Page 134 - Procurement guidelines for smart sustainable cities - A U4SSC deliverable

• State-owned enterprises on behalf of government or local governments cooperate with smart
city project suppliers to work as investors and establish a project-based firm.
• This project-based firm is responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the
smart city project.

• Some projects are deployed by this firm independently.
• Some large projects are broken down into chunks to allow other supplier to participate and
collaborate.

• A criterion to evaluate the participation of suppliers has been added to the smart city key
performance indicators (KPIs).

The results

As a result of this new approach, the supplier relationship has been strongly enhanced. Firstly,
suppliers will be responsible for the life cycle development and management of the smart city
project because of that project-based firm invested by government and supplier. Secondly, the
business procedure becomes flexible and adaptable to allow more than one supplier to work on
large projects. Thirdly, the evaluation of suppliers’ participation has been established to ensure the
cooperation between government and suppliers and the continuous improvement of suppliers’
performance.

Gaoxin district in Hefei City aimed to launch a smart city project. It co-established the Times-Smart
High Technology Investment Management Co. Ltd with Anhui Publishing Group Co. Ltd and Beijing
Haotian Zhicheng Technology Development Co. Ltd. This new company is responsible for smart
city planning, construction, operation and maintenance. It also manages the project, which is
entrusted to other companies.

120 Procurement guidelines for smart sustainable cities | May 2023