A collaborative UK-Indonesia project, supported by World Commerce & Contracting and delivered virtually due to COVID-19, is showing how human-centred design and multidisciplinary approaches can help make government procurement simpler, clearer, faster, more accessible and inclusive.
The problem
Governments globally spend an estimated $13 trillion every year through contracts awarded following a procurement process. However, contracts tend to be:
- full of legalese and commercial jargon, and hundreds of pages words
- presented in ways that aren’t accessible or inclusive
- focused on dealing with assumed failure and breakdown of relationships
This presents barriers to suppliers trying to access government markets, particularly for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), as well as efficient and effective use by buyers and suppliers who want to work collaboratively, and with integrity.
In 2018, Indonesian Government’s Lembaga Kebijakan Pengadaan Barang/Jasa Pemerintah (LKPP - National Public Procurement Agency) issued its Standar Dokumen Pengadaan (SDP - Standard Bidding Document), which is a template used for all procurements using state budget.
LKPP’s SDP contains 111 pages but can be up to 500 pages when all procurement-related elements are included.
Feedback from LKPP’s suppliers is that this presents a real barrier to participation in Indonesia’s public procurement, particularly for MSMEs.