Adoption of Open Contracting Standards (IT0081)

What is the problem that the commitment will address? Citizens and civil society organisations sometimes complain about the lack of open and usable data sources to monitor public spending in a widespread manner. The data shared by public administrations are often published as indicators in an aggregate form or follow particular schemes that replicate the collection formats or derive from the specific needs of the administration that collects them. Sometimes, it is challenging to connect data from different administrations and compare them with open or commercial sources or those of other countries. The low digital literacy worsens the problem in the country (see surveys at European level), which prevents full use of public data sources even when existing and available and does not help the inclusion of civil society in analysis and monitoring processes. Overcoming this problem is an enabling factor for inclusive digital innovation.

What is the commitment? The commitment aims to create the conditions to encourage the use of existing information assets at the national and European levels, starting from the improvement and systematisation of existing resources and starting a virtuous cycle of co-creation that involves all stakeholders. This implies a commitment to make their information resources more usable by the administrations that possess data that, although not directly representing the PNRR implementation flows, can still provide relevant information to favour the participation and inclusion of civil society in the processes of monitoring. This commitment takes concrete form, for example, in the publication of data in an open format, providing platforms for their visualisation, and adopting shared and widely disseminated standard formats. In particular, the National Anti-Corruption Authority is committed to improving the CSOs and stakeholders' usability of the data collected in the National Database of Public Contracts, recognised by the CAD as a database of national interest. This is achieved through a free access portal and by providing dashboards for navigation and self-service analysis of published data, datasets in RDF open format, and by adopting the OCDS standard (Open Contracting Data Standard) for their representation. Data in the database is communicated 47 to the Authority by the responsible processors (RUP) of the Contracting Stations and are published in their original form. The OCDS standard is the leading international standard for the publication in an open format of data and information relating to the planning, procurement and implementation of public tenders, the use of which has also been promoted by the G20, the G7 and major international organisations, including the OECD. In particular, it is planned to adopt the OCDS profile for the European Union so that the data in an open format is also comparable with those collected by the publication portal of the European gazette TED, paving the way for comparison with this data source. The general aim is to enhance some information resources existing at the national level, putting them into a system, thus promoting the inclusion of civil society actors in the monitoring of public spending. The expected result is the availability of open and machine-readable data of the tenders/tenders, part of which will relate to tenders that implement the NRRP; ANAC is expected to publish the datasets regarding the publication phase of the call for tenders, the awarding phase and the final phase of contracts in an open format according to the model proposed by the Open Contracting Partnership for all contracts worth more than € 40,000. It is expected that other administrations will take part in the commitment so that the development plans implemented by the tenders can be identified (OpenCup database) and, if necessary, it is possible to receive information regarding the tenders relevant to the NRRP through an external data source, respecting the Once Only principle. The Department for Digital Transformation (DTD) of the Ministry for Technological Innovation and Digital Transition contributes to the realisation of the commitment by updating the semantic content of the data published on the National Data Catalog and the publication of APIs on the National Digital Data Platform with the relative metadata in such a way as to make this information compatible with the OCDS standards.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the problem? The adoption of standard formats and common rules for the publication of data on procurement, both at the national and European level, favours the involvement of civil society in the monitoring of public spending and the comparison with what is happening in other countries. The use of shared standards will facilitate the analysis of the initiatives included in the PNRR. There are two levels of the solution to the problem presented in the previous section to be envisaged: the standardisation process that favours interoperability and the ability to connect different data sources; the adoption of a mature and widespread standard at the international level creating the conditions for monitoring and comparison with other countries; the simplification deriving from the adoption of a single and welldocumented format such as OCDS should reduce the entry barriers for the processes of participatory governance, thus fostering the development of skills by citizens and businesses and inclusive digital innovation.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? The commitment is aligned with the values and pillars of the Open Government Partnership since it enhances transparency, supports civic participation, and improves accountability and integrity in the governance of resources. Public procurement is one of the most valuable datasets. Their availability in an open format is a fundamental and decisive element for the success of an open government plan. Through procurement, administrations use public resources to purchase goods and services and to carry out works that must serve citizenship. More specifically, the commitment aims to facilitate access to new technologies for openness and responsibility. Adopting Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS), an open-source standard for governments to release their procurement information in an accessible and easy-to-use way, reaping the full benefits of transparency, accountability and participation.

