This chapter presents an assessment of practices and policies supporting a coherent implementation of digital government investments in Chile’s public sector. It provides an overview of the approval and funding mechanisms for digital transformation investments in the Chilean government, the existing project management approaches to support the implementation of these investments, and the procurement of digital and ICT goods and services in the public sector.
Digital Government in Chile
Strengthening the Management of Digital Investments
Abstract
Implementation is the most critical stage in the investments lifecycle as it involves the practical delivery of expected results. The multifaceted and dynamic nature of digital investments adds complexity to the implementation approach in the public sector. Governments need to balance administrative processes, internal controls, and an often risk-averse culture and practice in the public sector that limits the agility needed to deliver timely and impactful digital transformation investments.
This chapter presents an assessment of Chile’s approach to the implementation of digital government investments. For this analysis, the chapter follows the second pillar of the OECD Digital Government Investment Framework, to identify opportunities for improvement and enhance the capabilities of the public sector to move towards greater digital maturity. Specifically, the chapter provides an assessment of the existing practices, tools and policies used to support a coherent implementation of digital investments across Chile’s public sector according to three subsections:
Approval and Funding: existing mechanisms and procedures to determine investments that are ready for implementation, as well as the funding mechanisms to support and facilitate a coherent implementation of digital investments in the public sector.
Project Management and Assurance: guidelines and reusable tools available to support project owners through the delivery of digital transformation investments across the public sector.
Public Procurement: the public procurement mechanisms to facilitate digital transformation, including strategic partnerships and collaborations with other sectors.
The approval stage of the digital government investment lifecycle is essential to ensure coherence in the deployment of digital technologies and data in the public sector. This stage is an opportunity for governments to build digital coherence and compliance with existing standards, and strategic alignment with long-term policy goals. Evidence shows that OECD countries have different approaches to the approval of digital and ICT investments in the public sector, with one quarter of countries having a standardised approval systems for all digital projects, while 50% report having such mechanisms in place for a subset of projects that meet specific requirements (Figure 3.1).
While standardised approval mechanisms are essential, they also need to be integrated with the development of value propositions and with funding processes, advancing towards an end-to-end approach to digital government investments. Chile has adopted and developed a thorough value proposition mechanism for digital investments through EVALTIC (see Chapter 2) – a key component of Chile’s strategic governance of digital government investments. Nevertheless, due to institutional, operational, and legal considerations, the country still faces challenges in advancing towards the end-to-end management of these investments. Despite the progress with EVALTIC, the governance model for investments is still constrained by the absence of clear prioritisation principles.
Note: Percentages based on 38 Countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Romania and Peru. Q: Is there a standardised approval system for digital/ICT projects at the central/federal government level?
Source: OECD (2022), Survey on Digital Government
Prioritisation and approval of digital investments
As discussed in the previous chapter, at present Chile does not have a strategic roadmap for digital government in the form of a National Digital Government Strategy (NDGS), hindering the government’s capacity to steer efforts according to strategic goals. In the case of digital government investments, this leads to limited clarity on how to prioritise investments, with direct impact on decision-making. Chile is working on the formulation of a new NDGS, expected to be finalised during 2025.
In the absence of a dedicated NDGS, decision-making is based on various guidance, legislation, and objectives set by the Modernisation of the State Agenda. EVALTIC guidelines (División de Gobierno Digital, 2022[1])identify a set of technical principles for institutions and line ministries to prepare the value proposition. These principles focus on technical specifications, such as the use of cloud technologies, considerations for cybersecurity, the use of shared platforms, and the promotion of a data-driven approach. In addition, guidelines stress the importance of aligning digital projects with the legal provisions included in the Digital Transformation Law 21.180 (Ministerio Secretaría General de la Presidencia, 2019[2]) The Modernisation of the State Agenda 2022-20261 provides another set of principles for public sector transformation, including for considerations around gender, inclusion, decentralisation, and citizen participation (Ministerio de Hacienda, 2022[3]). In addition, the public sector budget identifies key priorities for each fiscal year, including the rationalisation of services and the use of technologies to support the delivery of public services (Ministerio de Hacienda, 2022[4]). However, evidence from the fact-finding mission shows that this guidance is not fully aligned, making it unclear for both applicant institutions and digital government authorities on how to proceed with investments that respond to broader policy goals beyond technical compliance. In this endeavour, Chile could consider the experience of other OECD countries like Canada and New Zealand (Box 3.1 and Box 3.2) which have introduced clear prioritisation principles for digital government investments to support line ministries and agencies in identifying and aligning investment priorities.
The Canadian Government identified key themes and priorities to guide their digital government investments, ensuring coherence, impact, and value. Some relevant principles from Canada include:
Services are user-centric, trusted and accessible: emphasising the need to provide services that meet the needs of users, that adhere to national service standards for coherent delivery and quality, that provide real-time information to users, and that are secure and reliable.
Data and information are foundational to service delivery and informed decision-making: underlining the importance of governing data strategically, and using collected data to improve public services and better manage digital investments.
Technology empowers innovation, efficiency and security: setting an environment that promote experimentation with automated decision-making systems, delivering digital and accessible services to users, and prospectively managing unintended risks emerging from the use digital technologies in the public sector.
