Reverse Procurement” is a concept that describes the relationship between government and civic tech (citizen use of technology). In the traditional “Procurement” (Procurement), the government takes the initiative and makes requests and gives instructions to citizens and volunteer engineers. In “reverse procurement,” on the other hand, citizens and engineers take the initiative, and the government has full confidence in their activities and provides necessary support.
Audrey Tan of Taiwan emphasizes this “reverse procurement” concept. Specifically, she makes the following points
- Citizens and engineers proactively develop applications to solve problems, and the government trusts them and provides the necessary APIs, etc.
- The government does not control the direction of development and respects the activities of citizens.
- The government does not fund citizen-run websites and apps, and values the autonomy of citizens.
- The government provides full support, but not control, over civic activities.
Audrey emphasizes the importance of “reverse procurement” in light of the problems in the development of contact verification applications in Japan (accusations of volunteer engineers and inadequate government support). He argues that when the government trusts its citizens and supports their activities, more innovative solutions will emerge.
Thus, “reverse procurement” is a concept that aims to resolve issues more effectively by rethinking the relationship between government and citizens and respecting the initiative of citizens.
(Audrey Tang) I saw it in collaboration with Haru Seki (note: Code for Japan Haruyuki Seki) and on the stop COVID dashboard. The government gave them a GitHub page and a government domain, but you didn’t lean on them. For example, when the government tried to control the color palette, the colorblind and the universal design design designers who help them told the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, “Don’t worry about it,” which is exactly what happened. This is the kind of trend I am trying to promote in Taiwan and around the world.
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