As of Monday, the government is imposing stricter rules on ministries concerning the use of private IT consulting firms. This increased control comes into force nearly a year after the publication of a report by the Senate which had deemed “sprawling” the phenomenon of recourse to consulting firms by the State and its operators.
It follows the announcement by the government, in July 2022, of its desire to cap, as of Monday, at 2 million euros certain strategy and organization consulting missions entrusted by the State to private firms and to limit to two consecutive contracts the use of the same service provider.
The circular asks ministries to “ensure that they maintain a sufficient level of skills (…) so as to reduce the risks associated with outsourcing”. A balancing act because the digital teams of the State often lack internal skills “in quantity and quality”. A project outsourced to more than 60% must “be considered at risk”. Beyond 80%, it will not be able to start under “satisfactory control conditions”.
More transparency and internal skills
Consulting in digital strategy for public policies concerns “a relatively limited volume of services” but can “present risks of influencing public decision-making”. Each ministry will therefore have to publish the list of orders placed every year, specifying their amount as well as the name of the service provider, and the management of the project will be entirely entrusted to the administration. Missions for technical support and expertise, often “specific short-term technical expertise to meet an acute need”, must be accompanied by “sufficient internal skills to manage the service”. These include, for example, the implementation of a chatbot for the tax website or the use of artificial intelligence in registration fraud.
For computer development, installation of equipment or user support missions, the largest in volume, the use of firms is “often essential with regard to the resources to be mobilized”, as the circular specifies. They must be reported annually. The document also provides for work on the State’s IT purchasing strategy, the conclusions of which must be presented in the second half of 2023, an improvement in risk management on major State projects, and a modernization of the drafting of public purchase contracts for IT services.
In 2022, spending by ministries with private firms fell by almost 35% to 176.8 million euros compared to the previous year, beyond the 15% target set by the government.