The workforce is digitally savvy and adaptable to the digital landscape: actively promoting and encouraging public servants and employees to develop their digital skills and to use existing guidance and standards for digital government, as well as attracting and enabling mobility of digital talent in the public sector.
Source: (Government of Canada, 2024[5])
In New Zealand, the Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO) and the Government Chief Data Steward (GCDS) developed digital guiding principles to support line ministries and public sector organisations in planning and developing digital investments. These principles drive the development of digital projects to avoid duplication, deliver value from a whole-of-government perspective, and secure a sustainable transformation. The framework builds in five investments principles which inform the prioritisation of funding allocation, including service delivery, information and data services, corporate (back office), digital foundations and infrastructure, and specialists.
Source : (Government of New Zealand, 2025[6])
Implementing a digital investments portfolio approach is another essential aspect to consider when managing the investments lifecycle. It contributes by calibrating existing investments, to oversee progress, to closely monitor technology obsolesce, and to anticipate digital needs of public sector institutions. At present, Chile does not have a single or consolidated digital investments portfolio system. Considering EVALTIC only covers the value proposition and technical approval prior to budget decision-making, post-technical-approval elements such as budget allocation and classification, as well as monitoring activities, are not captured by the system, and therefore not effectively tracked. As part of the broader effort to transform EVALTIC into a strategic tool, Chile could consider incorporating a portfolio approach to digital investments, leveraging the experience of OECD countries such as Denmark (Box 3.3).
The Agency for Public Finance and Management is responsible for developing and maintaining the cross-government ICT project model and overseeing the portfolio management of ICT projects and systems. Within this remit, the Agency’s Division for Central Government ICT Management advises governmental authorities on implementing large-scale ICT projects within the public sector.
This approach involves a portfolio management system designed to enhance the planning, management, and execution of governmental ICT projects. The model facilitates secure and responsible management of government ICT systems, encouraging alignment with national standards while decentralising decision-making processes. By assisting government institutions in evaluating their capabilities and requirements, the model supports informed decisions regarding strategic direction and priorities in ICT solution development.
The model evaluates six key dimensions: Business Support, Technical Condition, Documentation and Knowledge, Finances, Contracts and Procurement, and Security. Collectively, this model forms the foundation for an ICT Action Plan. The plan strategically prioritises operational and maintenance activities across all ICT systems, setting out strategic objectives, constraints, anticipated impacts, implementation details, and an overview of all initiatives. This plan undergoes review by the Danish National ICT Council every three years to ensure national coherence and alignment.
Source: (OECD, 2022[7])
Funding for digital investments
Chile’s budget process is annual and highly centralised, with the initiative to start discussions for new public expenditure falling solely under the mandate of the Executive branch (Vammalle and Ruiz Rivadeneira, 2017[8]). Discussions between the Executive and Legislative branches lead to the formulation and enactment of the Annual Budget Law. The formulation and approval process implies that discussions lead to only two possible decisions (either full funding or no funding at all). Evidence indicates that Chile’s public sector institutions perceive the existing budget system, and consequently the funding for digital government, as overly rigid and unresponsive to the digital needs of public sector institutions. The strict annual budget cycle is seen as a major barrier to implementing digital government investments. It lacks the flexibility and scalability required for digital government investments and brings uncertainty for the development of digital initiatives that require multiyear funding.
From an operational perspective, budget is formulated and executed according to the budget classification defined for the public sector by DIPRES. The current budgetary framework is distributed in different classifications (subtítulos) which can be dispersed between operational expenditure (gasto corriente), including goods and services, and capital expenditure (inversión), including investment projects and capital transfers. These different accounting classifications reflect, among other things, the possible uses of funds, the administrative procedures required, and the flexibility to reallocate resources. Chilean interviewees noted that currently the system provides limited budget classifications for digital government expenditure, making it difficult to clearly classify capital and operational expenditures, therefore constraining an adequate analysis of capital and operational budget needs.
Public sector institutions highlighted that this budget cycle forces a short-term vision for the implementation of digital government investments, which often instead require a multi-year implementation horizon. While funding is given each year, the uncertainty for multi-year projects makes it harder to create a more systemic digital transformation of Chile’s public sector. Introducing a digital investment portfolio approach could support a more strategic oversight of short, medium, and long-term objectives, ensuring efficiency and coherence in how the public sector invests in digital transformation – making the public sector more agile and responsive to changing needs. This would mean planning, implementing and securing the oversight and co-ordination at the whole-of-government level for all digital government investments, rather than managing them on a project-by-project basis in isolation.
When looking at the budget cycle, evidence shows that institutions only have a short window between May and July of each year to present their needs to DIPRES for the following year’s budget. This generates additional burden when implementing digital transformation investments by creating a significant timelapse between the identification of needs and the actual implementation. As public expenditure in ICT is concentrated in critical services including health, taxes, education, justice, and subnational governments (Figure 3.2), Chile has an opportunity to transform the delivery of government services by rethinking the funding strategy for digital transformation in the public sector.
