Information Hub provides data-driven insights for Scottish Government

The Scottish Government wanted to create an information centre to reliably manage its procurements. It saw procurement as a key partner and enabler in delivering its economic strategy. Procurement is central to maximising the contribution and impact on sustainable economic growth and delivering better outcomes for Scotland’s businesses. The government has a range of responsibilities that include the economy, education, health, justice, rural affairs, housing, environment, equal opportunities, consumer advocacy and advice, transportation and taxation. The government spends over £11 billion ($14.5 billion) per year on goods and services across the public sector. Its aim is to work with the public, private and third sectors to deliver maximum value through public procurement activity.

Scottish Procurement Information Hub (the Hub)

The government performed an official review of public procurement in Scotland in 2006. Based on the report’s recommendations, the Scottish Procurement Directorate, a part of the Scottish Government, set up a Public Procurement Reform Program that aimed to drive standards for procurement of public sector goods, works and services. The reform activity included introducing a comprehensive, linked suite of electronic procurement tools to promote excellence, consistency and best practices in public procurement. Since the review indicated there was a lack of clarity and visibility about public sector spending, the Scottish Procurement Information Hub (the Hub) was established as part of the suite of electronic tools. DXC Technology developed a process to collect, standardise and transform accounts payable, credit card and contracts data from multiple entities, systems and sources. Stakeholders were engaged at the local level to ensure their participation in a centrally funded project. DXC created a managed service for the collection, checking and correction of all data files and established an automated data-enhancement process, supported by manual validation of results. The data was augmented with information from external data sources, while DXC performed the data-checking and cleansing services. A software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution was developed to provide a local and national view, with a provision for supporting and training resources for more than 700 users. The Hub, also referred to as the “Observatory,” allows more than 100 Scottish public sector bodies to examine procurement spending by analysing accounts payable data. This service has been provided by Spikes Cavell Analytic Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of DXC Technology) for over 10 years and is fully funded by the Scottish Government. The Hub helps procurement professionals analyse the expenditures on external goods and services from third-party suppliers. Additionally, it can be used to identify potential collaborative opportunities that could deliver significant savings for the public sector in Scotland.

Local companies gain

The management information comes from the Hub, which is the front end of a SQL database that DXC hosts and maintains for the Scottish Government. The database contains approximately £130 billion ($170 billion) of spending data collected over the period of the contract to date. Designed by Spikes Cavell to meet the customer’s requirements, the Hub is a simple system to use, allowing business users to extract information that informs their procurement strategies and actions. Over the term of the contract, the Hub has been developed and enhanced to meet the changing needs of the Scottish public sector for procurement management information, and DXC has delivered these services to the Scottish Government since 2006. The management information system has helped public sector organisations assess the potential for increasing economic activity in a local area or region. It has also helped identify potential local suppliers and areas that could benefit from the economic support. In addition, it helped these organisations make informed decisions on developing supply chain activity. The information provides guidance to local companies on how they can best bid for an increased share of public sector spending on goods and services. Also, with the aid of the information from the Hub, Scottish Procurement has developed various statistical reports that are used to answer official requests for information relating to Scottish Government and Scottish public sector spending. Information from the Hub has helped the Scottish Government track and analyse spending activity for small to medium-sized enterprises — which are critical to the economic health of the country — allowing the government to target support to such firms.