NASCIO Awards

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

2001 Awards: Digital Government

RECIPIENT California: CAL-Buy
[Download Nomination - Word]
The California Department of General Services Procurement Division recently launched CAL-Buy, the state of California's first online procurement system. Each year, California state agencies purchase $6 billion worth of goods and services; nearly one-third of those purchases are made through existing contracts, created and maintained by the DGS Procurement Division. The new CAL-Buy system automates these contracts, linking government buyers to thousands of products and helping to streamline the purchasing process.

The CAL-Buy system is easily accessed online, so agencies have no software to purchase and maintain. The Internet-based system quickly connects buyers to a central search engine where they can search for the products they need and add them to their "shopping cart" with a simple click. Once the buyer has completed an order, internal approvers receive an e-mail alerting them of their needed approval. And when the order is ready to go to the vendor, CAL-Buy transmits it electronically by either e-mail or fax.

Phase 1 of CAL-Buy went live March 7, 2001, automating 180 existing commodity contracts, and over 3,300 items. In the first eight weeks of operation, buyers from three pilot agencies—California Highway Patrol, the Department of Transportation, and Department of General Services—used CAL-Buy to purchase nearly $1.5 million in needed commodities.

CAL-Buy provides California government agency purchasers the following benefits: l Increases efficient spending of tax dollars, by significantly reducing the cost of processing purchase orders and giving decision-makers more complete information about state purchasing

Makes it easier for vendors to conduct business with the state
Consolidates hundreds (and, ultimately, thousands) of pre-negotiated contracts, making it easier for government buyers to see "at a glance" the products and services they need and eliminating the need to go out to bid.
Allows easier tracking of buying activity across state agencies, which will help in negotiating better vendor contracts.
Automatically allows electronic approval of purchase documents, eliminating paper and increasing efficiency.
Automatically e-mails or faxes completed purchase orders to suppliers, so buyers no longer need to go to a fax machine and manually fax the order or send the order via post.

As the system grows, more government users will be brought into the system. The state plans to provide CAL-Buy access to any state or local government or public school with the authority to purchase off the state contracts negotiated by the DGS Procurement Division.

Other Nominations:
Click on the link to download program submission.

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