Posted by Payal Malik Madan Feb 22, 2018

Every successful quality revolution has included the participation of its people.

Indeed its not perfect systems; but perfect participation of people that makes innovations work. South Asia Procurement Awards 2017 is another reason to take pride in this.

The World Bank received a widespread response when participations were invited for the most celebrated South Asia Procurement Innovation Awards 2017, and to our hearts delight was blessed with 78 proactive entries, from eight countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, each one more innovative and brighter than the other. What more popularity of these awards could one have asked for? Your participation became our pride.

Then began the real test of analyzing them. The criteria of judging were stringent. Decisions were based on the level of innovation with respect to solutions that differed from mainstream practices and could create measurable value in public procurement. Evaluation looked at aspects of value for money, efficiency, and integrity of the procurement process; capacity development and improved participation of the domestic industry, replicability within the organization, in other organizations in the country or in a different country; sustainability of the innovation driving social, economic and environmental sustainability; and use of Information and Communication Technology. The selection puzzle was difficult to solve but the team takes pride in its ability to provide solutions to such challenges

The World Bank, Governance Global Practice, Solutions and Innovations in Procurement (SIP-South Asia) became the Secretariat for Award selection. The Secretariat established an evaluation committee that assessed all entries using the above-mentioned criteria and established a country wise list of winner and runner up. This list was shared with counterparts of Public Procurement Policy unit/nodal/regulatory office. From among the country winners, the team selected a Regional Winner and Runner Up. Practice Manager, GGP-SIP, World Bank South Asia Region acted as the Chair of the Jury. With 78 entries and a winner from each country, the task was uphill.

Very refreshingly, a review of the submissions shows that public procurement is shifting focus more on developmental strategy than on administrative and operational goals and is driving social, economic, and environmental sustainability; with transparency and enhanced efficiency. That sure was a golden observation for the SAPPN, other development partners and World Bank, indeed lessons well taught by gurus and well learnt by students.

Our heartiest congratulations to all the winners and also to every participant from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

The successful conclusion of the Awards 2017 reaffirms the strong partnership between members of the South Asia Public Procurement Network (SAPPN), consisting of all procurement policy and regulatory bodies of the region, the World Bank, and its knowledge and networking platform Procurement iNET. This partnership goes a long way in achieving the objectives of enhancing learning and knowledge sharing with regard to innovative procurement practices adopted within the South Asian countries.

So keep participating and promoting as these awards are here to stay for many more years to come. We look forward to lot more participation in 2018 with more innovations, offering bigger challenges to us. Of course, the better the entities perform, the stricter are our criteria for selection. Isn’t that a reflection of excellence? Come let’s get ready for the 2018 South Asia Procurement Innovation Awards challenge.

Don’t you want to know what these innovations are and how did these impact the procurement system? Go on, download the Award Publication from the link below:

https://www.procurementinet.org/sapia/images/SAPIA_Book.pdf