The new version of the platform was launched in February 2011. It is run by Consip, the central purchasing body of the Italian public administrations, on behalf of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The usage figures emerged during the official presentation of the new platform in Rome. The event also highlighted some of the main features of the new system:

• the high level of customisation of services to respond better to the different needs of users;
• the extreme flexibility of the platform and thus the ability to modify and develop it according to the specific needs of different tools and services;
• full compliance with new procurement rules, with the ability to immediately use the new tools of purchase for which the platform is already set up (the framework agreement already in use and the dynamic purchasing system being tested);
• improvements in the infrastructure which make it possible to increase the potential of existing tools, such as the eMarketplace.

Danilo Broggi, the Chief Executive Officer  of Consip, added that "this innovative and powerful platform for online purchases of public administrations lays the foundations for further dissemination of new technologies in the procurement cycle. It is a tool that offers great potential and will allow governments and businesses to obtain all the benefits deriving from the use of information technologies in public procurement: savings (in 2010, the process savings achieved by using the platform totalled approximately €300 million), transparency, ease of use, improved market access for deliveries, dematerialisation and environmental sustainability."

Giuseppina Baffi, the Head of the Department of General Affairs of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, pointed out how "the innovation of the purchasing processes of government, through the strategic use of information technology and telecommunications, is a challenge that the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Consip have been undertaking for a long time. It is a major challenge because of its impact on the volumes of public expenditure to which it refers and because of the positive outcome it brings to public administrations, since buying in an innovative and efficient way also means supporting the modernisation of the system, through the supply of new services, thus providing benefits to the entire country."

Further information:

• Original news article - Consip (in Italian)
• acquistinretepa.it (in Italian, with an English overview)
• Related ePractice news article - IT: Consip launches new public eProcurement platform