RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE GPA/W/24/Add.1
26September 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3855)
Original: English Committee onGovernment Procurement
QUESTIONNAIRE ONINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
INGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
Response byNorway
Theattached communication contains thereplies from thedelegation ofNorway tothe
questionnaireonInformationTechnologyinGovernmentProcurementcontainedindocumentGPA/W/24,
dated 22August 1996.
_______________GPA/W/24/Add.1
Page2
QUESTIONNAIRE ONINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
1. Could delegations giveabriefdescription ofanystepstaken orplanned tointroduce information
technology intopublic procurement? Ifso,doesthiscover contracts which arecovered under the
1994 Agreement? Atalllevels ofgovernment?
Public entities canpurchase programs forfilling intender notices electronically. Electronic
transmission ofnotices totheNorwegian gazette andtotheECPublication Office inLuxembourg is
being planned. Norway alsoparticipates intheSIMAP project under theEuropean Communities.
AllNorwegian Agreement-covered tender notices areavailable ontheTED(Tenders Electronic
Daily)databaseoftheEuropeanCommunities.TheTEDdatabaseistheelectronicversionoftheOfficial
Journal Supplement SoftheEuropean Communities. Thisdatabase canbeaccessed byfirms directly,
orthrough specialized consultants whooffer monitoring ofTED forcompanies.
TheNorwegian government gazette, Norsk lysingsblad, appears every Friday ontheInternet.
Itiscompulsory forstateentities topublish inthisgazette, andallthese notices arefound inthe
electronic version. Most ofthemunicipalities andcounties alsopublish theirprocurement above the
WTO-GPA threshold values inthisgazette. Short versions ofallthenotices intheEuropean
Communities TED database arealsoavailable through thisInternet address.
AnEnglish-Norwegian CPV dictionary willbeavailable ondisknextyear.
2. What function(s) would information technology serveinsuchsystems andwhowillbetheusers?
TheInternet version ofthegovernment gazette ismeant forcompanies ofanysize. Electronic
access toTEDandthegovernment gazette gives interested suppliers quicker andmore easily available
information thanpaper-based versions regarding notices forpublic contracts.
3. Could delegations describe thetechnical aspects ofthesystems inuseorplanned? Inparticular
asregards infrastructure/hardware-software anditsoptions/standards?
Thegovernment gazette isavailable foreverybody withanInternet connection. TED canbe
accessed byspecial programs designed forthispurpose.
4. Could delegations describe anylimitations affecting access toinformation available anduse
ofsystems? Howwideispotential access tointerested suppliers? What aretheaccess possibilities
forsuppliers ofother signatory countries? What possible obstacles toaccess might ariseforsuppliers
inother signatory countries?
Theinformation inthegovernment gazette isavailable forallsuppliers withanInternet
connection. Thetextinthegovernment gazette isinNorwegian. Access toTEDismore complicated
andusually donebyspecialized firms.GPA/W/24/Add.1
Page3
5. Forthose Parties whousedatabases which listgovernment procurement opportunities:
(i) What arethenames oftheirdatabases?
TheInternet address ofthegovernment gazette is:http://norsk.lysingsblad.no/
(ii) How longhave thedatabases been operational andhowmany suppliers usethe
databases?
ThegovernmentgazetteonInternetstartedasapilotprojecton1July1996,ending31December
thisyear. Itisplanned tobecome permanent in1997. Itisnotknown howmany interested suppliers
haveaccessed thisdatabase. Regarding theTED database, there areapproximately 10consultants
thatmonitor thedatabase onbehalf ofinterested suppliers inNorway andSweden.
(iii) Isafeecharged tosuppliers using thesystem?
Notyet,butperhaps in1997.
(iv) Cansuppliers obtain tender documentation electronically? Ifso,how?
Insome cases only, butitisbecoming increasingly common. TheGovernment Administration
Services offertender documentation electronically inconnection withframework agreements. Very
often documentation issentbyfacsimile.
(v) Howisinformation onthedatabases organized?
Weekly inthegovernment gazette onInternet. InTEDaccording tothetypeoftender notice
(contract awards, services notices etc.).
(vi) Dothedatabases offeranyother features?
Thegovernment gazette alsocontains articles related topublic procurement ofinterest to
suppliers.
(vii) What istheapproximate number ofprocurement opportunities listed onthedatabases
annually?
Approximately 2,500 Norwegian tender notices willbepublished inTED in1996. Inthe
government gazette there willbeapproximately 2,000 notices.
(viii) Arethesystems managed bythegovernment oraprivate company?
Thegovernment gazette onInternet ismanaged bytheGovernment Administration Services.
TheTED database ismanaged bythePublication Office oftheEuropean Communities.
(ix) CanParties 'databases beinterrogated using international standards, suchasSQL-
Standard Query Language?
No,notforthegovernment gazette.GPA/W/24/Add.1
Page4
(x) Areallnotices which arerequired tobepublished under Articles IXandXVIII:1 of
theAgreement -forentities inAnnexes 1,2and3-alsoavailable ondatabases? If
so,dosuchnotices contain atleasttheminimum information required tobepublished
under Articles IXandXVIII:1?
Yes,either inthegovernment gazette orthrough TED orinbothdatabases.
(xi) HowareAgreement-covered notices identified?
Almost alltheNorwegian notices thatappear inTED willbecovered bytheGPA. Only in
afewcases entities publish notices inTED forsupplies, services orworks thatarebelow theGPA
threshold values. Inthegovernment gazette, there willbenotices forstateprocurement which are
notcovered bytheGPA. Whether thenotices inthegovernment gazette arecovered bytheGPA or
not,suppliers willhavetoestimate when theyreadthenotices. Suppliers canalsocontact theentities
toenquire whether aprocurement iscovered bytheGPA ornot.
(xii) Towhatextent doeseachtypeofnotice contained indatabases conform toastandard
structure?
BothinTED andinthegovernment gazette there isastandard layout fornotices.
(xiii) Isanyparticular classification usedinsuchnotices todescribe purchases and,ifso,
whatclassification?
AllAgreement-covered notices aredescribed bytheCPV nomenclature.
(xiv) Where databases exist inanon-WTO language, towhat extent arenotices and
information summarized inaWTO language?
AllNorwegian tender notices appear inTED inanEClanguage. Almost allofthese notices
appear inEnglish.
6. Forthose Parties whoareinvolved inaction intheareaofelectronic commerce:
(i) Pleaseprovidefullinformationonprojectsandplanswithregardtoelectroniccommerce.
EDIRAM isapilotproject onelectronic exchange ofinformation between public purchasers
andsuppliers intheprocess ofputting framework agreements intooperational work. Thepurchaser
shallbeabletoorder goods byelectronic mail, andthesuppliers toreturn invoices aswellasother
relevant information indemand tothepurchasers (GPA/IC/W/7/Add.6/Suppl.1). Thisproject is
operational onasmall scaleandwillbeextended in1997. TheEDIRAM project willbesucceeded
byother projects onelectronic commerce andpayment. Inthese projects, Norway usestheEC's
EDIFACT standard.
(ii) Could thoseParties whohaveexperience withelectronic commerce provide information
onsuchexperiences?
n.a.