Transparência Brasil and the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) invite Brazilian municipal governments to apply for the second edition of the What Works Cities (WWC) mentoring program on open contracting. Experts will offer masterclasses, hands-on sessions, and technical support sessions with the goal of making public procurement systems more open and generating better results for cities.

During the 12-week program, municipal representatives will receive mentoring to help them address their own challenges, analyze their contexts, and identify critical issues in their data systems—and thus implement plans to resolve them. See the program description below.

Adopting an open procurement approach—through the implementation of an open data strategy in public procurement and a greater commitment to supplier inclusion—can improve the cost-effectiveness of procurement and create more opportunities for businesses. In particular, it can expand opportunities for entrepreneurs from underrepresented sectors.

However, public procurement in municipalities traditionally tends to become a “black box.” Governments often have limited data and lack the capacity to analyze it, while suppliers face difficulties in finding, winning, or executing contracts with their municipalities.

It doesn’t have to be this way: reforms based on an open procurement approach—focused on better data and facilitating access for potential suppliers—have helped governments around the world improve their public procurement processes and systems, achieving better outcomes for cities and increasing supplier participation. Municipalities that have previously participated in this Sprint have managed to improve their certification level with What Works Cities by meeting the Results-Oriented Procurement Criteria.

In this Sprint, participants will have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of open procurement strategies, including making procurement data publicly available in a format that is useful for both municipal employees and suppliers.

Publishing procurement data, generating performance indicators, conducting surveys with users and suppliers, and developing strategic plans to improve procurement are some of the outcomes participants can achieve during the course. In addition, municipalities will be able to make progress toward meeting the What Works Cities Results-Oriented Procurement Criteria.

Register via the link below, as spots for this Sprint are limited and registration does not guarantee participation.

How to Get the Most Out of the Sprint

• All public servants are welcome, regardless of their rank within the administration. This Sprint will be most useful for interdepartmental municipal teams, ideally composed of three people from the procurement and finance departments, open data or information technology program managers, staff involved in supplier relations, agencies responsible for procurement, or other relevant departments. The Sprint is open to municipalities at all levels of maturity in procurement, data management, and supplier relations. We strongly recommend the participation of members from procurement and data teams.
• This Sprint is ideal for teams that have a specific challenge in mind related to the disclosure of procurement data and/or the promotion of supplier participation, or that wish to expand their knowledge in these areas. Municipalities that already have electronic systems and processes in place will be able to make faster progress, although this is not a mandatory requirement.
• Over the course of 12 weeks, teams will participate in four one-hour Masterclass/Hands-On sessions, a final presentation session (Showtime), and individual support sessions every two weeks to advance their projects.

Expected Results and Learnings from the Sprint

• Concrete progress toward the Results-Driven Procurement (RDC) criteria: RDC7, Open and Shared Procurement Data, and RDC8, Support for Supplier Participation and Competition, as well as the essential tools to continue expanding supplier participation and data openness after the Sprint.
• Depending on the team’s needs and capacity, relevant materials for data publication will be finalized, such as a mapping of processes and systems, or a mapping to identify challenges faced by suppliers. Participants will receive templates and guidance to complete these tasks.
• Plans will be developed to address a specific critical issue identified in the data system or in promoting supplier participation, with specific outcomes and tools that can be applied to the teams’ work.