The Norwegian Digitisation Directorate (DigDir) is the first public body in Norway to use CEF's Big Data Test Infrastructure (BDTI) Building Block in public procurement.
The adoption of the BDTI Building Block is a collaboration between DigDir and the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which aimed to pilot and test big data technology to streamline the public procurement process in the country.
The data collected with BDTI's help showed some areas lack efficiency and bottlenecks were common.
"The challenge we set out to tackle was how to use emerging technologies in the public procurement process," Paul Killie, DigDir's digital technologies advisor, told CEF. "We wanted to improve the efficiency of the process but also the quality of the execution."
To do their job, emerging technologies need data. For Mr Killie and his team, one challenge was the vast amounts of data required to draw credible conclusions. So they set out to collect and store the transactions occurring during the public procurement process, such as tendering, contracts, orders, and invoicing.
Based on those requirements, Mr Killie's team devised a system that cataloged those transactions and stored them in so-called 'data lakes.' "We built an architecture and started using artificial intelligence to show that if we get access to data, we can use emerging technologies to produce results," said Mr Killie.
CEF's contribution
Before publishing the data analysis results, Mr Killie and his team wanted to test their digital architecture in a controlled environment. It was at this stage they used CEF's BDTI Building Block.
The BDTI Building Block helps public administrations and projects led by the public sector improve the citizen experience, increase government efficiency, and boost business through big data.
How does the Big Data Test Infrastructure (BDTI) help?
The ready-to-use virtual environment and analytical capabilities of BDTI helped gather and analyse relevant transactional data and present it to individual private businesses and public organisations. The data gathered with the help of BDTI will allow stakeholders to gain critical insights, identify process bottlenecks, and optimise their practices and interactions with other organisations in the value chain.
"We didn't look into any other solution," said Mr Killie. "After we had everything set up, we went to the technical team in BDTI and discussed with them how to build an IT architecture, and based on that we pitched a solution."
Final Result
After almost two years, Mr. Killie is happy to report the project achieved what it set out to do. The team went through the various transactions during a public procurement process and showed that it is possible to collect valuable data with the BDTI Building Block's help. "We built a model for data collection, which proved to work with the help of CEF BDTI Building Block," Mr. Killie told CEF.
How can CEF help you?
At the Connecting Europe Facility, we give you access to free tools, support, and funding to build your digital services. Here are some of the other Building Blocks you might be interested in.
Supports EU-wide cross-border public services using blockchain technology
Facilitates the preservation, migration, reuse, and trust of your information
Exchanges data and documents securely and reliably.