Additional information The commitment appears consistent with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, with particular reference to Mission 1 (Digitization, innovation, competitiveness and culture), area of intervention "PA Digitization - Components: M1C1 Digitization, innovation and safety in the Public Administration, Investments and reforms: Data and interoperability (Investment 1.3), with a budget of 0.65 billion €. For the monitoring activity on implementing the Italian NRRP, the development of a unique computer system by the MEF Department of State General Accounting is envisaged. (Article 1, paragraph 1043, Law n. 178/2020). This monitoring system detects all data relating to the implementation of the NRRP, both at the financial level, through the detection of the expenses incurred for the implementation of the measures and reforms and at the physical and procedural level, through the detection of specific indicators. The MEF system also provides for the acquisition of target and milestones progress data by ensuring the traceability and transparency of operations and the sharing of data between the various parties involved in the governance of the NRRP itself; it is envisaged that such data and information, in an open and machine-readable format, also have access to all citizens, guaranteeing the application of Italian and European legislation on public and open data and administrative transparency (Article 9 of the Prime Minister's Decree 15 September 2021). Links to other relevant plans, such as a national development plan or an anticorruption strategy A coalition of civil society organisations and professionals recently launched the Open Spending EU Coalition; the initiative was launched to encourage and support the openness of public expenditure data including new initiatives included in the NRRP. The coalition works to ensure that government spending is made in an open, fair, efficient way. The coalition has drafted a series of recommendations specifically related to the transparency of the EU's Recovery and Resilience Plans, outlining what EU member states should proactively publish information.

Activities Activities Start date End date Establishment of a working group to promote the openness and inclusiveness of public information assets on public contracts by adopting shared standards, such as OCDS. In the WG, ANAC will play the role of facilitator by making available a first high-impact data source (High-Value Data Set - ANAC open data portal) and the self-service Analysis portal to stimulate the participation of all stakeholders. Civil society organisations will be called upon to focus on involvement in using data in an open format. 1st March 2022 31st December 2023 Recognition of the currently existing data sources that can integrate that of ANAC to cover the information needs of civil society better. Mutual Empowerment and sharing of experiences between civil society organisations to facilitate the implementation of the next action. 1st April 2022 31st December 2023 Integration of ANAC data with other data sources - e.g., OpenCUP - can parallel the previous cycle - the possibility of synergies with the "participation" action and the civic debate. This action will be in charge of civil society organisations and aims to make concrete empowerment results. ANAC will play the role of facilitator. 1st September 2022 31st December 2023 Collection of feedback, suggestions for improving data portals (quality indicators from the point of view of data users, such as usability, ease of use, coverage of relevant areas, usefulness) 1st September 2022 31st December 2023 Update or extension of the semantic content published on NDC - National Data Catalog for Semantic Interoperability, so that it is compatible with OCDS (in collaboration with the Department for Digital Transformation). 1st April 2022 31st December 2023 API publication on PDND with related metadata through the National Data Catalog for Semantic Interoperability (in collaboration with the Department for Digital Transformation). 1st September 2022 31st December 2023

Action Plan Review

Commitment 5.02: Open standards for inclusiveness and participation of civil society in monitoring of public spending

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Modest

Commitment 5.02: Open standards for participation of civil society in public spending

National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC); Associazione OnDATA, Associazione. Monithon, Cittadinanzattiva, Fondazione Etica, Osservatorio Civico PNRR, Parliament Watch Italia (PWI), Transparency International Italia