Note: Total expenditure (gasto ejecutado) for central government for 2021 and 2020
Source: Author’s elaboration based on data provided by DGS and DIPRES
Finally, Chile’s efforts to fund the digital transformation of the public sector also extend to subnational governments. The Undersecretariat for Regional Development (Subsecretaría de Desarrollo Regional, SUBDERE) co-ordinates the budget management for regional governments, which can be an opportunity to better leverage underlying economies-of-scale in the public sector. This includes developing specific policies and programmes to support the development of shared and reusable platforms for service delivery at the local government level, leveraging digital public infrastructure (DPI) (Box 3.5).
These efforts can reduce spending on digital while improving the coherence and trustworthiness of services delivered by local governments in the country. In addition, the public sector could benefit from developing a strategic approach in the procurement of digital and ICT in local governments. While preserving the autonomy of each body, the public sector could benefit from aggregating demand to maximise value for money and reduce vendor lock-in risks.
DPI are key solutions that support digital transformation and better public services, including:
Digital identity: supports secure, inclusive, and efficient online and offline interactions when accessing public services. It also enables users to better control their data.
Single digital gateways: centralised access point to government services, which simplifies the user experience, improves efficiency, and promotes interoperability.
Data sharing systems: improving the flow of data for more user-friendly, proactive, and efficient public services. They also enable value creation together with the private sector.
Digital post and notifications: enabling governments, citizens, and businesses to communicate easily and securely with each other (often including sensitive information).
Digital payments: provide accessible, efficient, secure, and transparent payment solutions for interoperable government services and third-party systems.
Proper governance for digital government investments helps to effectively plan, prioritise, fund, and deliver DPI – both for the initial investment and ongoing management. This helps to align to strategy, as well as better meet the needs of users and reinforce their trust in government.
Source: (OECD, 2024[9])
In addition to the efforts made at a central level, Chile is also conducting significant efforts to level up digital capability within subnational governments. The Undersecretariat of Regional and Administrative Development (SUBDERE)2, within the Ministry of Interior, is supporting local and regional governments in developing digital talent and digital government investments. These efforts include legal reforms and policies to strengthen subnational governments, develop skills and institutional knowledge, and implementing investment programmes to support subnational governments in the context of the decentralisation of service agenda.
The SUBDERE Modernisation Project
In 2022, SUBDERE launched a campaign to assess and enhance its technological stack, integrating new services and improving their interoperability. As a result, existing platforms were improved to manage new processes, including access through Clave Única (Chile’s digital identity system) and the update of Chile’s national local government public financial system (SIFIM).
The modernisation project also showed the importance of addressing some pending challenges, like the need to develop shared building blocks to support the delivery of services and enhanced public management in local governments. These efforts include the integration of existing platforms and enabling future developments for new digital solutions such as digital payments. These improvements would enable the digital transformation of Chile’s local governments, resulting in more responsive digitally enabled services.
Source: www.subdere.cl
Effective project management and assurance is essential to realise the benefits of digital government investments. Countries can adopt agile project management and assurance guidelines for a timelier delivery of intended outcomes in digital transformation investments.
Guidance on effective project management
Several OECD countries also reuse management models to support agencies and institutions when implementing digital and ICT projects. According to the 2023 DGI, 55% of countries are using a standardised model for digital and ICT project management at the central government level (Figure 3.3). As of October 2023, the DGS had published 28 different guidelines to support public sector officials in different tasks and procedures related with digital government. Some of these guidelines focused on the implementation of Law 21180 to provide specific instructions for certain procedures and overall guidance over the legal changes introduced. Other guidelines instead provided specific guidance for the use of digital platforms, including data interoperability and ClaveUnica, the digital authentication system for citizens and users to interact with public services.
Note: Percentages based on 38 Countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Romania and Peru. Q: Is there a standardised model for digital/ICT project management at the central/federal government level?
Source: OECD (2022), Survey on Digital Government
However, despite the efforts of the DGS in providing clear guidance for line ministries and agencies, there is a notable gap around comprehensive guidelines for project delivery and assurance. Effective project delivery and assurance are critical aspects for a coherent and impactful implementation of digital transformation investments. By developing dedicated guidelines for project delivery and assurance, the DGS can support public managers in implementing complex transformation projects, understanding the identification of key milestones to reduce risks and anticipate potential delays in delivery. These guidelines could not only provide clarity and certainty to public sector officials but also ensure that digital investments, align with key policy objectives, meet quality standards, and deliver the expected benefits to citizens. In addition, incorporating constant feedback from users, as mentioned previously, should be at the core of the guidelines to meet public officials’ expectations and address the dynamic needs of the public sector.
Building on this experience, the government has an opportunity to develop whole-of-government investment delivery standards (including projects, products and services) for digital transformation investments. This standard can support and guide public officials in understanding the driving principles and the practical considerations when planning and implementing digital government investments.
Skills to support better project delivery
Developing project management capabilities contributes to reducing risks and maximising the return on investments. The OECD Recommendation on Digital Government Strategies emphasises the importance of reinforcing public sector capabilities to deliver digital government investments, including the skills needed for project management and digital government (OECD, 2015[10]).
