Using New Technologies and Approaches

Pamela BigartWorld Bank

What Is Meant by Professionalization? Mainstreaming: Identifying the

contributions, responsibilities and accountabilities that the public procurement system delivers as integral to the overall public financial management and governance system in the country.

Institutions: Building the institutional structures both within the central governance system and within the implementing agencies.

Professionalization

Quality and Performance Standards: Establishing quality standards that reflect the implementation of good practice in the rules, responsibilities and practices of the procurement system; and monitoring performance against the standards.

Capacity of Staff: Providing for development and maintaining of knowledge and skills of people who are a key component of the system on a continuous basis.

Capacity Development

Focus in many countries remains on training existing public service staff on new rules

New Approaches involve building a career (professional) stream within the public service

Defining requirements or benchmarks that must be achieved to linked to promotion, pay or job security

Many countries are seeking certification capacity by partnering with external professional bodies (CIPS for example).

Using Existing Professional Development Institutions Need to develop links to University or

other professional development institutions that educate the graduates that enter public service. These are traditional institutions that develop professional capacity.

Help design appropriate content for such institutions.

Encourage development of programs that relate to skills needed for procurement such as an MBA program?

What Helps Build Success? Communications strategy that provides key messages that are relevant to the target audience – need to build an understanding of value added of professional procurement capacity (not just compliance)

Need to establish professional development opportunities for public servants that can be implemented while they work – technology is an important tool to help in this area. Establish a process for individual professional development plans.

Need to ensure that staff with new professional skills are given an opportunity to apply their professional capacity and have access to mentors.

Success Factors

Ensure that the plan to professionalize procurement is consistent with the country’s overall public service practices or it will be meaningless.

Ensure that the certification process is fully customized to country practices (a certification process designed for another country should not simply be transferred)

Success Factors

Provide for movement between public and private sector. Professional organizations are most often linked to the private sector and not the public sector.

Professionalization means that public servants must perform to professional standards.

Using Technology

E-Learning provides the opportunity to improve skills and professional credentials through on-line accessible training

E-Learning captures time and effort of staff as a benefit of on-line systems ability to capture data.

E-Learning can be easily updated (if designed appropriately) as the system matures and develops

Using Technology

A dedicated website provides the opportunity to communicate professional criteria and standards in an open and transparent manner

Website can communicate the governments needs and attract candidates to the public service

Website should be a key element of the communication strategy

Using Technology Management information systems capture

data and provide the information that can help monitor performance and identify issues which management can address. This is a key element of maintaining a professional service.

Management information systems provide data that can support factual reporting and validate value added – what is the contribution of a professionalized public procurement system.

Management information systems can provide key links across government systems.

Some Common Country Issues – Not Just Africa Traditional education system Traditional civil/public service that

relies on generalists Lack of connectivity in country and in

particular in the public service Resources – time * human * monetary Transition phase where many things

are changing and an overall strategic plan does not exist.