For a complete description of the commitment, see Commitment 5.02 in Italy’s 2022-2023 Action Plan (original and amended versions): https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/italy-action-plan-2021-2023-december/

Context and objectives:

The adoption of the OCDS standard, a recognized best practice at international level and the only international open standard for the publication of information on all stages of public contracts, has been on the agenda of the Italian government since 2016. [60] In the fourth action plan, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport sought to standardize data and information on public contracts published in the Public Contracts Service (SCP) platform by adopting the OCDS. [61] However, it was not fully implemented by the end of the fourth action plan. [62]

This commitment, led by ANAC, seeks to promote the inclusion of civil society actors in the monitoring of public spending and facilitate access to information available in the National Database of Public Contracts (BDNC) [63] by providing a free access portal, dashboards for an independent analysis of published data, datasets in RDF open format, and by adopting the OCDS standard for the data provided. [64] The data would be published as provided to ANAC by the Contracting Authorities, and translated into the target OCDS format as open data. ANAC would be in charge of publishing datasets related to the publication phase of the call for tenders, the awarding phase and the final phase of contracts for all contracts worth more than EUR 40,000. This would partly, but not exclusively, include contracts funded under the PNRR. In 2020, the overall value of public contracts over the EUR 40,000 threshold was EUR 178.8 billion. [65]

The activities foresee the involvement of civil society throughout different stages, including for identifying the data they would like to have access to, for experience-sharing purposes, and for feedback on the user-friendliness of the portal and the quality of the data.

By providing data on high-value public contracts in an open format, aligned to international standards for best practice, and therefore opening up access to information, this commitment is relevant to the OGP value of transparency. The commitment falls within the broader context of opening of data and facilitation of civil society monitoring of public administration activities. Therefore, it is also relevant to the OGP value of civic participation.

Potential for results: Modest

If successfully implemented, this commitment would further increase the availability of open data for public procurement contracts, as well as the comparability of this data with other countries where the format is also used. The information contained in the BDNC can be considered of high-value and important, as the Code of Digital Administration (CAD) lists the BDNC as a database of national interest. [66] The increase would be incremental, rather than substantial, because information on public contracts is already mostly available in open format, although not in OCDS. An international civil society representative confirmed that Italy already does well in this area, and continues to make improvements and address gaps in publishing data in the OCDS standard. [67] The potential for results remains modest in light of the fact that there are no expectations or formal mechanisms for the monitoring activities (facilitated by the availability of open data) to have a direct impact on decision-making processes. The interviewed international civil society representative emphasized that beyond improvements to publishing data, introducing and improving formal monitoring mechanisms that could help to influence risk management and internal decision making could have a more impactful outcome. [68]

A public administration representative highlighted that the commitment originates from ANAC itself as a way to meet CSOs’ request for involvement in monitoring of PNRR-related spending. [69] The scope of the commitment is limited since the PNRR monitoring competences do not fall under ANAC. The interviewee confirmed that the goal and exclusive focus is to provide data on public contracts (already available in open format) in OCDS format so as to facilitate the involvement of CSOs in the monitoring process. Responding to civil society requests, they confirmed that the idea is to use the CUP code (the unique identification number assigned to individual public work projects) to link together public contracts and PNRR-funded projects, [70] which would also allow enhanced monitoring of the spending done through the PNRR. [71] While acknowledging that the data to be published in the portal were partly accessible already, the interviewee from ANAC indicated that publication in OCDS format increases their accessibility further and additionally allows a benchmarking process between national and EU contracts, since the same format is used for EU public tenders in the TED platform. [72] A civil society representative also highlighted the added value of allowing cross-country comparability. [73]

