*******************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Sin Chung Kai and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr John Tsang, in the Legislative Council today (December 14):
Question:
Regarding the selection of contractors to undertake information technology (IT) projects, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the numbers of contracts for IT projects awarded in each of the past three years and, amongst such contracts, the numbers of those awarded to the contractors whose bid prices were the lowest among all the bids that had fully met the technical specifications stipulated in the tender documents concerned; and
(b) as more advanced technologies will bring more benefits for IT projects, such as longer serviceable lifespan and more room for future enhancement, how it assesses and compares the cost effectiveness of the following two types of bids: those adopting more advanced technologies but have higher bid prices and those adopting less advanced technologies but have lower bid prices?
Reply:
Madam President,
In accordance with the Government Stores and Procurement Regulations, bureaux and departments (B/Ds) should normally award contracts to tenderers who fully meet the tender requirements and whose bid price is the lowest. These requirements can cover both technical specifications and non-technical ones. For tenders where quality is of great importance, B/Ds can adopt a marking scheme taking into account both price and quality in the tender evaluation process. For all IT contracts awarded by the government, they should fully meet the tender requirements stipulated in the tender documents concerned.
(a) There were 287, 179, and 163 IT contracts awarded in the years of 2003, 2004 and 2005 respectively. However, since the tender requirements can cover both technical and non-technical specifications, we do not have ready information on hand concerning bids that meet the technical specifications and whose bid prices were the lowest.
(b) In evaluating tenders for IT projects, B/Ds will assess the total cost of ownership, including the one-off expenditure and recurrent costs for support, maintenance, etc. The benefits afforded by advanced technologies will have been taken into account in this process. Where the technical or non-technical quality of the tender proposal is considered important, the procuring B/D may also specify a marking scheme as part of the evaluation criteria. The general principle is that B/Ds should select the lowest acceptable bid, taking into account the total cost of ownership based on the tender price and any approved marking scheme applicable to the tender.
Ends/Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Issued at HKT 12:31
NNNN
