Contribution Innovation procurement, a robust stepping stone for growth

Public Procurement Service Administrator Kim Chung-woo

By Kim Chung-woo

In the era of digitization and the Fourth Industrial Revolution which usher in new values created by technological convergence, we are constantly nudged to replace the old and familiar with a totally different paradigm as a new economic engine. Thus, attention is now increasingly revolving around innovative solutions.

Economic players including the government, businesses and the public are all seeking out fitful solutions to adapt to the new economic system in which boundaries between online and offline are vague.

So, in that sense, public procurement furnished with inventive solutions is becoming ever more significant, in that it can bolster the industry fueled by innovative ideas and technologies by making strategic use of the government's purchasing power, and it can also encourage technological novelty to lead the rapidly transforming economy.

Riding this trend, the Public Procurement Service (PPS) has been committed to policies of innovation procurement, as a bridge between supply and demand in the area for mutual growth and subsequently contributing to “Innovative Growth” ― one of the Korean government's prioritized strategies which take innovation as a vehicle.

Particularly with the enhanced utilization of the government's purchasing power which reaches as much as 7 percent of Korea's annual GDP of around 135 trillion won ($124 billion), innovative solutions in public procurement could surely serve as a source for innovative growth.

In this vein, PPS has been turning away from the traditional concern of how to purchase with fixed procedures and formalities as a “passive contractor.” The government procurement agency is now assuming the role of a “proactive procurer” who gives connected support among economic, industrial and research and development (R&D) policies and leads reform in administrative services.

Going further than that, the procurement body has been making policy-centered changes by applying ingenious and convergent technologies to the public service. At present, procurement administration with innovative solutions and the leverage of governmental purchasing power have become a must, not an option.

Currently, the nation needs to swiftly and fundamentally make itself into a “pace-setter” that pioneers in generating novel technologies, rather than remaining as a follower that simply emulates already-established technologies. Against this backdrop, the strategic value of innovation procurement is ever-rising. Thus, PPS will continue to be proactive in its administration to make primary changes to the existing paradigm of government procurement, thereby realizing innovative solutions in public procurement.

To that end, PPS has completed the comprehensive support system at each phase for innovation procurement, ranging from designation of innovative products through purchase and commercialization to establishment of the integrated portal, Inno-KONEPS, for innovative goods. The most exemplary is the project where the government serves as the first buyer to rapidly take the fledgling but innovative products to wider markets. Due to the project, around 160 novel prototypes in the lab have been able to evolve into salable assets on the market

On top of that, these inventive solutions in public procurement, going in line with the Korean New Deal ― the key growth initiative of the Korean government ― will certainly raise synergistic effects. While the Korean New Deal comprising the Digital New Deal and the Green New Deal is taking shape, there will be an increase in demand for ingenious products built on unconventional technologies.

Innovation procurement can offer a platform where future demand is estimated meticulously. It preemptively provides commensurate solutions with up-to-date technologies in major fields of the Korean New Deal including digital transformation in education, dissemination of low-carbon and off-grid energy, etc. Its role of working as a catalyst is to support the Korean New Deal and to evenly spread the subsequent benefits across the economy.

Public procurement will continue to evolve for contributing to the nation's growth and the quality of procurement services through innovative and people-centric approaches. In this regard, a system is to be set up for discovering the demand for innovative solutions, purchasing goods and services based on such solutions and enriching them, and, more broadly, managing the entire innovation procurement ecosystem. The system will fill in the gaps between the public needs and the corresponding supply in a timely manner, thereby further enhancing people's lives through inventive procurement solutions.

And lastly, PPS will persistently endeavor to support startups and ventures with the growth ladder built upon innovative solutions and constantly advance public procurement administration.

The writer is administrator of the Public Procurement Service.