Procurement of Digital Technology

A buyer’s category management guide and resources for the Procurement of Digital Technologies in furthering the Sustainable Development Goals




USE Framework

About This Guide

The guide is designed to provide a customised framework and toolset to be applied when procuring digital goods and services, within the framework of national procurement policies and procedures. 

The guide follows a step by step process that covers both the strategic planning and alignment of stakeholders across the digital category as a whole, and provides support across the entire category management lifecycle.

The guide was designed based on extensive research from stakeholders across Africa, including input from government buyers, donors and other interested parties in the development sector.

  • Category Framework

    The guide has 3 main components, focusing on overall category and programme planning and on project executions support and finally category life cycle management

  • Getting Started

    Get started with a capability assessment to understand which areas of the guide will be most useful to your team, and come up with an action plan.

  • Navigating the Guide

    Go here to get a quick orientation on how to navigate the webpage, so you can quickly find what you need.

  • The Digital Principles

    Incorporating the Principles into the procurement of digital technology can support procurement to create category strategies. Learn more here.

  • Resources

    Use the resources to find additional content and thought leadership to help you on your digital category management journey.

  • Glossary

    Frequently used terminology in the Category Framework is explained here.

  • ICT Building Blocks

    Use the ICT building blocks to understand more about specific technologies that make up the digital landscape, most commonly used in governments.

  • Things to Consider

    Use the materials here to pick up additional resources that could help you with managing the digital spend category.

The Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) is an independent global alliance funded by leading development agencies and private foundations. DIAL was established in 2015 as a “think, do, replicate” tank. We combine practical research with evidence-based advocacy to advance digital inclusion to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. DIAL identifies barriers to the routine use of digital solutions and data by development actors, including countries, NGOs, and multilateral institutions; tests ways to remove them; and packages solutions for these actors to use in service delivery efforts.