A focus on people: Delivering better public procurement
A perspective by André Lima, Director for the United States
During my three years as the City of Boston’s Director of Supplier Diversity, I often found myself explaining why procurement – this highly technical, often opaque process – matters to everyday people. At first glance, procurement might seem like a purely behind-the-scenes function, its quality measured by efficiency and transparency; but, in reality, procurement is about how government delivers for people.
I’m joining the Open Contracting Partnership at a moment of transition and uncertainty in the United States. But as we sift through the results of the 2024 election and its implications for our work, one thing is resoundingly clear: many Americans are struggling. Struggling to pay bills, to save, and to believe that government can work for them. Many people feel left behind by institutions that seem less and less attuned to serving their needs.
Procurement may not immediately jump to mind as a nexus for a discussion about how government might better serve people. But I believe the opposite: Procurement is one of the most powerful tools that government has at its disposal to transform people’s lives and demonstrate it can, in fact, work for everyone. Done right – with an eye towards outcomes for people and communities – procurement can ensure that public services are effective, equitable, and responsive. It can support robust, inclusive economies. And it can strengthen trust in government and democratic norms.
So as I start my journey with OCP, I want to share three ways that putting people at the center of procurement will help us make a difference.
Procurement is democracy in action
At its core, procurement is about more than just transactions—it’s a vital mechanism through which policymaking translates into tangible outcomes for people, making it a cornerstone of democratic accountability. Policies provide a framework, but the decisions made during the procurement process directly impact service delivery. When procurement overlooks people’s needs, public services fail.
In this sense, procurement is a crucial link in a chain of “democratic responsiveness,” starting with voting and ending with the delivery of public services. How responsive those services are to our needs depends significantly on procurement.
I started my career with Boston’s municipal Office of Health and Human Services, so let me share an example from the world of public benefits delivery. Consider the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These benefits are delivered via Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, which recipients use to buy eligible groceries. For anyone with a checking account and a debit card, being able to check your balance by logging into a mobile app or accessing a secure website is an essential feature. It facilitates budgeting and financial planning. But many SNAP users must call a hotline or buy a small item to check their balance on a receipt. This is more than an inconvenience—it reflects a gap in the procurement process, where the government’s agreement with the EBT vendor failed to prioritize the inclusion of a free, user-friendly mobile app as a deliverable. The chain of democratic responsiveness breaks when procurement doesn’t deliver accessible, dignified solutions for people.
What does this mean for OCP’s work in the U.S.?
We want to work with forward-thinking states, counties, and cities and help them harness the power of procurement to make the government work better for their residents. We also want to build connections across state lines and support regional networks of government and civil society changemakers in adopting transformative approaches to procurement.
The critical role of procuring technology
As digital public services become the norm, how governments buy and implement technology must improve. Procurement determines who designs these systems and how they function, affecting millions of lives.
Let’s return to the example of SNAP. The technology that supports public services like SNAP (and many other critical IT services) are procured by governments. However, states often rely on vendors offering proprietary, closed-source systems that lock them into outdated technology. Users, especially those dependent on benefits, bear the brunt of these inefficiencies. The problem isn’t necessarily a lack of government will. When procurement is treated as a back office function rather than a strategic one, the technology governments purchase ends up being functional but difficult for people to use, and often expensive to manage and service long term.
Governments also depend on technology to manage the procurement process itself. This means procurement is not just about buying digital tools, but also using them effectively to support better procurement. In other words, governments aren’t just buying digital things, but also buying things digitally.
At the City of Boston, I supported efforts to make our city website more accessible and user-friendly, particularly for residents with disabilities and those who speak English as a second language. These qualities became all the more important in 2020, when almost overnight boston.gov became a digital clearinghouse for vital public health data related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a pillar of the City’s communications strategy to keep residents safe.
This experience guides me in rethinking how government services, technology and procurement should come together. Our recent brief, A Human-Centered Approach to Government Procurement Technology, outlines a vision for how this can be accomplished.
What does this mean for OCP’s work in the U.S.?
We’re excited to shake up the status quo of procurement technology and work collaboratively with vendors and government agencies at all levels to build systems and solutions that strengthen social policy rather than inhibit it. Procurement technology itself is ripe for innovation and testing new solutions that are human-centered.
Procurement shapes local economies
Beyond service delivery, public procurement profoundly impacts local economies. In the U.S., governments spend $4.4 trillion annually on goods, services, and labor. How and with whom this money is spent can shape whether local economies thrive.
For small businesses, winning government contracts can mean hiring more workers, expanding operations, and contributing to the local economy by increasing demand for professional services like accountants and custodians. But, small businesses often struggle to secure government contracts, facing barriers such as complex procurement processes and systems that favor large, incumbent firms.
This isn’t just a missed opportunity for them, it’s a loss for our communities and the innovation and jobs these businesses bring. Thankfully, more governments are recognizing this. They’re using procurement as a tool to build stronger, more inclusive local economies.
This was my core role in Boston. By changing how contracts are awarded and tracking procurement data more carefully, we made real progress in supporting minority- and women-owned businesses. We put people and communities at the center of Boston’s procurement and it paid off.
What does this mean for OCP’s work in the U.S.?
Procurement is an economic powerhouse. But, most of its impact is captured in dollars and cents spent and not in terms of value generated and local outcomes like jobs created, new benefits recipients enrolled in social programs, and a better environment. We want to better capture how open contracting benefits people and the planet, and build imaginative reform programs to drive economic inclusion.
People First
The bottom line here is: public procurement has everything to do with people. And as OCP’s new Director for the United States, I’m excited to prioritize projects and collaborations that put people at the center of procurement and to document and share what works and what we learn as we work together to reimagine public procurement.
