Public procurement can be a complex process especially with a lack of transparency in the entire process. Some of the challenges governments face in procurement include lengthy lead times, cost overruns, lack of transparency, and complex approval processes among others. According to the World Bank, public procurement constitutes 12-20% of global trade, translating to approximately $30 billion USD. Alarming inefficiencies identified by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where 10-20% of public procurement funds are lost due to inefficiency or corruption, underscored the urgent need for transformation in this sector. This glaring opportunity prompted the design and development of iGPX, aimed at addressing these challenges and optimizing public procurement practices.
Also read: Intellect Design Launches iGPX to Ensure More Transparency in Public Procurement
When the journey of iGPX began, it was grounded in a strategic assessment of India’s commerce landscape. The initiative stemmed from insights gathered from various stakeholders—buyers, sellers, logistics integrators, and financial institutions—each playing pivotal roles in the movement of goods, services, and money. Leveraging emach.ai’s capabilities in financial management for banks, iGPX emerged as a synergistic solution poised to enhance efficiency and transparency across public procurement processes. Recently, Debanjan Kumar, CEO, iTDC at Intellect Design Arena spoke to Tech Achieve Media to shed more light on the offering.
TAM: What is the competitive advantage that iGPX offers?
Debanjan Kumar: If you look at the corporate market, there are a few products available for procurement. However, in the government space, we haven’t seen a truly comprehensive product. That’s why we believe iGPX is unique. We have six years of experience in public procurement, which is very complex. This experience has enabled us to develop a functionally rich product.
Even if there are other products we might not be aware of, we believe ours is superior because of our extensive experience in India, a large and diverse market. Another differentiator is our use of artificial intelligence. The expert agents we’ve built are game-changers, making the lives of buyers and sellers much easier. I would say we are uniquely positioned to revolutionize the public procurement landscape.
TAM: You also worked on the GEM platform. What specific learnings from the GEM platform helped build iGPX?
Debanjan Kumar: In GEM, the platform was evolving. When we started in 2017, it was small with limited functionalities. However, as adoption increased, we had to add many more features. GEM had a diverse base of buyers, including central and state governments, as well as PSUs. We learned about over 100 different modes of procurement during our work with GEM. We have incorporated these best practices into iGPX and also studied global best practices.
We have built iGPX to be a truly global product. Our aspiration is to expand beyond India, leveraging our expertise to make an impact in other countries.
TAM: What emerging technologies do you see playing a crucial role in the future of public procurement, and how is iDTC preparing to integrate these technologies?
Debanjan Kumar: Some people talk about using blockchain to track products from the source to the destination. For example, with pharmaceutical products, it’s often unclear whether the medicine you are consuming is counterfeit or genuine. The only way to ensure its authenticity is to tag the batch number from the factory to your home or retail outlet.
Blockchain is one technology that could significantly impact procurement for sensitive materials in the coming days. Additionally, AI is a vast and rapidly evolving field. What we have developed in the past two years will continue to evolve with new advancements.
So, looking ahead, we believe AI and blockchain are forward-looking technologies that will play a crucial role in this space, and we are well-equipped to handle both.
TAM: What are the biggest challenges you anticipate in deploying iGPX, and what strategies are in place to address them?
Debanjan Kumar: Yes, there will be challenges. Working with the government is always complex, and transforming public procurement for a country or an organization is not an easy job. However, with the knowledge and domain expertise we’ve gathered over the last six years, we are well-prepared to overcome these challenges. Our biggest advantage is that we already have a product that is 90% suited to any government organization, incorporating best practices. The remaining 10% of unique requirements for each customer will be addressed as needed.
After handling GEM and other public sector projects, we are confident in our ability to overcome any challenges that arise. You mentioned wanting to take this product to the remotest corners of the country and abroad. Are you looking at any collaborations to move this solution forward?
We just launched the product today. In some countries, we will need to form local partnerships. For now, we are concentrating on the launch and the Indian market. As we expand to other countries, we will leverage our existing partnerships for our banking products or seek new partners. It will be a partner-driven ecosystem because we cannot reach every government in every country on our own.
TAM: What is the automation in place to ensure that there is seamless compliance?
Debanjan Kumar: We have built in an anomaly detection agent. For example, if a buyer purchases something over the threshold, it will trigger an alarm. If a buyer makes too many purchases from a single seller, it will also set off an alarm. This AI agent will help limit human errors, whether intentional or unintentional.
We believe this will significantly enhance compliance, which is one of the key value propositions we offer with this product. We are confident that iGPX will add substantial value in terms of compliance for any client who adopts it. Intellect first introduced emach.ai, and we continue to build on that foundation with iGPX.
TAM: What more can we expected from Intellect Design Arena party from each.ai, iCPX, iAPX, and now iGPX?
Debanjan Kumar: Right now, I think we have our hands full. We’ve launched three products in just a couple of months, so our current focus is on these three products.
