- Electronic contracting
The publication of minor contracts: a legal obligation
The activist and open data expert Jaime Gómez-Obregon, in collaboration with eCityclic and the participation of the AOC, has developed a working document with specific proposals for improve the AOC transparency portals, focusing on ergonomics and user experience in public procurement in Catalonia. Published in contracting.cat, includes the analysis made in 2024 on portals, detecting shortcomings and proposing solutions to guarantee easier, structured and understandable access to contractual information.
The document responds to the need to adapt these portals to the real demands of users, making public information clearer and more accessible to everyone.
A user-centric approach
Jaime Gómez-Obregón, known for his work in transparency and openness of data, has led similar projects in other territories, denouncing the lack of accessibility of many public procurement portals and proposing solutions to make them more efficient. In this case, the document has followed a practical approach, based on four fictitious user profiles to understand the different difficulties that may be encountered in accessing information:
- Mireia, secretary of a medium-sized town hall with administrative and public procurement knowledge.
- Joan, entrepreneur in the consulting sector who regularly works with public organizations.
- Marc, a data journalist who often consults information about recruitment.
- Paula, a nurse at a public hospital with no recruitment experience or advanced technical knowledge.
The analysis of the interaction of these profiles with the Public Procurement Services Platform (PSCP), the Public Contract Registry (RPC) and the AOC transparency portals has allowed identify the main technical and understanding barriersThis study has resulted in suggestions for improvement to facilitate the search for information and make transparency portals more accessible and understandable.
Main proposed improvements
- Intuitive data viewers: It has been detected that information on public procurement is often presented in inaccessible formats, making it difficult to consult. To solve this, the document proposes the development of interactive graphics and advanced filters that allow users to better find and interpret data, and collects different improvements to the current graphics model dynamics which the AOC will be implementing in new versions of the transparency portal.
- Use of plain language
One of the most common problems with recruitment portals isexcessive use of technicalities and complex legal terminology, which makes it difficult to understand for people without specialized knowledge. The document recommends adopting a clear and direct language, better structuring the information to make it more understandable and accessible for citizens and companies. - Active advertising and unified access to information
The document also raises the need to improve active advertising mechanisms, ensuring that contractual information is easily accessible from transparency portals. This includes better structuring of data and the creation of single access points where users can find all the relevant information without having to navigate through multiple websites and systems. In this sense, it also recommends the creation of more efficient and centralized search engines, which avoid the dispersion of information across multiple portals and facilitate a more fluid user experience.
A document for continuous improvement
This document is published with open license CC BY-SA, which allows any administration or development team to use and adapt it to optimize their procurement and transparency portals. The ultimate goal is to promote more accessible, efficient and transparent public procurement, promoting citizen participation and reducing the administrative burden.
This one collaboration between Jaime Gómez-Obregón, eCityclic and the AOC represents another step towards improving active advertising in public procurement, placing transparency and usability as fundamental axes to strengthen the relationship between the Administration and the citizens. From the AOC, within our possibilities, we will implement these and other improvements that, without a doubt, we will continue to identify.
Consult the full document at: contracting.cat