Lisbon, 3 February 2025

On  February 3, 2025 the closing conference of the project “Enhancing Efficiency and Transparency in Public Procurement” was held in Lisbon, organized by the Portuguese Court of Auditors in cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The conference was held under the theme “Strengthening the Court of Auditors’ Oversight for Effective Public Procurement in Portugal.”

During the conference, participants were presented with the conclusions of the joint project implemented by the Portuguese Court of Auditors, the OECD and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM). The project focused on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in public procurement, introducing an innovative model that enables the Court to identify and prevent procurement irregularities and risks in real time, thereby enhancing oversight, transparency, and the effectiveness of public procurement systems.

In practice, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will enable the real-time processing and analysis of large volumes of data relating to public contracts maintained by the Portuguese Court of Auditors and other public administration bodies. This capability is expected to significantly enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of public procurement oversight by strengthening the quality, relevance, and overall impact of the Court’s external audit function. Through advanced data analytics, AI will support the early detection of irregularities, improve risk assessment, and facilitate more timely and evidence-based audit decisions.

The conference brought together representatives of national authorities, international organizations, Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), and agencies responsible for public procurement. At the invitation of the Portuguese Court of Auditors, auditors from ALSAI also attended the event online.

The first session of the conference focused on the theme “Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning into Auditing: Lessons Learned, Progress, and the Way Forward in Portugal.” The presentation highlighted the key outcomes of the project implemented by the Portuguese Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Contas – TdC), with the support of the OECD, aimed at enhancing the efficiency and transparency of public procurement by strengthening the country’s audit and oversight framework.

As part of its constitutional mandate, the TdC carries out thousands of oversight activities each year, including ex ante controls, real-time audits and ex post audits of public procurement procedures. These activities are highly resource-intensive, requiring substantial investments of both human and financial resources. To address these challenges, the project sought to strengthen the Court’s capacity to identify procurement risks and irregularities through the expanded use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, enabling more efficient, risk-based, and data-driven audit processes while improving the effectiveness of external public procurement oversight.

As part of its constitutional mandate, the TdC carries out thousands of oversight activities each year, including ex ante controls, real-time audits and ex post audits of public procurement procedures. These activities are highly resource-intensive, requiring substantial investments of both human and financial resources. To address these challenges, the project sought to strengthen the Court’s capacity to identify procurement risks and irregularities through the expanded use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, enabling more efficient, risk-based, and data-driven audit processes while improving the effectiveness of external public procurement oversight.

Participants noted that, in recent years, Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) and other oversight bodies have increasingly explored the use of data analytics to enhance their supervisory activities. As key actors in safeguarding the integrity of public procurement systems, SAIs play a vital role in protecting procurement processes from risks and irregularities while promoting efficiency, transparency, and accountability.

The importance of effective procurement oversight is underscored by the fact that public procurement represents, on average, around 12% of GDP across OECD member countries, making it a fundamental pillar of public service delivery. Consequently, risks affecting procurement systems can have significant implications for the quality, efficiency, and availability of public services.

In this context, participants emphasized that the digital transformation of public procurement has become a critical enabler of more effective oversight. This transformation extends beyond traditional e-procurement systems, embracing a more comprehensive and integrated approach that links procurement platforms with public financial management systems and aligns them with broader government digitalisation strategies. Such integration enhances data availability, strengthens risk assessment capabilities, and supports more informed, timely, and evidence-based audit decisions.