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Finland automates verification of official data in public procurement process

Ministry of Finance
Publication date 30.1.2018 12.56 | Published in English on 30.1.2018 at 13.00
Press release
Co-financed by the European Union. Connecting Europe Facility.

Finland has automated the process of verifying official data in connection with the tendering procedure for public contracts. This was made possible through the programme for digitalising government procurement (the Handi programme), which is part of the Government’s key project for digitalising public services. The key project is the responsibility of Minister of Local Government and Public Reforms Anu Vehviläinen.

Public procurement amounts to approximately EUR 30 billion annually. With the automated verification of official data, public tendering will be simpler and more streamlined from both the contracting authority’s and the tenderer’s viewpoint, as companies no longer need to attach information to tender documents that is already available in official registers. At the end of the tendering procedure, the electronic system verifies the validity of the data provided by the supplier. The data verified includes the payment of taxes and social security contributions, debt enforcement records, and a wide range of data needed in tendering that is held in different official registers.

“Automating the verification of official data in public procurement is a good example of how the Government is achieving its aim of putting into effect the principle that information should be requested only once. Automation also makes it easier to tackle the grey economy,” says Minister of Local Government and Public Reforms Anu Vehviläinen. 

Automated verification of official data saves time and improves reliability – as well as productivity 

The impetus for automating the verification of official data derives from the amendment to the Act on Public Contracts that came into force at the start of 2017. Following this amendment, procurement units are now obliged to use the European Single Procurement Document in electronic tendering.  

Finland uses the same tendering system in both local and central government, and so the automated verification of official data is now used nationwide in all tendering of public contracts that exceed the EU threshold values. 

“The verification procedure in electronic tendering is similar from one country to the next. Other EU countries also use the model we have adopted here,” says Project Manager for the verification of official data Timo Rantanen, from the government’s central purchasing body Hansel Ltd. 

The project has been a joint endeavour between Hansel, the Finnish Tax Administration, the Legal Register Centre and KL-Kuntahankinnat. Funding for the project was obtained from the European Union's Connecting Europe programme. 

Inquiries: 

The programme for the digitalisation of government procurement (the Handi programme) aims to standardise and digitalise the entire procurement process, from procurement need recognition through to ordering, payment and reporting. The aim is a well-managed, consistent and effective procurement system. The Handi programme includes the tutkihankintoja.fi website published earlier.

Digitalisation of Government Procurement 
handi.fi 

Programme Director Tero Meltti
Digitalisation of procurement
[email protected]
Tel. +358 295 530 770

Project Manager Timo Rantanen 
eNest verification of official data 
[email protected]
Tel. +358 294 444 250  

Tuomas Vanhanen, Special Adviser to Minister of Local Government and Public Reforms Anu Vehviläinen
[email protected]
Tel. +358 295 530216  

Anu Vehviläinen Digitalisoituminen Governance Policy Kärkihankkeet Ministry Ministry of Finance Public Sector ICT