Background
The Lebanese e-procurement system was developed with funding from the European Union and implemented by a consortium headed by Planet S.A. of Greece in joint venture with BiP Solutions of Scotland and Hydot of Lebanon. BiP Solutions was the partner who developed and deployed the system based initially on their Delta eSourcing Suite (https://www.delta-esourcing.com). Delta eSourcing platform is a technology that is used by more than 550 awarding authorities in the UK and internationally (Kenya, UAE, South Korea, FYROM, Montenegro, Tanzania, Bahamas, Kuwait, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Ireland). The system is being also used by various European Commission Offices (Europeaid), EBRD, Inter-American Development Bank, and USAID (Macedonia).
The e-procurement system was a part of a larger technical assistance aiming at the modernization of public procurement in Lebanon at the value of about Euro 1.6 million implemented between the years 2014 and 2019.
The development of the e-procurement system was made jointly with the Tender Board.
System Description
The Lebanese e-procurement system is an English/Arabic application with two major interfaces: Buyer and Supplier. Buyer-side interface allows buyers to prepare their procurements, launch them, issue clarifications, receive bids, open and evaluate those bids and award the contract in a secure online environment. Supplier-side interface allows all interested bidders to register onto the system, create their detailed profiles and publish them, enter into procurement competitions, prepare bids and submit them online.
The terms of use are for a perpetual license for the Government of Lebanon to use for own, direct purpose with no additional royalties beyond the original payment. Hence, the system is fully owned by the Lebanese Government and may be deployed and rolled-out to any public entity in Lebanon.
The system is fully open source utilizing the following technologies: JAVA, Apache Tomcat, Hibernate ORM, Spring Framework, PostgreSQL, Eclipse IDE, etc.
System Components
1. Buyer Portal
a. Account Administration: manage users, roles, responsibilities, access control, organizational structure, etc.
b. Workspace Manager: manage collaborations under same program/project; include user-restricted access to particular workspaces, workspace dashboard and communication forum, etc.
c. Supplier Manager: search suppliers, create supplier shortlists, communicate with suppliers, etc.
d. Tender Documents Manager: a unique ability to create tender documents from scratch through a smart interface with different types of standard documents embedded
e. Tender Manager: the module to create notices (all types), launch procurement activities (all procedures and multi-donor), communicate with suppliers, manage pre-qualifications, receive expressions of interest and bids, evaluate the same and award the contract
f. Contract Register: detailed contract records including procurement history, supplier details, contract details, change management, key performance indicators, etc.
g. No Objections Manager: the feature that allows buyer users to communicate with a central authority (e.g. Tender Board) for ex ante clearance before launching a bid
h. Activity Log: detailed and secure log of all activities of the user on the system. Full Audit Trail of all buyer, supplier and system actions is available through the system.
2. Supplier Portal
a. Account Administration: manage supplier users, roles, responsibilities, access control, organizational structure, etc.
b. Profile Manager: the module to detail all potential bidder details including legal documents and records, financial capacity, eligibility data, etc. and publish the same to all buyers
c. Response Manager: the module where suppliers enter a bid, download or view bidding opportunities, prepare their bids or expressions of interest and submit the same in a secure environment.
3. Public Interface
a. About: a brief welcome statement to the e-procurement platform.
b. Guidance: including detailed training material to suppliers.
c. Notices: public access to all announcements (bid opportunities, requests for pre-qualifications, addenda to previous notices, contract awards, contract shortlists, announcements for different types of procurements, etc.).
d. Contact us: with the opportunity to access the helpdesk support whether functional or technical.
e. Help and FAQ’s: a section that is continuously populated and currently includes important links.
f. Guidelines: public access to standard bidding documents and Public Procurement Code of Ethics; the sections will continuously be populated with relevant information and guidance.
System Benefits
1. Reduce the overall costs of procurement;
2. Facilitate open competition to help drive innovation and value for money;
3. Simple to use, fast to adopt and user friendly;
4. Enforce compliance to agreed standards, processes and regulations;
5. Support anti-corruption and transparent processes;
6. Standardization of procurement procedures and documentation;
7. Consolidation of data in a single online repository;
8. Simplification of the supplier’s experience of the procurement process; and
9. Drive supplier engagement.
Type of Activity: ICT System
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