invitation To Tender (ITT)
for estimated purchase value greater than S$70,000
Catalogue Buy
- Purchase off Established Period Contract through
Electronic Catalog
Printed Catalog
Framework Agreement (FA)
Request For Quotation (RFQ)

13. Project Implementation
Phased Implementation Approach
June 2000
Catalogue Buy
e-Tender Publication
Online supplier registration
Online Invitation and response to tender and quotations
Purchase from framework agreements
Small value purchases
Interface to financial systems

14. Government Procurement in Singapore
GeBIZ has become the main Channel of Government Tenders and quotations
Response
Publish

15. Government Procurement in Singapore
All Procurement functions like Purchase Orders, invoice and payments can be done electronically in GeBIZ

16. GeBIZ Facts and Figures
In FY05, more than 60,000 business opportunities from 120 government agencies worth a total of $10B were published on GeBIZ

17. Challenges Faced Legal, Security & Audit Issues
Terms & Conditions to govern the conduct of e-procurement electronically
Protection against security threats from internet
Supplier registration and authentication
Maintain traceability and accountability

18. Challenges Faced Project Management Issues
High level Management Support
Standardization of e-Procurement policy and processes across agencies
Getting the users on-board
Overcome resistance to change
Convincing Business Case
Training & Education
Develop critical mass of buyer & supplier
Proactive call centre support

19. Challenges Faced Design Challenge Technical Challenges
Design for ONE system for ALL agencies and ALL purchases
Diversity of requirement & practice across different agencies
process rationalization & streamlining
flexibility in configuration to cater to specific scenarios
Standardization of Financial System Interface for different financial systems
Technical Challenges
Scalability and robustness
Handling high volume and complex transactions across multiple networks

20. Benefits of GeBIZ - Policy Makers
As a custom-built system, the design of GeBIZ adhered strictly to the public sector procurement policies and principles. It helps to
Increase transparency in Government Procurement
standardize the government policy and processes across agencies
ensure compliance to the international agreements
Provide overview of procurement information across the entire public sector for decision making and policy review
e.g review of criteria for supplier registration

21. Benefits of GeBIZ - Policy Makers
Facilitate demand aggregation across the entire public sector and the establishment of service wide period contracts or framework agreements
enables government agencies to enjoy bulk discounts from economy of scale
e.g. in FY04, DSTA undertook demand aggregation for 18 procurement categories and achieve a total annual savings of S$15M for the public sector
Ministries
Statutory
Boards
Organs
Of States
GeBIZ

22. Benefits of GeBIZ - Government Agencies
Global reach to suppliers
Visibility of procurement activities and purchasing patterns within the agency
Improved work efficiency and reduce procurement lead-time
Streamlined workflow processes eliminate duplicated data entries
Facilitate internal audit & spend analysis
Cost savings due to
better procurement visibility and control
increased market competition
use of service wide period control
Typical saving of 3-20% in procurement value depending on the procurement category

23. Benefits of GeBIZ - Suppliers
Open access to business opportunities
transparency of opportunities and information on government procurement
Convenience
One-Stop Business Centre to trade with entire Government sector electronically
Online transactions & enquiry
Increased confidentiality
All bids are encrypted
Reduction in business costs
Low entry cost to government procurement market

24. New Developments
GeBIZ has become a key channel for government agencies to communicate policy changes and initiatives to supplier communities e.g.
Government Pre-procurement Plan
With effect from October 2003, all suppliers can view the public sector pre-procurement plans online in GeBIZ. The pre-procurement plan is an indicative purchasing plan forecasted by the agencies. By announcing the procurement plan months ahead of the actual procurement, it will allow suppliers to better plan their supply chains to response to the tenders. It is hoped that this will raise the GPEs’ chance of getting well- prepared and more competitive bids, thus getting more value for money for their purchases.

25. New Developments
In line with the policy on efficient use of resource, a decision was taken by MOF for DSTA to manage and operate GeBIZ as a central procurement portal for GOS on a self-funding model from 1 Apr 04
GeBIZ has since then transformed from a fully-funded project into a Self-Funded Business Portal through direct fee collection from its users
This has resulted in changing mind set and behavior
- More cost conscious
- More customer focus

26. New Developments Commercialisation of GeBIZ Intellectual Property
The successful implementation of GeBIZ has drawn commercial interest. Several vendors approached DSTA to explore the possibility of licensing GeBIZ for implementation overseas
A tender was called in early 2005 to outsource the maintenance of GeBIZ application. The successful tenderer would be granted the license to customise and sell the GeBIZ solution to other governments and foreign organisations
NIIT Technology was awarded the GeBIZ contract

27. Conclusion
GeBIZ will continue to be the means for Singapore to explore new business model and processes enabled by technology.
It will also be the primary means to promote e-commerce adoption among trading community in Singapore e.g.
GeBIZ Mall for small value purchases (Just launched)
A pro-business initiative to enable SMEs to market their product and services directly to the public sector buyers e

28. Thank You
Welcome to visit us at :

29. Why develop GeBIZ?
No integrated system to support Government officers through the full procurement cycle
Public officers had to perform time consuming tasks:
Source for suppliers
Raise hardcopy PR and PO
Seek paper-based approvals
Track delivery and payments
Suppliers had to manually search for Government business opportunities via:
Newspapers
Government websites
Direct invitations from Government agencies

30. Accolades Internationally recognized
Winner of the inaugural Singapore-Award in 2000
Both GeBIZ & eCitizen portal contributed to Singapore Govt winning the prestigious Explorer Award at the E-Gov 2002 show in Washington DC
Showcased :
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)-Govt Procurement Expert Group in Feb 02 in Mexico
World Trade Organization (WTO) – Govt Procurement Agreement (GPA) in May/Oct 02 in Geneva
Presented at:
Korea-Singapore FTA Joint Study Group (KSFTA JSG) and the Japan-Singapore FTA
GPA - Singapore Trade Roundtable Discussion held at Institute of Southeast Asia Studies
Japan/Brunei/Canada/Jordan/ Kenya/Belgium VVIPs on their visits to Singapore