Automated processing of public contracts

Abstract

Public contracts account for a significant volume of economic activity (amounting to 200 to 300 billion Francs per year). In France, these contracts are governed by a complex set of regulations, in particular by the Code on Government Procu-rement. The number of contracts (150,000 to 200,000 per year) and the diversity of related documents and procedures merit the development of special software. After analysing the special context of public contracts, the author of this dossier describes the features provided by the different software applications developed on behalf of departments of the Ministère de l'Equipement; these software applications are also used by various public and private bodies, local authorities, government departments and in particular by the DDAFs. A whole chapter is given over to covering the new opportunities presented by the development of electronic data interchange systems (EDI).