The existing network of digital transformation co-ordinators of the public sector is another potential lever through which to build project management capacities. The network can facilitate peer-to-peer collaboration in the implementation of digital investments, sharing both successful and unsuccessful experiences to understand the best approaches for the specific needs of the public sector. Moreover, the country can leverage expertise of more mature institutions to support the implementation of flagship digital transformation projects at a national level.
Furthermore, the inherent complexity of digital transformation requires that public sector officials recognise the potential of digital while acknowledging the culture and procedure of public administration. This can be reflected in a comprehensive digital talent approach that attracts and develops digital talent including project management and assurance. However, digital talent has an outsized importance to the investment delivery system. Currently, the country does not have a digital talent and skills strategy for the public sector, which is an opportunity to develop a more strategic approach that aligns with a broader whole-of-government workforce strategy. While there are programs to improve the digital capability of Chiles public sector, like the Digital Academy aimed at officials in the regional and municipal governments for example (SUBDERE, 2024[11]) a more comprehensive approach is required. In the medium term, Chile could consider adopting a digital talent and skills strategy for the public sector to support public entities in identifying strategic priorities and guiding principles for required skills, as well as managing digital talent.
Public procurement plays a critical role in enabling the delivery of digital transformation across government. Digital government strategy therefore needs to be coupled tightly with procurement strategy and mechanisms to ensure that governments get the right outcomes from their digital investments. Evidence shows that OECD countries are leveraging standardised guidelines to support the procurement of digital and ICT goods and services. According to the data collected through the OECD Digital Government Index, more than 75% of OECD countries confirmed the availability of these resources to support and guide ministries in the sourcing phase of digital investments. In some countries, these guidelines serve projects that meet specific requirements while in most countries, these tools are available for all projects (Figure 3.4).
Note: Percentages based on 38 Countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Romania and Peru. Q: Are there any guidelines at the central/federal level that assist public sector institutions when conducting digital/ICT procurement?
Source: OECD (2022), Survey on Digital Government
The OECD identified public procurement and GovTech as two focus areas on which the Government of Chile can build its capacity to implement digital transformation across its public sector. The Government has made progress since the 2017 Review Public Procurement in Chile (OECD, 2017[7]) to improve the use of framework agreements, as well as recent reforms to the Public Procurement Law 19886 to improve the quality of public spending, upgrade integrity and transparency standards, and introduce circular economy practices within Chile’s public sector.
Overall, the Chilean Government’s approach to public procurement is showing promising signs of a commitment to transparency and willingness to explore innovative and digital initiatives. In the early 2000s, the establishment of ChileCompra was a structural step towards transparency and integrity of public procurement in Chile. This institution was created by Law 19886 as the Directorate of Government Procurement and Contracting of Chile, ChileCompra, within the Ministry of Finance, and its main role is advising public institutions in the planning and management of public procurement, managing the procurement platform and, in certain cases, conducting the procurement process directly (Ministerio de Hacienda, 2003[12]). Together with the foundation of ChileCompra, the Chilean administration launched MercadoPublico in 2003, the digital platform for public procurement, consolidating the maturity of the public procurement model in Chile and streamlining the overall process for procuring goods and services in the public sector.
The OECD notes the recent amendments to Chile’s Government Procurement Law3 approved in June 2023. These amendments strengthen the rigour of Chile’s procurement environment and support important measures around sustainable procurement and SME participation. This new legal framework for public procurement provides an opportunity to advance the implementation of innovative procurement mechanisms, including fostering competitive dialogue and enabling partnerships on innovative solutions.
While these reforms are moving Chile in the right direction, there needs to be a more strategic and dedicated approach to digital procurement. A specialised practice or approach for digital procurement would ensure that the right governance arrangements are being made to address user needs, as well as equip them with the right tools, processes, and capabilities that they need to deliver on Chile’s digital government agenda, while maximising value for money.
For example, the recent standardisation of public procurement processes and the cost-driven approach for the joint procurement of specific commodities, including basic IT equipment such as laptops (OECD, 2024[13]), created important efficiency gains but was perceived by some stakeholders to have reduced the availability of digital tools that fit the needs of public services. Indeed, evidence suggests that striking a balance between standardisation and user needs can be a difficult one. Public sector institutions also observed that there is room for significant efficiency gains that could be achieved by introducing greater flexibility in digital procurement models. Such an approach would better take into account that digital solutions tend to have specific requirements or approaches that often are not aligned to a more traditional use of public procurement.
Digital services are often procured as part of the discovery, ideation, and prototyping stages of a digital investment. This generally uses agile and iterative methodologies to work in collaboration with the buyers to understand and develop a solution that best meets the needs of its users. While the outcome is valuable, this presents challenges for traditional budgeting and procurement approaches that favour a ‘waterfall’ or phased delivery approach with a clear set of timeframes, deliverables, and costs (OECD, 2020[14]). The answer is not to do away with these procurement controls either, but rather to find a necessary balance between the proper management of government resources and creating space for experimentation and innovation (OECD, 2022[15]).
