In its newsletter of July 2010, the French Economic Observatory for Public Procurement ('Observatoire Economique de l'Achat Public', in French) unveiled the findings of a survey on eProcurement carried out among French companies by the Legal Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry.

The survey ran from 20 December 2009 and 31 March 2010. Its objective was two-fold: it aimed to collect the views of French companies regarding the dematerialisation of public procurement as well as information on their use of eProcurement on the one hand; and it sought to identify and understand the possible obstacles hindering the further use of eProcurement on the other hand.

To take part in the survey were 1 200 companies, 400 of which responded to the entire consultation. All business sectors were represented: ICT (24 %), buildings and public works (14 %), hospital (12 %), services (12 %), engineering, technical studies and research (7 %). About 80 % of the participating companies are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which shows the SMEs' interest in eProcurement - it is worth noting however that their percentage in the survey is lower than their representation in the French economy (99.8 %).

A huge majority of the respondents support the idea of accessing public procurement consultation documents via electronic means. Two thirds of the respondents declared that they transmitted at least once an application or a tender electronically. Nevertheless, this proportion must be put into perspective as according to official figures, only 4.3 % of the public procurement procedures occurred in 2008 were electronic. In any case, the companies which took part in the survey are certainly those supporting public procurement dematerialisation the most.

Among the motives for preferring electronic procedures, the participants stress above all efficiency gains, outlining the possibility to re-use the documents available on the procurement platforms (58 % of the respondents), the realisation of savings (55 %) and the respect of legal deadlines (50 %). The main savings reported concern paper use (for 67 % of the respondents), photocopy (53 %) and travelling expenses (53 %). However, 39 % of the companies believe that the management costs relating to the purchase of certificates represent a spending increase, which remains relatively low in any case. Indeed, 58 % of the companies purchased certificates and found that there were not cost-prohibitive. 

According to 72 % of the respondents, two of the main barriers to eProcurement use lie with the heterogeneity of the procurement platforms and their questionable ergonomics. This is probably the reason why the surveyed companies express average satisfaction as to the use of the platforms; only 48 % of them say they are satisfied by the platforms they used. Likewise, 49 % of the companies believe the platforms are easy-to-use.

Surprisingly, 58 % of the surveyed companies revealed that they hold an electronic certificate and among those, the average number of certificates held is 2.1. The acquisition of a certificate actually represents a complex task for 25 % of the companies. Most of the difficulties encountered are found in the complexity of the procedure (for 40 % of the respondents), the lack of information on the certificate providers (21 %) and the time needed to obtain a certificate (21 %).

In order to address these barriers, the respondents suggested the following paths: 

• Standardising the platforms and simplifying documents with pre-filled fields - this is a clear call for the adjustment of the current documents to dematerialisation;
• Simplifying the acquisition of certificates while taking into account a minimum level of identification and authentication (to be given in person);
• Training buyers to the use of the platform and informing, raising awareness and training the companies when needed.
• Achieving the dematerialisation of the entire process: signature by the buyers, transmission for legality check and to the payer, execution;
• Simplifying regulations;
• Issuing a practical guide on public procurement dematerialisation - such a guide was published at the end of May 2010 by the Legal Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Economy, Finances and Industry. 

 

 Further information: 

• Official news article - Newsletter no. 17 of the Observatoire Economique de l'Achat Public - July 2010 (in French)
• Observatoire Economique de l'Achat Public (in French)
• Practical guide on public procurement dematerialisation (in French)