Development of a Database of the Federal Public Administration Purchases Prices (BR0057)

to develop a database containing reference prices for the most purchased items by the Federal Government, from data published on the Transparency Portal. The interface shall provide for the identification of items average prices, thus constituting an efficient strategy for formulating budgets and procurements, disseminating best practices in public purchases, as well as for supporting actions aimed at fighting corruption, especially in circumstances where overprice purchases are identified.

Commitment 2.2. Development of a Database of the Federal Public Administration Purchases Prices

Commitment Text: To develop a database containing reference prices for the most purchased items by the Federal Government, from data published on the Transparency Portal. The interface shall provide for the identification of items average prices, thus constituting an efficient strategy for formulating budgets and procurements, disseminating best practices in public purchases, as well as for supporting actions aimed at fighting corruption, especially in circumstances where overprice purchases are identified.

Responsible institution: Office of the Comptroller General

Supporting institution: None

Start date: Not specified                          End date: 14 October 2014

Commitment aim

Although procurement data were already available in an open format, its categories (by purchase or item) made it impossible for the public (and government) to calculate the average prices of goods. As a result, the commitment attempted to produce a database of average prices for government-purchased goods, using advanced qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The government intended to use the price database to formulate budgets and procurements, disseminate best practices in public purchases, and support preventive and investigative actions into possible cases of fraud or corruption.

Status

Midterm: Completed

The government reported (and demonstrated to the IRM researcher) that the commitment was completed. The database contains 80 thousand prices, disaggregated by region, state, and season. It focuses on prices for 51 key goods (e.g., paper, coffee, water, and fuel, is frequently updated and the data validated, and can be used to identify which agencies pay more or less than the average prices.

Did it open government?

Access to information: Major

Civic participation: Did not change

Public accountability: Did not change

The commitment sought to use open data published by the government to promote the systematic analysis of budget prices to fight corruption. Although the commitment lacked an explicit mechanism for civil society engagement in the process, the system is now available for public use.^{[Note 36: Transparency Portal, Price Database, http://bancopreco.cgu.gov.br/consultarPreco/index.jsf ]} Citizens can consult the total, minimum, maximum, and average prices of about 50 goods between 2014 and 2016. The portal allows users to filter the data by product, year, and region. Given that average prices of goods were not previously publicly available, the database is an important improvement in access to information, as citizens can now compare the amount spent by their local governments with the average price database, and report any irregularities. The initiative received positive reviews by the media,^{[Note 37: “Ações da CGU fortalecem transparência no Dia Internacional contra a Corrupção,” Jornal do Brasil, 9 December 2015, http://bit.ly/1Y4TdQK ]} and was awarded a prize by the School of Financial Administration within the Ministry of Finance.^{[Note 38: Finance Ministry, ESAF, Prize Recipients, http://bit.ly/2qASpxV ]}

Carried forward?

The commitment was not included in Brazil’s next action plan. For future consideration, the IRM researcher advises the government to expand the database with more data and diversity of products, and include better data visualization tools.