ChileCompra is well positioned to steer this shift in the Chilean public administration. The expertise, institutional capacity, and knowledge of the procurement authority create an opportunity for ChileCompra to expand its role within the government, acting as the primary authority on public procurement in a more strategic manner, thereby facilitating these transformative changes in Chile’s public sector. Public officials across the Chilean administration identified additional challenges regarding the practicalities of the procurement process for digital and ICT. According to the evidence collected through the dedicated survey, public officials managing digital transformation in the public administration acknowledge the administrative burden of the procurement process, including the formulation of technical specifications and the tight deadlines (Figure 3.5). These insights are in line with the evidence gathered during the fact-finding mission in Santiago, where different project managers stressed the challenges of aligning administrative timelines with the needs of institutions.
Note: The percentages shown for each item is calculated independently of the others based on answers from 104 institutions. Question 7. What are the main challenges that your institution faces when procuring digital/ICT goods and services?
Source: OECD (2023), Survey on Digital Government Investments in Chile
As advised in the E-Leaders Handbook on the Governance of Digital Government (OECD, 2021[16]).“[g]overnments that have a robust procurement strategy as such, are more agile in managing ICT/digital investments based on policy objectives and towards achieving holistic economic and societal development outcomes.” Based on this and the challenges observed by the OECD, three main opportunities that Chile could explore in the short-medium term include the development of a dedicated strategy for digital and ICT procurement, the integration of EVALTIC with MercadoPublico, and the adoption of dynamic purchasing systems (DPS), leveraging the recently enacted new Public Procurement Law.
Dedicated strategy for digital and ICT procurement
Public procurement plays a critical role in delivering a government’s vision for digital transformation. Consequently, any digital government strategy therefore needs to be tightly coupled with its procurement strategy and mechanisms. While the recent reforms show positive progress, there is still no dedicated strategy to inform and guide a whole-of-government approach to procuring digital products and services. The OECD Recommendation of the Council on Public Procurement (OECD, 2015[10]) includes a specific provision underlining the importance of developing an appropriate strategy for the integration of secondary policy objectives in public procurement systems. While Chile has embraced key policy goals such as the green transition, gender equality and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), there is no particular focus on the digital transformation of the public sector yet. Such an alignment would be essential for the effective implementation of the Digital Transformation Law across central and subnational governments.
The strategic role of public procurement is an opportunity to align efforts towards key goals for the next decade including both the digital and green transitions. The development of a dedicated digital procurement strategy can help the country steer efforts towards a green digital transformation. Countries as Canada and Ireland have developed green procurement strategies with specific considerations for digital and ICT. These policy instruments can help greening the public sector by setting standards and prioritising suppliers that are accountable and reduce their environmental impact (OECD Publishing, 2022[17]).
The OECD’s findings have shown that the public sector in Chile needs more specialised support for digital procurement, which could rely on expertise, tools, and methodologies to help procurement officials get better outcomes from digital investments. The Government of Chile could develop a digital procurement strategy that seeks to:
expand the role of ChileCompra to include the authority to develop and implement policy levers.
introduce environmental criteria to align the green and digital transitions.
build specialised digital procurement capability and capacity within ChileCompra with the support of the DGS, including technical advisors that could provide strategic, commercial, and technical advice.
continue the reform of Chile’s procurement platform, including to introduce a dynamic purchasing system (DPS) and to integrate MercadoPublico with EVALTIC.
strengthen the relationship with industry, including early market engagement, to better understand available options in the supply side, allowing the public sector to acquire the right resources and tools. This could be expanded to better leverage government buying power across the procurement and contracting lifecycle.
By pursuing a dedicated digital procurement strategy, the Government of Chile will be able to bolster ChileCompra’s role in ensuring a robust and effective procurement sector, as well as enabling the delivery of the Government’s vision for digital transformation.
The Government of Ireland has implemented Green Public Procurement, a process where public authorities seek to source goods, services or works with a reduced environmental impact. It encourages Ireland’s public sector institutions to leverage their buying power to address their environmental impact and foster more resource-efficient, and less polluting, goods, services and works within the marketplace.
The process is supported by policies and guidance to provide institutions with clear expectations on where and how to adopt the process, as well as the sharing of best practice examples to inspire others.
A dedicated strategic approach to digital procurement could also include a more effective market engagement with large tech suppliers. Chile could also consider introducing whole-of-government arrangements with its most commonly used suppliers. These would act as contracting frameworks that leverage the aggregated buying power of the Government to achieve better value, and terms and conditions to address specific requirements or policies (which vendors are generally reluctant to diverge from, without the financial incentive to do so). For example, Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) manages whole-of-government agreements (contracting frameworks) which offer pre-negotiated contracts with strategically identified sellers, delivering cost efficiencies to government by aggregating demand and having better terms and conditions than traditionally offered (Box 3.7).
The DTA has several whole-of-government agreements with the most commonly-used digital and ICT vendors, including Microsoft, IBM, SAP, Oracle, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
While they still require a formal procurement process, the agreements offer a framework to streamline the negotiation and contracting process – achieving better terms and conditions than may otherwise be possible.
