Often in the news for its archaic and manipulation-prone procurement processes, the State IT Agency (SITA) this morning unveiled its automated supply chain management (SCM) platform.
The soft launch took place at the GovTech conference, in Durban, with the government ICT procurement arm saying the platform will be fully deployed by the end of this month. Version 2.0 of the platform, with artificial intelligence (AI) enablement, will be available at a later stage.
According to SITA, the SCM platform has been designed to empower the public sector, helping achieve internal efficiency and real-time visibility of every process.
It features automated workflows and predictive analytics, reducing the administrative burdens for officials, while streamlined processes will ensure tangible results.
In a brief description of the platform, Sidima Ntsangani, executive: applications development and maintenance at SITA, said service delayed is service delayed to citizen and the country.
“For example, if we have a transaction in the SCM procurement value chain for the Department of Health and it is delayed or cancelled, it can translate to a loss of life. This platform is to enable delivery and make sure there is betterment, in terms of improvement of the quality of lives of the people, and that lives aren’t lost because of manual processes.
“We are also thinking about SMME empowerment.”
Ntsangani explained that the SCM platform has five key capabilities, including an e-catalogue, which is an online digital platform where suppliers and buyers meet. “Suppliers can create their profiles, load and publish their offerings so that buyers can procure on a digital platform.”
Secondly, document web-flow automation allows SITA to automate its business cases, from inception up until approvals to kick-off the procurement process, he said. “This allows SITA to check every movement of the document, which is a capability to co-create the document as people collaborate on creating it.
“It also tracks every change that is made on the document until it goes into the signature stages, and it informs us who signed it, when or who delayed on signing, and we can track how long a business case takes until it gets approved.”
The other layers of the value chain, he revealed, are in IT service management, automation of the lifecycle of procurement process, as well as data analytics.
“There will be sessions that will be manual and outside the system, like a committee. You can automate a committee that has to sit through the evaluations and other adjudications. However, with version 2.0, we plan to add AI to make sure we do the objectives scoring using AI and the generation of the evaluation reports using AI.”
SITA head of corporate affairs Tlali Tlali previously said the SCM is part of putting things in order at the beleaguered entity, particularly within the supply chain environment.
For SITA, the platform would be a key step toward streamlining processes, reducing procurement delays and enhancing efficiency, stated Tlali.
“If implemented effectively, automation could solve one of the biggest frustrations voiced by departments: slow turnaround times and cumbersome processes.
“Automation alone will not be enough. SITA must rethink its service models, focus on cost-effectiveness and strengthen relationships with departments. Government departments must use their new procurement freedom wisely, ensuring it results in better outcomes rather than creating unnecessary duplication and inefficiencies.”
SITA is an entity of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies and sits as a central pillar of government’s IT procurement. It is also responsible for developing, operating and/or maintaining ICT services consumed by government departments.
The entity was established to provide centralised, efficient and cost-effective IT services to government departments.
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