Developing the procurement of expert services

According to the vision of the Finnish Road Administration (Finnra), Finnra utilizes best procurement practices in a well functioning market. In order to improve procurement practices, the Procurement Strategy of the Finnish Road Administration was published in 2003. The strategy defines common goals for all areas of procurement and methods for improving practices. The procurement of expert services form a distinct part of the procurement activities of Finnra. Expert services are procured approximately 1 300 times a year for a total cost of 30 - 40 million euros. These services include design, information about traffic and the road network, research and development, development of management and business practices, procurement services and information services and systems. Concrete principles and suggestions for further development are developed in this report. The development suggestions are based on the principles set out in the procurement strategy and further goals that were developed from these principles. These have been influenced by information about the amount, quality, problems and development needs of existing procurements. Additionally the new possibilities presented by the new legislation on public purchases, which will come into force in 2006, current trends in international procurement practices and best practices from the private sector have been taken into account. Among other things the development suggestions relate to such matters as procurement planning, cooperative procurement with other infrastructure authorities, guidance, procurement support and interaction with the market. A key component of the suggestions is increasing the size of procurement contracts and improving information management. The suggestions also contain comments related to many factors that are defined during each procurement process such as the development of evaluation factors for bids. The general development suggestions are augmented by suggestions covering specific concerns and problems in different areas of procurement. All of the suggestions are to steer procurement work towards the goals set out in the procurement strategy. These include improving efficiency, highlighting quality, encouraging innovation, building a functioning market and improving the attractiveness of the field. Feedback received during seminars for interest groups clearly showed that the market is also prepared to develop in accordance with the guidelines set out in this report. This report may be found at http://alk.tiehallinto.fi/julkaisut/pdf/3200956-vasiantuntpalvkeh.pdf