INTRODUCTION
The World Trade Organization (WTO) Singapore Ministerial launched a Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement charged with an initial study of the concept, to be followed by negotiations leading to a binding agreement. Since that time, the Working Group has completed the study phase, and in early 1999 has begun negotiating an agreement. Early indications are that completion of an agreement before the November Ministerial in Seattle is within reach.

A binding transparency agreement would establish global norms for the open conduct of procurement by governments. The information services industry, as a key service provider to governments, has a deep interest in the early completion of these negotiations. In every region of the world, in virtually every country, information service providers are helping governments achieve their missions better, faster, and cheaper, and in some cases are transforming the very way government touches ordinary citizens. Setting worldwide principles of transparency in order to rationalize processes across all WTO member nations can bring significant benefits to citizens, taxpayers, government and political officials, providers and local, regional and global markets.

WITSA

The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) is a consortium of 35 information technology (IT) industry associations from economies around the world (list attached). As the global voice of the IT industry, WITSA is dedicated to:

• advocating policies that advance the industry's growth and development;
• facilitating international trade and investment in IT products and services;
• strengthening WITSA's national industry associations through the sharing of knowledge, experience, and critical information;
• providing members with a vast network of contacts in nearly every geographic region of the world; and
• hosting the World Congress on IT, the only industry sponsored global IT event.

• increasing competition through open markets and regulatory reform;
• protecting intellectual property;
• reducing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers to IT goods and services; and safeguarding the viability and continued growth of the Internet and electronic commerce.

TRANSPARENCY AND COMPETITION
Procurement practices vary from country to country, ranging from totally open and transparent systems to systems cloaked in secrecy and lacking in real competition. Within the most open systems, world class providers are bidding to supply "best-in-class" solutions to help governments meet the challenges they face. In less open systems, bidders are often limited to those that have privileged access to information, or to the process itself. Taxpayers, citizens, government officials, and the local markets can be the beneficiaries or the victims of these differential practices.

BENEFITS TO CITIZENS AND TAXPAYERS: Taxpayers and the recipients of government services are the prime beneficiaries of an open system. Taxpayers are assured their government can get the best value for their tax dollars. Clients receive high quality and responsive services at a reasonable cost to the public treasury.

BENEFITS TO GOVERNMENT: Open procurement systems encourage a broad pool of qualified providers to bid with the confidence that they have the knowledge to compete and win. Governments receive the benefits of lower cost, innovative approaches, and the highest quality of goods and services.

Public confidence in governmental conduct also translates into broader support for government itself. In much the same manner, public distrust in procurement erodes public confidence in the overall conduct of government and in the spending of public funds.

BENEFITS TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY: Since the act of bidding to provide goods and services to government requires a significant investment by participating companies, potential bidders carefully gauge possible return on investment. Decisions to bid are made only when bidders are confident they can fairly compete.

As a result, closed procurement systems spawn local markets characterized by very limited competition, dominant providers, and an absence of best in class suppliers. Costs of goods and services are artificially high. Incentives for providers to innovate are non-existent. As a result, local markets never thrive.

Conversely, in open systems where competition can thrive, highly competitive providers emerge, bringing with them the potential to export, and the consequent additional employment. Further, since government procurement markets often set the tenor for private sector conduct, open systems also contribute to robust competition within privates sector commerce.

TRANSPARENCY IN OPERATION
As an operational concept, transparency in government procurement is best characterized by an open system in which all participants have equal access to learn the process, rules, timetables, responsible parties, and bid challenge. In a practical sense it involves:

• Transparency in bidding opportunity and information: Non-discriminatory access to bidding information and bidding opportunities should be assured for prospective bidders providing both goods and services.
• Openness and fairness in the procurement process: Specifications, selection criteria, and terms and conditions should be fair, transparent, and consistent with industry best practices to assure competitive treatment of interested suppliers. By doing so, the process will not become a defacto barrier to open and fair market access.
• Due process/bid challenge procedures: Procedures for fair and effective third party arbitration should be established to allow interested suppliers to challenge procurement decisions, and to receive an objective and independent review and decision on their challenges.

