Pieter Legerstee is leading the NDS intervention ‘Pooling Procurement Power’. His vision: a single set of legal procurement terms for the entire public sector. “It would give our digital autonomy a huge boost”, Legerstee says. In his day job, he serves as Head of Strategic Partnerships at the Municipality of Amsterdam and is a driving force behind the G4 Smart Joint Procurement initiative.
Procurement: the key to digital independence
A few years ago, procuring digital services might have seemed a dull job. Today, procurement plays a critical role in the digital independence of government organisations. In fact, this is the underlying theme of Legerstee’s work, even if he doesn’t state it explicitly in his presentations. He sees a clear shift, especially among municipalities: “Local governments are no longer overwhelmed by big tech vendors locking them into rigid contracts with complex terms. That might be one of the biggest changes I’ve seen in my field over the past 10 years. And there’s a growing realisation that joint procurement offers huge advantages.”
Why pooling procurement power works
This joint mindset is also at the heart of the Netherlands Digitalisation Strategy (NDS). One of the NDS’s interventions is to develop a shared IT sourcing strategy and pool procurement power, as higher volumes or values translate into stronger negotiating positions. “It’s all about numbers, for suppliers. Higher numbers mean more demands,” says Legerstee. For him, it’s about more than economies of scale: “When we join forces, we can more easily choose technology that aligns with our public values, making us less dependent on big tech companies.”
One set of legal terms for the entire public sector
The Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) already procures collectively for its 342 members. Legerstee asks: “If 342 municipalities can procure together, why not the entire public sector? Why should local and national governments have different agreements?” At the VNG’s Digitalisation Regional Day, he shared his vision of a single set of legal terms for all public-sector bodies, from municipalities to the central government.
This ambition aligns with the work of the NDS Sourcing & Pooling Procurement Power team. They are exploring how municipalities, provinces, executive agencies, and central government can more often act as a single client in the marketplace. They do this by jointly developing standards, aligning procurement processes, and, if possible, bundling demand and contracts. As Legerstee puts it: “This creates greater economies of scale, a stronger negotiating position, and more control over public values.”
Avoid NDA pitfalls
Joint procurement starts with transparency about existing agreements. “Which is not as simple as it sounds,” Legerstee warned in his presentation. “Some procurement contracts include NDAs, non-disclosure agreements. Organisations can’t discuss the terms they’ve agreed with suppliers. So always make sure to include a clause allowing information to be shared across the entire public sector.”
3 levels of procurement
Does this mean all public sector organisations will soon have to procure the same products and services? No, says Legerstee. He says public sector procurement has 3 levels: “Government bodies have many differences, but the base level is the same. Think of cloud services and infrastructure for data storage and processing. These provide a solid foundation for a market framework.” Joint procurement doesn’t always mean everyone, he emphasises. “Not every organisation can join the framework at the same time. Each has its own pace. But it’s there for them when they’re ready.”
The second level covers what the domains have in common. “For example, in the social domain, 4 or 5 parties use the same building blocks in their citizen services.” The third level consists of specific applications, which sometimes even differ per municipality. “These should remain specific,” says Legerstee. “Focus joint procurement on the generic parts and see what can be done there. Our purchasing power becomes much clearer that way. What’s too specific shouldn’t be forced into joint procurement. Let’s start with what we have in common.”