The arrangements aggregate the spending with these vendors to enable the Australian Government to negotiate, purchase, and contract as ‘one customer’ (with the flexibility to act as individual buyers). This achieves benefits like better discounts or pricing; more favourable terms and conditions; simplified contracting, with pre-negotiated contracts and order templates; and easier scalability, with opportunities for reuse or shared investment.
Source: (DTA, 2021[19])
Integrating EVALTIC with MercadoPublico
Chile could consider integrating EVALTIC with MercadoPublico to improve the transparency, oversight, and strategic decision-making of Chile’s digital investments. The goal would not be to merge the two platforms, but rather to introduce a point of integration to enable the tracking of digital initiatives as they move from the planning stages into the procurement phase (where buyers are opting to do so through MercadoPublico, if investments should be sourced from the market). For example, this could be achieved by mandating that project codes are included in procurements and contracts, which would enable the investments to be tracked over the whole lifecycle. However, this may require work to develop a common taxonomy for both projects and technology procurement, which is regularly reviewed and updated. The current public market classifier from 2007 does not consider many new digital solutions.
Integrating the platforms in this way would enhance the Government’s ability to make sound, data-driven decisions, as it would link the procurement planning with the intended outcomes of the project, as well as a deeper understanding of the buyer’s digital inventory (including its strategy, capability, capacity, and legacy technology). It would also provide the data linkage needed as the project moves into delivery – enabling the buyers to ensure the right procurement controls are in place for the contracts to deliver the solution, and then track their performance in delivering against the outcomes that were defined in the planning and procurement stages. This is an important part of ensuring that the intended benefits are realised at the end of the investment lifecycle.
Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) and whole-of-government agreements
The recent amendments to the Government Procurement Law in 2023 have updated the legal framework for public procurement and created an opportunity to introduce more innovative procurement mechanisms. Compared to the pre-2023 legal framework, Chile is now better prepared to embed a more agile approach to digital procurement through the introduction of innovation partnerships, competitive dialogue, and reverse auctions. The adoption of these mechanisms will help embed iteration and experimentation in Chile’s public sector, in particular regarding needs that require exploratory and non-standard solutions. However, the innovation nature of most of these procurement mechanisms make them not fully fit to have more agile access to the market.
Framework agreements are a mechanism that Chile has prioritised, in order to have more rapid access to the market for digital needs. Such agreements are useful procurement pathways to source commonly used goods and services with more competitive pricing, and on better terms and conditions. However, where framework agreements generally have a set membership of preapproved suppliers for the term of the agreement, DPS allow sellers to apply to join at any time. This addresses the risk of vendor lock-in and instead ensures that the DPS is agile and representative of the whole market, as sellers – especially small-to-medium-sized enterprises – are no longer locked out of government business. Allowing sellers to join at any time also has benefits for the buyers, as they have better access to innovative solutions but also because it maintains the competitive tension that is necessary to deliver the best value-for-money.
DPS also has the potential to streamline public procurement processes. Public procurement is consolidated onto an online platform to make it easier for buyers to find what they need, improve the visibility and transparency of procurement processes, and enhance user experience – for buyers and sellers alike. By being able to procure easily from a list of previously-vetted suppliers, it means that buyers can approach the market more quickly and use less complex or onerous response requirements, which reduces the time, effort, and cost involved on both sides of the procurement process.
A DPS would create an agile digital marketplace for buyers to use to approach the market and source innovative solutions from previously-vetted suppliers, under previously-negotiated terms and conditions, which would streamline the process and deliver greater value for the Government of Chile. It would also grant greater agency to the buyers in how they choose to undertake their procurements, create greater competitive tension amongst suppliers in the marketplace, and enable better data collection to inform the planning, monitoring, and evaluation stages in a digital investment’s lifecycle. The development of dedicated digital marketplaces in the United Kingdom and Australia can serve as examples for Chile to advance the implementation of a DPS (Box 3.8 and Box 3.9).
Run by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), the DPS Marketplace provides buyers with access to framework agreements across commonly-used categories of goods and services. The marketplace helps public and third sector buyers procure from previously-vetted sellers in a way that leverages pre-negotiated terms and conditions, and that meets the Government’s purchasing requirements.
The system is searchable, allowing buyers to quickly and easily filter the approved sellers based on a range of criteria, which they can then use to invite them to participate in procurement opportunities.
The DPS is made ‘dynamic’ by the ability for new sellers to join at any time, improving on more traditional panel approaches that often have a limited pool of vendors locked in for at least 12 months at a time. This encourages competition and innovation, as well as ensuring that the DPS can provide access to emerging technologies to which governments might otherwise have limited access.
With this DPS Marketplace, the timeframe to initiate procurements has shortened from months to just 10 days – improving the agility of the civil service and reducing the effort and costs involved.
Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) offers the BuyICT platform which hosts over 2000 sellers across seven marketplaces, providing a ‘one stop shop’ for digital products and services. The platform includes guided workflows to help buyers and sellers through the procurement process, from tender application, to approaching the market, through to evaluation and contract signing. There are also specific head agreements for each marketplace, with matching standardised contracting templates to reduce the time and effort of negotiations as part of an approach to market. This is also supported by a Seller Catalogue, which buyers can use to find the right sellers to invite to respond to opportunities, which includes specific tags and filters for start-ups, SMEs, and Indigenous-owned businesses.
