Digital transformation of public procurement: WTO's historical and ongoing role

Abstract

Digital transformation of public procurement has been a spontaneous process driven by technology at a different pace worldwide, which has had to be accommodated by domestic administrative laws and international instruments aiming to liberalise public procurement globally. WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and Government Procurement Committee (GPA) heavily encroached upon domestic laws and shaped a detailed procurement model, which has withstood fragmentation of the multilateral trading system and has rather been reinforced in macroregional trade agreements. However, the GPC has been reactive to technological novelty by design, allowing frontrunners to experiment while not discouraging less advanced countries from joining the GPA. Procurement electrification achieved in the 1990s proved conducive to curbing protectionism, yet the GPA text did not embrace it until the early 2010s. Similarly, the GPC has s remained restrained in regulating procurement applications of distributed ledger technology, smart contracts or artificial intelligence in recent years.