The Way Forward for Digital Public Procurement in Ireland

Annex A. Mapping Ireland’s digital and public sector transformation strategies, plans and initiatives

 

Strategy or Initiative	Linkages to the Digital Transformation of Public Procurement	Opportunities to Leverage Initiatives for the Digital Transformation of Public Procurement
Harnessing Digital – The Digital Ireland Framework	Commits to moving towards a more user-centric service model and acknowledges the role of strong data governance and the importance of harnessing publicly held data to increase transparency and improve public services.	Explore opportunities to promote and advance the digital transformation of public procurement through the Digital Issues Senior Officials Group, which oversees the implementation of the national digital strategy.
Connecting Government 2030 – A Digital and ICT Strategy for Ireland’s Public Service	An umbrella strategy for actions across government policies and strategies, it has six priority action areas: A human-driven digital experience Harnessing data effectively Government as a platform (digital standards and common components and resources) Evolving through innovation (including the use of emerging technologies) Strengthening digital skills Focusing on governance and leadership (including broader governance structures)	Leverage standards on digital service design and delivery and guidance for driving digital change. Explore opportunities to leverage the ecosystem of digital building blocks and Build to Share programme. Explore opportunities to leverage the development of digital and ICT professionalisation and talent development programmes. Work with the OGCIO Digital Strategy Implementation Unit to learn from other government digital initiatives.
Better Public Service: Public Service Transformation 2030	Provides the direction for strategic reform in the Irish Public Service. The strategy has three pillars: Digital and innovation at scale Workforce and organisation of the future Evidence-informed policy and services designed for and with the public	Align with the design principles for the Government of Ireland. Explore opportunities to leverage the Action Plan for Designing Better Public Services, including opportunities for funding and resources. Consider applying to the Public Service Innovation Fund for specific projects.
Public Service Open Data Strategy 2023-2027	The Strategy is based on three pillars: Publishers: drive the production of high-value and high-quality datasets responsive to users’ needs Platform: a thriving Open Data ecosystem supported by a trusted Open Data platform responsive to stakeholders’ needs Users: support stakeholders to shape and improve easy access to and use of trusted Open Data sources	Expand the availability of public procurement data on Ireland’s open data portal. Leverage capacity and capability building (events, funding, networking across sectors). Work with the Network of Open Data Liaison Officers, the Open Data Unit in DPENDR and the Open Data Governance Board to improve transparency and the availability of procurement data.
National Artificial Intelligence Strategy for Ireland	Commits to a coordinated public service-wide, strategic approach to the implementation of AI.	Work with the GovTech Delivery Board, the AI and Emerging Tech Network and the Intelligent Automation Network to learn from other sectors and areas of the public service. Explore opportunities to participate in hackathons and workshops to promote an open environment for accelerating and testing AI applications.
National Data Infrastructure	Involves the collection and storage of three key identifiers on all public sector data holdings, as well as promoting the need for common data standards and classifications on administrative data.	Work through the National Data Infrastructure Champions Group to develop common data standards across sectors and explore greater use of the Unique Business Identifier and Eircode in public procurement.

Source: (Department of Taoiseach, 2022[1]) (Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 2022[2]) (Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 2019[3]) (Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, 2023[4]) (Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, 2023[5])

References

[5] Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (2023), Action Plan for Designing Better Public Services, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/1e3e2-action/.

[4] Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (2023), Public Service Transformation 2030 Strategy, https://assets.gov.ie/255872/e6feb71e-0199-4061-894e-6f8e80bafad1.pdf.

[1] Department of Taoiseach (2022), Harnessing Digital: The Digital Ireland Framework, https://assets.gov.ie/214584/fa3161da-aa9d-4b11-b160-9cac3a6f6148.pdf.

[2] Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (2022), Connecting Government 2030: A Digital and ICT Strategy for Ireland’s Public Service, https://assets.gov.ie/220390/79ac70c6-f2d9-4b5e-8960-c833a0b40efb.pdf.

[3] Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (2019), Public Service Data Strategy, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/1d6bc7-public-service-data-strategy-2019-2023/.