PUBLIC PROCUREMENT OF TECHNOLOGY IN COLOMBIA: THE NEW SCHEME OF THE DYNAMIC PROCUREMENT SYSTEM

In recent years digital transformation has been one of the most relevant topics in government plans in Colombia and Latin America. The modernization of the State has been considered as one of the essential pillars to enhance the development of the country and the region through the optimization of the provision of citizen services and the mission activities of public entities. 

Digital transformation initiatives are not only materialized through strategic government plans but also through public procurement mechanisms that enable the acquisition of products and services by entities at national and regional levels. Price Framework Agreements and Demand Aggregation Instruments are procurement schemes that have been used to consolidate a fast and cost-efficient acquisition of technological services based on a framework of transparency. Some of the most relevant examples are the Public Cloud Framework Agreement, the Catalog Software Demand Aggregation Instrument, and the Connectivity Services Framework Agreement III.

Through the National Development Plan 2023 - 2026, aggregated public procurement in Colombia will have a paradigm shift due to the creation of the new Dynamic Procurement System ("SDA") that may replace or complement the schemes that have been applied so far. 

What are the Dynamic Acquisition Systems?

Although the decree regulating the SDA in Colombia has not been issued by Colombia Compra Eficiente, the direct antecedent of this new model, which comes from the Spanish legal system, may be useful as a first approximation.

In Spain, the SDA is implemented as a public procurement rationalization technique that, through fully electronic catalogs, promotes the existence of a high number of offers and bidders to increase competition. This implies that there is no limit to the number of participating companies, and it is open to any company that meets the selection criteria throughout its term. Companies that meet the requirements are incorporated into the SDA and can offer their products through the catalogs as is currently the case in the Demand Aggregation Instruments.

What do we know about the SDA proposal in Colombia?

According to Article 102 of the National Development Plan, the SDAs in Colombia will have a similar scheme to the one proposed in the Spanish model, since they will be open to companies during their entire term. Once it is regulated by Colombia Compra Eficiente as established in the aforementioned article, it will define (i) the conditions for the acquisition of goods or provision of services, (ii) the conditions of delivery or provision of these, (iii) the form of linking the entities to the SDA, and (iv) the form of payment. 

Additionally, the SDA will be managed electronically through SECOP to submit and review bids, and, in some cases, Colombia Compra may carry out contracting processes aimed at bidders of the popular economy.

As mentioned above, the new SDA model for public procurement will be fundamental for government procurement of technology goods and services as it brings new provisions that will impact how technology companies sell to the Colombian state.