E f f e c t i v e a n d a c c o u n t a b l e s e r v i c e d e l i v e r y Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2013/14 80 developing an Open Contracting Data Standard to make contracting information more open, interoperable and useful.26 The OCP is curating a community of practice to facilitate knowledge sharing among practitioners and the development of an evidence base for the impacts of open contracting.27 And, the OCP has created an Open Contracting Practitioners’ Guide as a resource for those engaged in or wishing to engage in open contracting activities. The next steps for open contracting The potential impacts of open contracting practices on value-for-money, integrity of process, contract performance and beneficiary satisfaction are significant and already starting to materialise where open contracting processes are being adopted. Yet, there are also many challenges to successful implementation of open contracting, including constraints related to capacity, political economy and sustainability. Success will depend on several factors. Governments, donors and the private sector must be convinced of the benefits of adopting open contracting, and be incentivised to disclose contracting information and encourage stakeholder participation. It will also be important to build the evidence base for open contracting by documenting the strategies, methods, and lessons behind open contracting success stories to allow enabling environments for multistakeholder collaboration to be replicated elsewhere. Finally, it will be important to capitalise on advances in the collection and processing of ‘big data’, which will further erode the information gap between governments and citizens, and lead to more opportunities for engagement. It is hoped that in the near future, these efforts can be scaled up and institutionalised so that strengthened oversight of public contracting does in fact lead to better deals for governments and a level playing field for the private sector, as well as high quality goods, works and services for citizens all around the world. Endnotes 1 See OECD, ‘Integrity in Public Procurement: Good Practice from A to Z’ (2007) http://www.oecd.org/development/effectiveness/38588964.p df; World Bank, ‘Curbing Fraud, Corruption and Collusion in the Roads Sector’ (2011) http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTDOII/Resources/Roads _Paper_Final.pdf. 2 World Bank Institute, ‘Disclosure of project and contract information in public-private partnerships’ (2013). See also the PPP Unit website for published contracting information. 3 Liberia (leiti.org), Guinea (http://www.contratsminiersguinee.org), Peru (http://www.perupetro.com.pe/relaciondecontratos), Timor- Leste (http://www.laohamutuk.org/Oil/PSCs/10PSCs.htm). 4 World Bank, ‘Policy note – Russian Federation: National and regional trends in regulatory burden and corruption 3’ (2013). World Bank: ‘Perceptions of state capture and frequency of administrative bribery are also lower in regions with higher newspaper circulation’ (2013). 5 For example, in the United States signs are being used in addition to a fully dedicated website with a reporting mechanism to inform citizens about projects being funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 6 Human Rights Watch, ‘What is a house without food? Mozambique’s coal mining boom and resettlements’ (2013). 7 Law 850 of 2003 allows citizens’ oversight organisations to supervise public management, especially in relation to awarding and executing a public contract. 8 Mexico has a legally mandated ‘social witness’ programme for contracts over a specific value threshold. Mexico, 24 Camara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Union, ‘Ley de adquisiciones, arrendamientos y servicios del sector publico’, Diario Oficial de la Federación (4 January 2001). 9 The Public Procurement Law was amended in June 2011 to include a new formal role for civil society and professional organisations in bid evaluation and contract monitoring. 10 The 2003 Philippines Procurement Law mandates citizen participation in all stages of the procurement process – prebid conference, opening of bids, bid evaluation, postqualification and award of contract. Observers may also oversee contract implementation. 11 Public Affairs Centre, ‘Citizen monitoring and audit of PMGSY roads: Pilot phase II project completion report’ (2011). 12 See CSC Khvsgul Aimag Mongolia – Contract of Cooperation with Local Government Agency (2012); Procurement Partnership Mongolia – Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Finance (2012); Coalition Against Corruption Philippines – Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (2005); CCAGG Philippines – Memorandum of Agreement with Department of Social Welfare and Development (2011). 13 Pellegrini, Matteo, ‘Promoting Contract Transparency’ 3 (Revenue Watch 2011). 14 Striking Poverty, ‘Featured Conversation: Large Contracts and Community Oversight’ (31 October 2012). 15 Tullow’s website states: ‘Should a government wish to make a petroleum or production sharing agreement public, we would fully support them in doing so.’ Tullow Oil, ‘Why are most of your petroleum agreements confidential?’ (2013). 16 Smith, Erin with Rosenblum, Peter. ‘Enforcing the rules’ 16 (Revenue Watch, 2011). 17 Organisation pour le Renforcement des Capacités de Développement (ORCADE), the Réseau Africain de Journalistes pour l’Intégrité et la Transparence (RAJITBurkina Faso) and the Coalition Min’Alerte. 18 Deme, Ousmane and Kluttz, Carey, ‘Open Contracting addresses employment in the Burkina Faso mining sector’ (2013). 19 Kaspar, Lea and Puddephatt, Andrew, ‘Benefits of transparency in public procurement for SMEs: General
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