Procurement data from BuyICT.gov.au is also openly available to ensure accountability and transparency for government projects, but also to enable the analysis of key trends, which could highlight capability gaps in the public sector that should form part of a workforce strategy.
Source: (DTA, 2025[22])
The following guidelines were available online as of August 2024 (https://digital.gob.cl/transformacion-digital/estandares-y-guias/):
PISEE 2 Interoperability Technical Guide (Guía Técnica de Interoperabilidad PISEE 2)
Provides the guidelines for the exchange of information through direct connections between State Administration agencies, and for the centralization and availability of information related to interoperability.
Conceptual framework on administrative procedures and procedures (Marco conceptual sobre procedimientos administrativos y trámites)
Addresses the main concepts, guidelines and good practices to facilitate institutions in identifying their administrative procedures, on which the preparation phase of Law No. 21180, on Digital Transformation of the State, is concentrated.
Catalogue of Administrative Procedures (Catálogo de Procedimientos Administrativos y Trámites (CPAT))
The objective is to detail the questions that will characterize the administrative procedures on the digital platform.
Technical Guide for ClaveÚnica integration (Guía Técnica para integración de ClaveÚnica)
Document with step-by-step information to integrate ClaveÚnica as a means of authentication to State platforms.
Summary Guide Preparation Phase Law No. 21180, Group A (Guía Resumen Fase de Preparación Ley N°21.180, Grupo A)
Contains information for the identification of administrative procedures, such as the basic work unit in digital transformation processes.
Summary Guide Preparation Phase Law No. 21180, Group C (Guía Resumen Fase de Preparación Ley N°21.180, Grupo C)
Contains information for the identification of administrative procedures, such as the basic work unit in digital transformation processes.
Summary Guide Preparation Phase Law No. 21180, Group B (Guía Resumen Fase de Preparación Ley N°21.180, Grupo B)
Contains information for the identification of administrative procedures, such as the basic work unit in digital transformation processes.
Instruments and templates for process management (Instrumentos y plantillas para la gestión por procesos)
This document provides the formats and templates so that the institutions themselves can use them in the survey of their processes, either in the initial stages, or in the improvement of the surveys of existing processes.
Manual for Municipal Digital Transformation Co-ordinators (Manual para Co-ordinadores/as Municipales de Transformación Digital)
Offers to the Municipal Digital Transformation Co-ordinators, contextual information about their role in the implementation of Law No. 21180.
Summary guide on the State Digital Transformation Law (Guía resumen sobre la Ley de Transformación Digital del Estado)
Consultation document that addresses in a summarized and easily accessible manner the main aspects of Law No. 21,180 on Digital Transformation of the State.
Guide to Transversal Platforms for Digital Transformation (Guía de Plataformas Transversales para la Transformación Digital)
Quick reference document that brings together the most relevant information regarding the transversal platforms provided by the Digital Government Division of SEGPRES.
Conceptual framework on process management (Marco conceptual sobre la gestión de procesos)
Document that contains a conceptual framework aimed at supporting management based on processes carried out by the State administration bodies.
Process survey guide (Guía de levantamiento de procesos)
Document that contains a guide with a supporting methodological framework on process management, allowing institutions to have a practical work tool
Legal questions about specific aspects of Law No. 21180 (Preguntas legales sobre aspectos específicos de la Ley N°21.180)
Document that brings together questions and answers on specific aspects of the legal field regarding Law No. 21,180 on Digital Transformation of the State and regulations associated with the Law.
Ethical Formulation Guide for Data Science Projects (Guía Formulación Ética de Proyectos de Ciencia de Datos)
Guide public officials and institutions to consider and prevent ethical and legal risks when developing technological projects that involve the intensive use and analysis of data.
Technical Guidelines for the Preparation phase (Orientaciones Técnicas para la fase de Preparación)
This document includes the main actions that must been carried out within the framework of the preparation phase of the Digital Transformation law, with a focus on the lifting of their administrative procedures.
Legal questions about general aspects of Law No. 21180 (Preguntas jurídicas sobre aspectos generales de la Ley N° 21.180)
Manual for Digital Transformation Co-ordinators (Manual para Co-ordinadores de Transformación Digital)
Document that offers Digital Transformation Co-ordinators important information to promote this process towards the implementation of Law No. 21,180.
Sheet for Drag projects (Ficha para proyectos de Arrastre)
Form for exclusive projects that have been already presented in previous EVALTIC processes.
File for operational continuity and license projects (Ficha para proyectos de continuidad operacional y licencias)
EvalTIC 2023 process form to be filled out by institutions in the case of operational continuity and purchase/renewal of licenses.
Guide for Evaluators EvalTIC 2023 (Guía para Evaluadores EvalTIC 2023)
Help guide for the evaluation of ICT projects for the EvalTIC 2023 process, guidelines to follow, recommendations and methodology for a correct evaluation.
