Digitization of County Contracting

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

All levels of government are working to reduce their reliance on paper-based processes, and Montgomery County is no exception. Government procurement agencies practicing traditional, paper-based procurement processes face many challenges, including the potential for duplication, human error, high costs, and reduced productivity. The practice of eliminating these conventional methods in favor of digitization has been proven to result in many benefits including greater accessibility and increased efficiency. For decades, the County’s Office of Procurement has utilized paper-based methods to manage and assist in the administration of procurement actions for over 2,600 contracts valued at over $1.2 billion. A protocol was needed to eliminate the operational inefficiency of this conventional process. Procurement’s technical and operational staff worked in a highly collaborative manner to develop and implement a collection of process improvements while leveraging existing resources to meet this challenge. These efforts were fully developed and maintained with existing staff at no cost and implemented within one year.