Used strategically, public procurement can be a powerful tool for delivering public services effectively to citizens and for achieving the digital transformation of society and the economy. Information and communications technology (ICT) procurement, specifically, plays a decisive role in the implementation of any national digital government strategy.

To understand the current trends and patterns in ICT procurement in the Slovak Republic and to identify areas for improvement, the OECD had conducted a comprehensive spend analysis and stakeholder mapping as well as a stock-taking exercise of the current public procurement policies and practices for the ICT domain.

Public procurement is crucial for delivering public services, whether in health, education, infrastructure or public safety. More specifically, information and communication technologies (ICT) procurement plays a decisive role not only in delivering public services but in public sector modernisation. Moreover, the ICT sector is an enabler of economic progress and an important driver of the national and global digital economy. However, ICT procurements that successfully support the digital transformation of public services are becoming increasingly complex. They require efficient governance frameworks, whole-of-government co-ordination and collaboration, strengthened leadership, innovative procurement and contract management strategies and practices, as well as institutional capacities and capabilities for managing and monitoring complex ICT projects.

This chapter presents the importance and relevance of ICT procurement in providing effective public services to citizens and businesses and in implementing a national digital government strategy. It also highlights the need for new approaches in ICT procurement and demonstrates good examples from OECD countries on ICT procurement reforms and the use of innovative, flexible approaches for ICT procurement.

This chapter presents the general characteristics of the public procurement system in the Slovak Republic and the National Digital Agenda of the Slovak Republic. It also presents the state of play in ICT procurement in the Slovak Republic: assessment of the current trends in ICT procurement based on e-procurement database, interviews with stakeholders, analysis of the financial and legal framework. It identifies the main bottlenecks in the current policy and regulatory framework as well as in the practice. It also summarises the efforts of the Slovak government to achieve efficiency in ICT expenditure. Finally, it compares the Slovak practices with other similar purchasing segments in other EU and OECD countries and presents agile approaches in public procurement.

This section highlights the opportunities for improving the current governance structure and practices of ICT procurement in the Slovak Republic building on the identified strengths in the current system. It presents key actions that the Slovak Republic could pursue to modernise the purchasing practices and approaches used for ICT procurement. The section presents a set of actions, such as developing a national strategy for ICT procurement, creating communities of practise, fostering collaboration between procurement specialists and the ICT sector, creating room for the agility, experimentation and the strategic use of public procurement. The section also includes examples how other OECD countries have implemented similar actions. These cases might provide inspiration for further actions adapted to the Slovak Republic’s own unique context.