Guide for Formulators EvalTIC 2023 (Guía para Formuladores EvalTIC 2023)
Help guide for the formulation of ICT projects for the EvalTIC 2023 process, guidelines, recommendations, project types and help for entering the platform.
Sheet for new projects (Ficha para proyectos nuevos)
EvalTIC 2023 process form to be filled out by institutions in the case of new ICT projects.
Self-assessment guide for the implementation of Law No. 21180. (Guía de Autoevaluación para la implementación de la Ley N° 21.180.)
Self-assessment guideline to know the current status of the institutions with respect to the implementation of the phases and components of the Digital Transformation Law.
Digital Adoption Good Practices Guide (Guía de Buenas Prácticas de Adopción Digital)
It contains guidelines, recommendations and support resources for the construction of better services for people, based on the experience of 10 institutions with a high volume of citizen service.
Software Development Guide (Guía de desarrollo de software) - Guidelines for software development in public institutions.
Document Management Guide (Guía de Gestión Documental) - Addresses various topics related to document management: definitions, regulations, basic procedures, and good practices. allowing for all physical or electronic documents, to be managed with integrity.
Guide for the design of institutional web interfaces (Guía para el diseño de interfaces web institucionales) Guide for the design and construction of web interfaces for new State sites,
References
[21] Crown Commercial Service (2023), What is a Dynamic Purchasing System? – Procurement Essentials, http://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/news/what-is-a-dynamic-purchasing-system.
[1] División de Gobierno Digital (2022), Guía para Formuladores EvalTIC 2023, https://digital.gob.cl/transformacion-digital/estandares-y-guias/guia-para-formuladores-evaltic-2023/.
[22] DTA (2025), BuyICT, http://www.buyict.gov.au.
[19] DTA (2021), Overview of single-seller arrangements, https://www.buyict.gov.au/sp?id=ssa_overview.
[5] Government of Canada (2024), Canada’s Digital Ambition 2024-25, https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system/digital-government/canada-digital-ambition/canada-digital-ambition-2024-25.html.
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[18] Ireland’s Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (2022), Green Public Procurement in Ireland, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/efa12-green-public-procurement-gpp/.
[24] Ministerio de Hacienda (2024), Undersecretary of Finance presented progress on the Modernization Agenda to the President of the IDB, https://www.hacienda.cl/noticias-y-eventos/noticias/subsecretaria-de-hacienda-expuso-avances-en-la-agenda-de-modernizacion.
[3] Ministerio de Hacienda (2022), Agenda de Modernización del Estado 2022-2026, https://modernizacion.gob.cl/agenda/agenda-periodo-2022-2026.
[4] Ministerio de Hacienda (2022), Ley de Presupuestos del Sector Público 2023, https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=1186683.
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[2] Ministerio Secretaría General de la Presidencia (2019), Ley 21180 de Transformación Digital del Estado, https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1138479.
[9] OECD (2024), “Digital Public Infrastructure for Digital Governments”, pp. OECD Public Governance Policy Papers, No. 68, OECD Publishing, Paris,, https://doi.org/10.1787/ff525dc8-en.
[23] OECD (2024), Enabling Digital Innovation in Government: the OECD GovTech Policy Framework, OECD Digital Government Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris,, https://doi.org/10.1787/a51eb9b2-en.
[13] OECD (2024), Good Practices for Procuring Computers and Laptops in Latin America: Fostering Neutrality and Market Engagement, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/cdf11f4d-en.
[25] OECD (2022), Building Trust to Reinforce Democracy: Main Findings from the 2021 OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions, OECD Publishing, Paris,, https://doi.org/10.1787/b407f99c-en.
[7] OECD (2022), Digital Transformation Projects in Greece’s Public Sector: Governance, Procurement and Implementation, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/33792fae-en.
[15] OECD (2022), Towards Agile ICT Procurement in the Slovak Republic: Good Practices and Recommendations, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b0a5d50f-en.
[16] OECD (2021), The E-Leaders Handbook on the Governance of Digital Government, OECD Digital Government Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ac7f2531-en.
[14] OECD (2020), Digital Government in Chile – Improving Public Service Design and Delivery, OECD Digital Government Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b94582e8-en.
[27] OECD (2017), Public Procurement in Chile: Policy Options for Efficient and Inclusive Framework Agreements, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264275188-en.
[10] OECD (2015), Recommendation of the Council on Public Procurement, https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0411.
[26] OECD (2014), Recommendation of the Council on Digital Government Strategies, https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0406.
[17] OECD Publishing, P. (ed.) (2022), “Governing Green: Gearing up government to deliver on climate and other environmental challenges”, in Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy: Preparing the Ground for Government Action, https://doi.org/10.1787/45cc57.
[11] SUBDERE (2024), Curso Transformación Digital, https://academia.subdere.gov.cl/?stm-courses=bienes-de-uso-y-su-administracion-en-el-sector-municipal.
[20] UK Government (2023), Dynamic Purchasing System Marketplace, https://supplierregistration.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/dps#technology.
[8] Vammalle, C. and A. Ruiz Rivadeneira (2017), “Budgeting in Chile”, OECD Journal on Budgeting,, https://doi.org/10.1787/budget-16-5jfw22b3c0r3.