Skip to content
The spring is warm and the scenery is clear, and the mountains and rivers are safe. The spring of 2020 is different from previous years, but it also gathers vigorous power because of the unity of the people across the country.
Due to the pandemic, we delayed our holidays, stayed at home for isolation, and gradually resumed work. Many government procurement activities could not proceed as scheduled. However, thanks to the rapid development of new-generation information technologies such as the Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence in recent years, the digital transformation of government procurement has continuously upgraded, allowing many procurement activities to be successfully completed “in the cloud”. During the pandemic, the Government Procurement Cloud platform achieved “no interruption in the system”, “procurement never stops”, “services not discounted”, and “regulation not absent”.
The Government Procurement Cloud electronic bidding system is built on the Government Procurement Cloud platform. It is a one-stop procurement transaction system created by Government Procurement Cloud Co., Ltd. using cloud computing, big data, and other technologies. In March of this year, it was included in the “Introduction to Electronic Trading Systems for Government Procurement Projects” by the Ministry of Finance and recommended for use by various units.
No Face-to-Face Interaction for Suppliers
On March 20, the bid evaluation activity for the “Specialized Service Project for the Reform of the Medical Insurance Payment Method Based on Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs) by the Shaoxing Municipal Medical Security Bureau” was held at the Shaoxing Municipal Public Resource Trading Center. This is another vivid example of how the Government Procurement Cloud electronic bidding system supports epidemic prevention and control, achieving “no face-to-face interaction throughout the process, not having to run once”.
The entire process of the project was completed through the “Virtual Bidding Hall” and “Virtual Evaluation Hall”. The no face-to-face interaction for suppliers is a major highlight of this project, with five out-of-town suppliers, including those from Wuhan, bidding online and presenting their proposals, statements, and defenses through screen sharing and audio-video interaction, achieving “not having to run once” and “not submitting a single piece of paper”.
Suppliers have welcomed this innovative form. They can check announcements, register online, download procurement documents with one click, prepare bidding documents, and upload encrypted bidding files without having to attend the bidding and evaluation on-site as usual.
Through the virtualization scenarios of the Government Procurement Cloud electronic bidding system, suppliers can complete all necessary procurement activities such as online sign-in, document decryption, confirmation of bid opening results, online statement Q&A, and negotiation and quotation with just their own office computer. Winning suppliers can also receive the bid notification and sign contracts online.
“Introducing service plans and the composition of quotations, and making commitments to the issues of concern to experts, are key to the success of service project bidding. What impressed me the most was the statement phase, where clicking the screen sharing button allowed me to present the content in real-time to the experts via online video, with a stable system and smooth process, which was very convenient and efficient,” said a bidding representative from Wuhan Jindou Medical Data Technology Co., Ltd.
He stated that although the pandemic affected the people of Wuhan who were isolated locally, through information technology, the company could still participate in government procurement activities. Through greetings from the other end of the computer, they felt the concern and support of people across the country.
No Face-to-Face Evaluation
As the domestic epidemic prevention and control situation continues to improve, the Shaoxing Municipal Public Resource Trading Center invited the evaluation experts for this project to the trading center for on-site evaluation. To ensure the health of the experts, the trading center arranged for “one person, one room”, and the evaluation experts conducted online evaluations through “cloud”.
The Government Procurement Cloud electronic bidding system not only allows experts to sign in online, browse bidding documents, evaluate online, automatically compile scores, and generate evaluation reports but also enables functions such as “score point positioning” and “N-to-1 inquiry”.
“This means that when experts evaluate online, the system automatically opens the bidding documents of the current supplier, allowing quick navigation to the relevant evaluation points, and experts can view and compare the bidding documents of up to four suppliers on the same screen,” explained a technician from Government Procurement Cloud.
Moreover, during the evaluation process, experts can also conduct remote inquiries and Q&A with individual suppliers on specific matters. The system can also meet more usage scenarios such as online inquiries, negotiation discussions, and multiple rounds of quotations.
“In the long run, remote evaluation by experts has become a trend for future development and a practical need. Although the experts for today’s project are evaluating at the trading center, they are not in the same space, and the technology for experts to evaluate in different locations is already quite mature,” said a staff member from the Shaoxing Municipal Public Resource Trading Center.
No Face-to-Face Supervision
“No face-to-face supervision” is the third highlight of the Government Procurement Cloud electronic bidding system.
Relevant officials from the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Finance and Shaoxing Municipal Finance Bureau completed full remote supervision of the project in their offices, in front of their computers, through real-time online video.
With the help of the remote supervision platform of the Government Procurement Cloud electronic bidding system, the supervisory department has gained a “thousand-mile eye” and “sound ear”. Although they are not on-site, the opening and evaluation process is clear and audible, greatly reducing the pressure of supervision. In addition, they can also check archives in the system at any time to restore the first scene, providing a basis for the supervisory department to scientifically and accurately handle government procurement complaints.
In the face of the pandemic, only by breaking conventions and thinking far can procurement work better serve social public safety and better assist the government in fulfilling its duties and transformation.
The steps of Government Procurement Cloud continue to advance in exploration and practice, and will continue to promote government procurement onto a new journey with “digitalization, intelligence, all roles, and all processes” as keywords, and extend to enterprise procurement, industry procurement, and more fields.
★ This article is copyrighted by this newspaper. If you need to reproduce or copy, please indicate the source from the China Government Procurement Newspaper, mark the author, and maintain the integrity of the article. Otherwise, legal responsibility will be pursued.