About the Procurement Office

The Procurement Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network buys goods, services and works on behalf of the departments and offices of the Velocity Interoperability Network, and sets the rules under which they buy for themselves. It publishes every invitation to tender issued on behalf of the Network, keeps the register of approved suppliers, maintains the procurement rules and records every contract awarded above the publication threshold.

The Office was established on 6 September 2026. Before that date each member organisation of the Network bought under its own procedures, and during the transition period from 10 August to 5 September 2026 purchases were made under interim procedures agreed between the member organisations. Those procedures have been replaced by the procurement rules adopted on the day of establishment, and the six contracts awarded under them are the first entries on the contract register.

The Office does not itself decide what a department needs. A department that requires goods, services or works specifies them, provides the funds from its own allocation under the transitional budget, and takes part in the evaluation of responses. The Office ensures that the purchase is made under the correct procedure, that competition is open and fair, and that the outcome is recorded and published.

Responsibilities. The Office's work falls into five areas.

Tenders: Publishing every invitation to tender issued on behalf of a department or office of the Network, issuing tender documents, answering questions of clarification, opening responses and notifying the outcome.
Supplier registration: Keeping the register of suppliers approved to do business with the Network, verifying applications, allocating suppliers to categories of supply and confirming their details each year.
Procurement rules: Maintaining the rules under which departments and offices buy goods, services and works, advising departments on their application and hearing challenges from suppliers.
Contract register: Recording every contract awarded on behalf of the Network with a value of 5,000 credits or more, within five working days of award.
Statistics and reporting: Quarterly reports on tenders published, responses received, contracts awarded, suppliers registered and the value of expenditure by department and category.

Organisation. The Office has twelve staff in three units, at the Central Exchange site of the Network.

Tendering Unit: Prepares and publishes invitations to tender with the buying department, manages clarifications and opening, and supports evaluation panels. Five staff.
Supplier Registration Unit: Receives and verifies applications for registration, maintains the categories of supply and conducts the annual confirmation of details. Four staff.
Rules and Compliance Unit: Maintains the procurement rules, advises departments, keeps the register of interests of evaluators, records contracts on the register and considers challenges. Three staff.

For the Office's origins and the milestones since its establishment, see History; for its first statistical release, see Statistics. General enquiries may be sent to contact@procurement.gov.vin.