MAIT organizes national conference on IT Procurement

MAIT has recently organized “National Conference on Government Procurement in Information Age” in New Delhi. The conference highlighted the importance of IT procurement practices, Model RFPs 2.0, e-Marketplace for government and semi-government organizations.

The sessions addressed the needs of Public Sector Heads, Government Relation Heads and CFOs of companies working in Government IT business. It provided participants an opportunity to be on the same platform as key Government decision-makers in procurement practices in the country.

The event was inaugurated by Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, MeitY. Ms Neeta Verma, Director General, NIC, and Ms S. Radha Chauhan, CEO, GeM, were the guests of honour. The event saw a number of panel discussions on a wide variety of issues pertaining to IT Procurement & Innovation in Procurement. The speakers emphasized on the need to overhaul legacy ICT procurement practices, identify susceptibilities and review processes to make them more impactful and efficient.

Welcoming the delegates, Harish Krishnan, Vice-President, MAIT, said, “Government procurement accounts for 10% to 15% of GDP of most countries and this is specifically true for India. MAIT has been working on IT procurement since 2012 and we have been involved with over 14 state governments. MAIT and its members have contributed in preparation of both Model RFP 1.0 and Model RFP 2.0.” Complementing the government on GeM, he added, “The GeM will bring efficiency in procurement and most importantly transparency and predictability to Government IT procurement.”

Commenting on the same, Shri Sanjay Aggarwal, Director, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, said, “In the procurement system, capacity building is the main issue that includes documentations and training of the officials. I still do not feel adequate procurement training is happening for the government officials as well as the private officials and that initiative should come from government side as well as industry players.”

A panel discussion deep-dived into the contours of the important procurement initiatives where industry and government came together to share ideas to make the ongoing transition in government IT procurement truly transformational – weeding out delays, inefficiencies, and making available the best technology solutions to the government departments and agencies at the most competitive price.