October 26 2025 | Procure | Tenders | Utilities & Infrastructure | Public-Private Partnerships
Transparency in procurement is essential for fairness, compliance, and establishing and maintaining public trust. In our Transport Infrastructure Outlook Report for 2025 , 98% of respondents surveyed stated that transparency and accountability were very or somewhat important in the procurement process.
So, how can procurement teams put processes and tools in place that ensure that stakeholder and public expectations for transparency and auditability are met?
Challenges to transparency in procurement
Spreadsheets and email chains are no longer enough. With emails and spreadsheets, it becomes difficult to trace who has access to which information or has seen that information.
Manual processes, inconsistent documentation, and fragmented systems can hinder visibility in procurement workflows. When information is shared asymmetrically, this can lead to the erosion of trust and may ultimately hinder industry growth.
Unreliable or outdated procurement systems may mean that the ability to communicate and securely share information is limited. It may also be challenging to monitor procurement processes effectively. A lack of visibility can lead to legal or reputational risks, operational delays and disputes, and compromised quality and sustainability .
How digital procurement tools help meet transparency expectations of stakeholders
End-to-end digital procurement platforms can provide real-time tracking of procurement processes, automated audit trails, and centralised document management. With a comprehensive, secure, and central tool, full disclosure, compliance, transparency, and stakeholder trust become simpler and easier.
However, our survey found that only 40% of transaction advisories described their processes as internally transparent, and a lower 28% of government agencies and only 15% of privately-owned social infrastructure developers said their procurement processes were transparent.
Bidders expect critical project information up front
The best way to streamline the tender process is to provide critical project information, like geotechnical and utility relocations, up front. When owners provide this information after bidders are shortlisted, a bidder may pull out if the project is unviable due to the geology, wasting time and delaying the project.
Centralising documentation alleviates asymmetrical information sharing, streamlining the tender process. With documentation in a central, secure location and full visibility over who has access and who has viewed each document, it’s easier to ensure fairness and equal information sharing.
Transparency promotes best practices in construction and maintenance
Rather than trying to make infrastructure future-proof, the goal of owners and contractors should be to make infrastructure future-ready . In modern procurement practices, risk allocation and the ability to share data promote the design of sustainable infrastructure that can be adapted and modified. Technological advances that enable better decision making allow for appropriate risk allocation.
Sharing data centrally, enabling real-time reporting on an asset’s performance, and creating transparency in communication between the contractor and the client brings stakeholders closer together. Greater alignment between the physical infrastructure asset or system and the underlying social, economic, or environmental reason for its existence will ultimately help to reduce life-cycle costs, maximise value, and ensure the right projects are pursued.
Outperformance against project specifications can be rewarded
A 2020 World Economic Forum paper identified that procurement contracts tend to focus on penalties for poor performance rather than rewarding contractors who exceed project requirements for quality and sustainability.
The improved transparency of the tendering and procurement processes available when a centralised system is used enables clearer visibility and tracking of project milestones and performance metrics. This is particularly important when risk is shared between public and private sectors using procurement models like integrated project delivery or design, build, finance, operate models (DBFO). The lifetime operational value and cost of the project can be traced and incentivised.
How to meet transparency expectations with digital procurement tools
The best way to improve infrastructure outcomes, from the initial planning and tender to the ongoing maintenance and eventual end of the project, is to centralise all of the information.
When undertaking public-private partnerships, it’s now easier than ever to keep multiple stakeholders on the same page. Ansarada’s Procure platform is designed to bring order to the chaos of large infrastructure projects.
