The Challenge
The Municipality of Santiago, Chile, faced difficulties advancing policy priorities in its key procurements. The contract planning phase lacked any discussion of goals and assessment of past performance, and well-intentioned legal initiatives to promote integrity in government contracting transformed procurement into a rule-driven process. Numerous regulations stifled innovation, leading to unaltered contract terms for decades. A single-minded emphasis on compliance created communication silos in the procurement process, further constraining results.
The Innovation
The GPL worked with Santiago to develop a centralized strategic procurement system (SPS). New system components included a Strategic Contracts Committee with Municipal executive leadership and a cross-functional working group for each high-priority contract. The GPL helped Santiago pilot the SPS on a procurement for sanitation services and set up a roadmap to adopt the new system formally.
The Results
The Strategic Contracts Committee provided a unique venue to elevate recommendations and for management to make decisions based on the best available evidence. The Deputy Director of Planning presented a list of seven high-priority contracts for 2019 to the Strategic Contracts Committee. Santiago plans to implement the regulatory and administrative reforms to codify the Strategic Procurement System, which will be part of a broad municipal effort to adopt managerial best practices and promote performance improvements.
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