RECOMMENDATIONS
The benefits of transparency touch governments, citizens, and providers themselves. Information service providers, as they increasingly become mission critical providers to governments, have a strong interest in worldwide norms for transparency. WITSA members urge their respective governments to:

• PARTICIPATE IN ACTIVE NEGOTIATIONS AT THE WTO LEADING TO COMPLETION OF A BINDING AGREEMENT ON TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT AT THE SEATTLE MINISTRIAL IN 1999.
• ACHIEVE EARLY RATIFICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT.
• INVOLVE PRIVATE SECTOR REPRESENTATIVES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR IMPLEMENTATION.

Argentina Cámara de Empresas de Software y Servicios Informáticos (CESSI) http://www.cessi.com.ar

Australia Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) http://www.aiia.com.au/

Bangladesh Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS)

Brazil Sociedade de Usuários de Informática e Telecomunicações - Sao Paulo (Sucesu-SP) http://www.sucesusp.com.br

Canada Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) http://www.itac.ca/

China, Taipei Information Service Industry Association of China, Taipei (CISA) http://www.cisanet.org.tw/english/index.html / http://www.worldcongress2000.org

Colombia Colombian Software Federation (Federación Colombiana de Software - FEDECOLSOFT) http://www.fedecolsoft.org.co

Czech Republic Association for Consulting to Business (Asociace Pro Poradenství v Podnikání - APP)

Egypt The Co-operative Society for Computers of Egypt (CSCE)

Finland Information Technology Services Association (Tietotekniikan Palveluliitto - TIPAL) http://www.tipal.fi/index.html

France Syntec Informatique http://www.syntec-informatique.fr/syntec/ow/home.cgi

Germany Bundesverband Informationstechnologien (BVITeV) http://www.bvit.de/home-eng.htm

Greece Federation of Hellenic Information Technology Enterprises (SEPE) http://www.hol.gr/sepe/sepe1en.htm

Hong Kong Hong Kong Information Technology Federation (HKITF) http://www.hkitf.org.hk/

India National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) http://www.nasscom.org/index.html

Israel Israeli Association of Software Houses (IASH) http://www.iash.org.il/

Italy Associazione Nazionale Aziende Servizi Informatica e Telematica http://www.anasin.it/

Japan Japan Information Service Industry Association (JISA) http://www.jisa.or.jp/

Lithuania The Association of Lithuania's Information, technology, telecommunications and office equipment (INFOBALT) / www.infobalt.lt

Malaysia Association of the Computer Industry (PIKOM) http://www.pikom.org.my

Mexico Asociación Mexicana de la Industria de Tecnologías de Información (AMITI) http://www.amiti.org.mx/

Mongolia Mongolian National Information Technology Association

Morocco L'Association des Professionnels de L'Informatique de la Bureautique et de la Telematique (APEBI) / http://www.atlasnet.net.ma/forum-apebi/present.htm

Netherlands Federation of Dutch Branch Associations in Information Technology (Federatie Nederlandse IT - FENIT) / http://www.fenit.nl/

New Zealand Information Technology Association of New Zealand (ITANZ) http://www.itanz.org.nz/

Northern Ireland Software Industry Federation in Northern Ireland (SIF) http://www.sif.co.uk

Poland Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications (Polska Izba Informatyki i Telekomunikacji - PIIiT) / http://www.piit.org.pl/index_e.htm

Portugal Associação Portugesa das Empresas de Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicações (APESI)

Republic of Korea Federation of Korean Information Industries (FKII) http://www.fkii.or.kr/english/index.html

Romania IT&C Association of Romania (ATIC) http://www.softnet.ro/atic/

Singapore Singapore Information Technology Federation (SITF) www.sitf.org.sg

South Africa IT Association of South Africa (ITA) http://www.ita.org.za

Spain Asociación Española de Empresas de Tecnologías de la Información (SEDISI) http://www.sedisi.es

Sweden Swedish IT-companies' Organisation AB (Svenska IT-Företagens Organisation AB) http://www.sito.se/

Thailand The Association of Thai Computer Industry (ATCI) http://www.bdg.co.th/atci/atcihome.htm

United Kingdom Computing Services & Software Association (CSSA) http://www.cssa.co.uk/cssa/

United States Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) http://www.itaa.org/index.htm