Public procurement is increasingly being recognised as a facilitator, able to improve the performance of global supply chains with respect to human and labour rights, as well as environmental impacts. International initiatives like the Sustainable Development Goals and the European Green Deal showcase public procurement as an important implementation mechanism to foster decent work and sustainable consumption and production. The power of public buyers is immense.
A leading group of European public authorities, guided by ICLEI Europe and Electronics Watch, have implemented pilot projects for the socially responsible procurement of information and communications technology (ICT) hardware. The group of authorities includes ICLEI Members Barcelona (Spain), Haarlem (the Netherlands), Stavanger (Norway), as well as APUC Scotland (UK) and the Region of Stockholm (Sweden). These public buyers took critical steps towards creating a fairer supply change, which range from including ethics in award criteria, conducting market dialogue, and sound contract management.
Their findings and successes have been collected in five unique case studies, which include details on what they learned from market engagement, and which criteria and clauses they used. At the end of each case study, key lessons learnt are highlighted, which can be picked-up on and applied by other public buyers tasked with procuring fair ICT.
All are invited to read the case studies to explore the socially responsible public procurement of:
- Audio-visual equipment by Advanced Procurement for Universities & Colleges (APUC) Scotland
- Computer equipment by the Municipal Institute of Computer Science of Barcelona City Council
- Workspace hardware and mobile devices by the municipality of Haarlem
- Chromebooks, Municipality of Stavanger
- ICT equipment, Region Stockholm
Reflecting on their work, Elin Seveholt, Sustainability Advisor, Municipality of Stavanger expressed: “The Municipality of Stavanger is very pleased to see the depth of information delivered in the tenders for the procurement of Chromebook. We have been working with ethical trading for several years and are happy to see the recent development in the ICT sector. Our aim is to help push the sector towards a more sustainable and transparent future and will therefore continue using social responsibility as qualification and award criteria.”
Giving advice to other public buyers, Carla Canal Rosich, International Relations Officer, Barcelona City Council said, “First of all, talk both with politicians, legal services and providers. A successful implementation of social criteria depends on support and cooperation with different stakeholders. [...] Cross-country knowledge sharing gives valuable insight into methods, tools and procedures for taking our SRPP work forward.”
To learn directly from the leading procurers, join an upcoming webinar on 10 December at 10:00 CET. Michael McLaughlin, Head of Category – Information Services, APUC, and Kathleen McCaughey, Manager Sustainable Supply Chains, Region Stockholm will present their insights. Click here to register now.
This work took place in the context of the ‘Make ICT Fair’ project, which aims to improve the lives of workers and all those impacted along the ICT supply chain through research, campaigning, capacity building and advocacy.
For more information, read the Case Studies here, and click here to register for the 10 December webinar.