Tokyo, October 28, 2010
Fujitsu today announced that it will provide an e-procurement system as a cloud computing service to be jointly used by the prefectural government and forty-two municipal governments of Chiba Prefecture, located east of Tokyo, starting April 2011.
By jointly utilizing the cloud service, Chiba Prefecture and its forty-two municipalities are projected to reduce their ICT systems costs by 50% over a five-year period. In addition, administrative processes will be reformed in accordance with the use of this cloud service. Streamlining into one, all the collection points accepting bid applications, a process which previously had been handled separately by each local government, will reduce the administrative burden on those suppliers looking to be considered in procurement plans. Moreover, as this cloud service enables the provision of design specifications(1) and other materials over the Internet, the process is made more convenient for contractors participating in bids.
This cloud services platform was built using SuperCALS, Fujitsu's SaaS(2)-based e-procurement system. The new service will be Japan's first-ever shared cloud service that can handle the overall procurement process.
To reduce the cost of government administration and reduce the burden on prefectural residents and businesses, Chiba Prefecture is expected to actively pursue opportunities to employ cloud services.
Background
In recent years, local governments in Japan have been facing a very difficult budgetary environment, and there is a tremendous cost associated with each local government developing and running their own ICT systems. Since fiscal 2006, Chiba Prefecture has developed and operated an e-procurement system for the shared use of municipalities in the prefecture. Aiming to further improve management efficiencies throughout the prefecture, while at the same time significantly reducing ICT systems costs, reducing the administrative burden on local governments, and simplifying procedures for businesses, Chiba Prefecture decided that, for the next upgrade of its system, it would deploy an e-procurement system as a cloud computing service that could be jointly used by the prefectural government as well as local municipalities thus expanding the number of participating municipalities from the twenty-eight cities using the current system to forty-two cities.
e-Procurement Cloud Computing Service
The new service, which will integrate Chiba Prefecture's own e-procurement system with the system it operates for its local municipalities, is a cloud computing service intended for joint use by Chiba Prefecture and its forty-two municipalities. The new cloud service will be Japan's first shared service that can handle the six overall processes in procurement which are handling applications to become an authorized supplier, supplier registry management, electronic bids, digital document viewing, inputting of contracts and inspection results, and public disclosure of bidding information.
Moreover, as the service is being implemented as a private SaaS-based solution using dedicated servers in Fujitsu's datacenter, even local governments that were hesitant to use SaaS can use the new service with peace of mind.
Impact of Using e-Procurement Cloud Computing Service
By employing the new service, Chiba Prefecture and its municipalities are projected to reduce their systems costs by 50% over a 5-year period in comparison with their existing e-procurement system.
In addition, for businesses wishing to participate in bids, the process of applying to become an authorized supplier, which currently is handled separately by each local government, will be consolidated to one collection point. This allows businesses to apply for consideration to bids for multiple local governments in merely one step, thereby reducing their administrative burden. As another advantage, design specifications and other documents relating to bids, which businesses currently need to travel to the actual municipal offices to view, will be made available over the Internet through the digital document viewing feature, further improving convenience.
Moreover, for the purpose of authenticating suppliers when using the electronic bidding system, currently suppliers need up to five smartcards corresponding to the different categories of procurement(3), however the new service requires only one smartcard, thereby reducing costs for suppliers.
To reduce the cost of government administration and reduce the burden on prefectural residents and businesses, Chiba Prefecture will proactively pursue new opportunities to employ cloud services.
Fujitsu plans to offer this service to other prefectures for shared use with their local municipalities.
