Two calls for proposals: Research consultancy for open contracting
Are you interested in doing research? Do you believe in the importance of transparent data? And, do you want to improve public procurement worldwide? Here is your chance to join Hivos’ Open Contracting program.
Open contracting is a process in which a variety of stakeholders, including civil society, journalists and the private sector, work with governments to optimize public procurement processes. Together with our partners, we aim to deliver better public goods and services, save tax payers’ money and create a level playing field with fair competition for the private sector.
Gathering evidence, strengthening our case
Open contracting has been adopted – in practice or as a commitment – by dozens of countries, subnational and municipalities worldwide and has received significant attention from advocates and researchers alike. But the evidence of the benefits that open contracting offers to all parties involved largely comes from a small group of countries. Our ambition is to change that.
We believe there is a need for more robust evidence to demonstrate the benefits of improving public procurement. In addition, evidence can convince stakeholders to join the open contracting movement. In order to address the evidence gap and analyze cases in which the open contracting principles were implemented, we have issued two calls for proposals.
Call for proposals 1:
The availability of quality and structured data is key to effective and transparent public service delivery. However, this does not lead to accountability automatically. Data needs to be used and stakeholders need to take action.
This first research consultancy assignment focuses on the ways in which key aspects of open contracting reforms and/or initiatives did or did not lead to circumstances under which open contracting may flourish.
Call for proposals 2:
At the moment, little is known about aspects of equality, inclusion and gender in public contracting processes. We are interested in examining how open contracting reforms can be used to advance these aspects. More specifically, this second call focuses on two questions:
1. What is the degree of equal access to public services (i.e. are certain groups in society underprivileged or excluded?)
2. How can businesses owned by women, youth, people with disabilities, minorities and other underprivileged groups acquire a larger share in public procurement markets?
Your research will help us increase the effectiveness of our open contracting work and that of our partners. Send your proposals before March 22 to Michelle van Raalte (mraalte@hivos.org), Project Officer Open Society and Open Contracting.
Catch up on our open contracting work here.
