Publishing State Procurement Data to Citizens (FI0027)

Publishing openly in the net the information regarding what the state buys, with what money and from where. The state procurement data will be published in spring 2017 as open data. At the same time an open service will be created with access to everyone and where citizens and businesses can follow almost in real time the use of public money in state procurement. The contents of the service are the public data of procurement where it can be seen what state organisations are procurement and from where.

5. Publishing state procurement data to citizens

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“Publishing openly in the net the information regarding what the state buys, with what money and from where. The state procurement data will be published in spring 2017 as open data. At the same time, an open service will be created with access to everyone and where citizens and businesses can follow almost in real time the use of public money in state procurement. The contents of the service are the public data of procurement where it can be seen what state organisations are procurement and from where.”^{[Note : Finland National Action Plan 2017-2019 (in English), https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/finland-national-action-plan-2017-2019-all-languages/.]}

Start Date: Not identified              

End Date: Not identified

Context and Objectives

Although Finland ranks among the top 10 countries for the Open-Useful-Reusable Government Data Index,^{[Note : Open-Useful-Reusable Government Data Index (OURdata), 2017,
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/government-at-a-glance-2017/open-useful-reusable-government-data-index-ourdata-2017_gov_glance-2017-graph139-en.]} open data on state procurement were not available before spring 2017. The information published under this commitment has been available to everyone in accordance with the Act on the Openness of Government Activities,^{[Note : Act on the Openness of Government Activities 21.5.1999/621, https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1999/19990621.]} but access to these data required a separate request for information from an individual organisation. This publication of state procurement information as open data is thus an innovative endeavour in Finland and internationally.^{[Note : “Julkiset, avoimet hankinnat,” Juho Pursimo, Analyst for the Finnish government’s central purchasing body Hansel Ltd, https://www.hansel.fi/blogi/2017/11/29/julkiset-avoimet-hankinnat/.]}

This commitment aims to make state procurement data truly open and transparent, as well as visualize it in a clear and understandable manner, and to make it easier for individuals and organisations to assess whether the use of public funds is efficient and fit for purpose.^{[Note : Satu Grekin, Head of Business and Competition Affairs, The Federation of Finnish Enterprises. Email interview 11.02.2019.]} The government discloses its procurement data on the level of individual invoices, and the data do not cover, for example, contracts.

Currently, the data cover nearly all government accounting units, except for the Ministry of Defence, whose procurement data are not public.^{[Note : Finnish Central Government Procurement Spend, open data, https://www.avoindata.fi/data/en_GB/dataset/valtion-virastojen-ostolaskut.]} The procurement data are available in non-proprietary open data format, granting it 3/5 stars on the 5-star deployment scheme for Open Data.^{[Note : 5 Star Open Data, https://5stardata.info/en/.]} The database is aimed to be updated weekly, although it seems to be done manually, and thus this target is not always met.^{[Note : The log of activities shows that the dataset was updated six months ago, then again two months ago, https://www.avoindata.fi/data/en_GB/dataset/activity/valtion-virastojen-ostolaskut.]} Additionally, procurement data are visualized on the website Explore State Spending (tutkihankintoja.fi).^{[Note : Explore State Spending, https://tutkihankintoja.fi/?lang=en.]} This website provides accessible information on buyers and suppliers across multiple procurement categories.

Publication of government procurement data as open data was already included under Commitment 2 in Finland’s previous action plan, which was completed in September 2017. The novel part of the present commitment is the addition of the open access service (tutkihankintoja.fi). The government could have increased the ambition of the commitment by independently evaluating the usability and impact of this service and by setting targets to improve its performance. The commitment is concrete and measurable, but because it was partially included in the previous action plan and already implemented, its potential impact is coded as minor.

Next steps

The IRM researcher recommends collecting feedback from stakeholders and end-users to ensure the continuing development of the visualisation along with the readability and usability of the open data. According to a CSO representative from the Federation of Finnish Enterprises, the current situation is satisfactory.^{[Note : Satu Grekin, Head of Business and Competition Affairs, The Federation of Finnish Enterprises. Email interview 11.02.2019.]} Additionally, the commitment could be expanded to cover the procurement data of municipalities, regions, and incorporated public services.^{[Note : Tommi Niinimäki, Chairperson of Transparency International Finland, consultation 3.3.2017, p.54, https://avoinhallinto.fi/assets/files/2017/06/Lausuntoyhteenveto-III-toimintaohjelma.pdf.}

]

5. Publishing state procurement data to citizens

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“Publishing openly in the net the information regarding what the state buys, with what money and from where. The state procurement data will be published in spring 2017 as open data. At the same time, an open service will be created with access to everyone and where citizens and businesses can follow almost in real time the use of public money in state procurement. The contents of the service are the public data of procurement where it can be seen what state organisations are procurement and from where.” [31]

Start Date: Not identified

End Date: Not identified

This commitment outlined the Finnish government’s plans to make state procurement data available as open data and make this data accessible through an online service (openprocurement.fi). The procurement activities of the Finnish government are public under the Act on the Openness of Government Activities, excluding strategically sensitive accounting units such as the Ministry of Defence. Government procurement information has previously been available to the public by request only. [32]

This commitment was completed in September 2017. [33] The publication of procurement data as open data was part of a commitment in Finland’s second action plan (2015-2017), which explains the expeditious completion. [34] The new part of the present commitment is the addition of the online service (openprocurement.fi), which improves the accessibility of the raw data for persons who do not wish to query large datasets themselves. As a result, individuals and organizations are able to access government procurement information without having to submit access to information requests.

The preliminary results of this commitment in opening government are positive. According to the Head of Business and Competition Affairs of the Finnish Association of Federation of Finnish Enterprises, the open access service has increased confidence in the professionalism of government purchases and the appropriate legal implementation of government procurement processes. [35] Since its commencement, the online service executed by Hansel Ltd has won multiple national and international awards, particularly for its user-friendly interface design. [36] While the 2017-2019 IRM Design Report stressed the overlap between the commitments of the second and third action plans regarding the publishing of procurement data as open data, the addition of a well-executed open access service has ensured the accessibility and usability of this information to both organizations and the general public. This practice could be extended to cover regions and municipalities. [37]

Through the implementation of this commitment, the Finnish government has improved the accessibility of state procurement information and the channels to disclose it. This marks a major improvement in the status quo.