What to build

We are not looking for fully programmed solutions. We are mainly looking for ideas on how to better utilize the data that is available. The Icelandic governement buys goods and services for over 2 billion USD per year and with that procurement comes a lot of data. Currently this data is not being properly utilized to help create better framework agreements, find joint procurement opportunities or find innovative ways to save money. As an example students could combine employee count data with costs by different categories. We would love to be able to see cost per employee or square meters of office space per employee. Another idea to explore further is creating a heat map of suppliers and governement agencies and think how the carbon footprint for deliveries could be lowered. We are also not measuring savings just in the form of direct money spend, but also in terms of employee time savings as well as CO2 emissions.

Students need to fill in a pitch deck template that can be downloaded in the To-Dos list. Students are also allowed to submit a max 5 minute long video explaining their solution, but that is not required.

Ideas from ChatGPT below. We would also love to see students use ChatGPT's code interpreter and similar solutions to visualize the data and come up with ideas.

Certainly! Open government financial and procurement data can be a goldmine for university students looking to identify inefficiencies and suggest cost-saving measures. Here are some ideas on how they can utilize this data:

Benchmarking and Comparative Analysis:

• Compare the procurement prices of similar items across different government departments or agencies. If one department is consistently paying more for the same item, it might indicate inefficiencies or lack of competitive bidding.
• Compare the government's procurement prices with those in the private sector or with other countries' governments. This can highlight areas where the government might be overpaying.

Trend Analysis:

• Analyze spending trends over time. If there's a sudden spike in costs for a particular item or service, it might warrant further investigation.
• Identify patterns of recurrent expenditures that don't seem to provide proportional value or results.

Supplier Analysis:

• Identify suppliers that consistently win bids. If the same supplier is always winning, it might indicate a lack of competition or potential favoritism.
• Analyze the performance metrics of suppliers. If a supplier consistently underperforms or delivers late, it might be more cost-effective to switch to a different supplier.

Contract Analysis:

• Review contract terms and conditions. Look for clauses that might be unfavorable to the government, such as automatic renewal clauses or excessive penalty clauses.
• Analyze the duration and value of contracts. Long-term contracts might not always be cost-effective, especially if market prices are dropping.

Waste and Duplication:

• Identify areas where multiple departments or agencies are purchasing the same item independently. Consolidating these purchases might lead to bulk discounts.
• Look for unused or underutilized assets. For example, if the government has purchased software licenses that are not being used, they might be able to reduce the number of licenses or switch to a cheaper alternative.

Innovative Solutions:

• Use the data to identify areas where technological solutions can replace manual processes, leading to cost savings.
• Propose alternative procurement methods, such as reverse auctions, which can drive down prices.

Transparency and Accountability:

• Highlight areas where there's a lack of transparency in the procurement process. Transparent processes can lead to more competitive bidding and better prices.
• Use the data to hold officials accountable for their spending decisions.

Collaborative Projects:

• Encourage interdisciplinary collaboration among students. For example, finance students can team up with data science students to create predictive models for future spending.
• Organize hackathons or competitions where students can come up with innovative solutions to identified problems.

Educational Opportunities:

• Use the data as a case study in courses related to public administration, finance, or data analytics.
• Encourage students to write research papers or theses on topics related to government spending and procurement.

Engage with Stakeholders:

• Organize workshops or seminars where students can present their findings to government officials, suppliers, and the general public.
• Collaborate with NGOs or think tanks that focus on government transparency and accountability.

Submission Requirements

We will share a simple pitch deck template that we want teams to fill in and submit. We would like to get a summary of the idea and concept as well as an outline of how you would create the solution, what methodology would be used. We would also like to see what data was used in forming this idea. Any sort of code can be added as an appendix but is not necessary.