A representative from public administration further noted that part of the activities foreseen within the commitment would have been implemented regardless of the OGP framework. [74] For example, the European Commission Connecting Europe Facility Programme (CEF)-funded eNEIDE project, of which ANAC is an implementing consortium partner, [75] is one of the main sources of funding of the portal hosting the publication of OCDS BDNCP data. [76] A CSO representative confirmed that implementing the commitment within the OGP framework, however, allows for a more structured and direct engagement with civil society. They praised the direct and transparent engagement between civil society and public administration in the context of the working groups dealing with the design and implementation of the commitment. [77]

The interviewee confirmed that there is an intention of ensuring engagement with civil society throughout the implementation of the action plan. [78] Although the text of the commitment is vague in this regard, events such as Datathons are foreseen to promote the portal and raise awareness on the available data and stimulate demand. Training activities to build civil society capacity to use open data in the specific OCDS format for monitoring purposes are also foreseen. An interviewee confirmed there are no concrete plans at the moment. [79] While welcoming efforts to engage with civil society as part of implementation of this commitment, an international civil society representative cautioned that engagement activities would need to move beyond hackathons or individual training events towards an ongoing plan that treats civil society as collaboration partners rather than as an audience. [80]

Opportunities, challenges, and recommendations during implementation

Interviews highlighted that the main possible challenges and obstacles to the successful implementation of this commitment are tied to the ability of both public administration implementers as well as end users to make appropriate use of the data published in OCDS format. Poor awareness and understanding of the potential of open data, both among non-subject matter experts in civil society as well as at decision-making level, remains one of the key issues in the Italian open data landscape. Previous IRM reports have previously identified a need for institutions to develop activities that ensure ongoing engagement with civil society to understand their demands in terms of open data and assess possibilities of making it available. [81] Training activities will therefore have a key role in enabling the achievement of meaningful results for this commitment.

To maximize the impact of this commitment, the IRM recommends the following:

• Establish a flagging system for individual procurement processes and investigate identified inconsistencies. Latvia has successfully implemented a digital tool that automatically flags procurement publications when certain procurement risks are identified (such as accelerated procedures, or a small number of tenderers). [82] This has made it easier for those monitoring procurement to identify and investigate such cases. In the Italian context, a system to flag potential inconsistencies or irregularities stemming from opening the data on public procurement could encourage civil society and institutions to pursue and investigate red flags, or use the information to refine risk management assessments. This could then also such as to influence decision-making around procurement policy, or even specific procurement processes. Such a system could be developed in collaboration with civil society and include specific and concrete solutions that facilitate the formal reporting of potential irregularities. This could build on an ANAC project that identified a series of corruption risk indicators and publishes the results via a business intelligence platform. [83] Institutions could also look at the successful models of public and CSO monitoring such as OpenCoesione or the Monithon.eu initiative. [84] This recommendation may raise regulatory, technological and funding questions that may need to be resolved and addressed in later action plans, should it not be possible to introduce such a system with the implementation period of this action plan.
• Establish a training program for both public administrations and CSOs to show the potential of the data and how it can be used for monitoring. Such training can build capacity so that the data made public in OCDS format is appropriately and effectively used. The sessions can also be opportunities for dialogue between administrations and civil society on how the monitoring activities of one can benefit the other, or where improvements or efficiencies could be made. Specifically, consider involving smaller, local public administrations (e.g. a municipality, which often struggle more compared to central administrations in the publication of relevant data on public procurement) in the working group implementing the commitment. On top of conducting these trainings, institutions should measure their outcomes to see if they lead to greater usage of the data, increased reporting or improved engagement with CSOs. This can then be used to refine and improve training programs on the use of procurement information in the future.
• Encourage use of the data to analyze the impacts of procurement and tackle social issues. Procurement can be used as a hidden lever to tackle inequalities or other social issues. As more open data is published, institutions running procurement processes could be encouraged to analyzing data linked to procurement to see where and how it has affected policy priorities (maybe in relation to COVID-19 recovery funding, digitalization, sustainability, equality etc). Working in collaboration with civil society, these analyses can then be used to adjust procurement priorities or policies to ensure it can help to address such issues, as well as provide effective use of public money.