Profile of contacts
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This diagram identifies the number of total contacts received by the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman in the 2015-16 fiscal year as 399. This total number is then broken down below into procurement-related contacts (283) and non-procurement-related contacts (116).
In 2015-2016 the Office registered a total of 399 contacts. This represented a decrease of 31% from the previous year, from 577 total contacts in 2014-2015 to 399 in 2015-2016. The Comparison in Total Monthly Contacts chart shows a decrease in the number of contacts to the Office starting in August and continuing to the end of the fiscal year. Potential reasons for the decline in total contacts include:
- The 2015 election period (August-October) resulted in the Office postponing supplier-related outreach events and advertising activities until after the election.
- The number of solicitations issued or federal contracts awarded may have been affected by the election period.
- The period without an Ombudsman limited some of the functions the Office could undertake between December 2015 and the end of the fiscal year.
Of the 399 contacts, 283 (71%) contacts were procurement-related, ranging from general inquiries to specific complaints. While the number of overall contacts decreased from the previous fiscal year, the percentage of procurement-related contacts remained steady. The rest of this report provides details on how the Office handled these 283 procurement-related contacts.
The remaining 116 (29%) contacts were non-procurement related and consisted of inquiries from members of the general public attempting to reach a government organization, experiencing difficulty with a government program and not knowing where to turn, or raising concerns that fall within the expertise and mandate of other governmental organizations. Regardless of the nature of the non-procurement issues raised, OPO staff worked diligently to provide useful information to re-direct individuals who contacted the Office.
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| Years | April | May | June | July | August | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Jan. | Feb. | March |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-2015 | 36 | 28 | 46 | 20 | 41 | 50 | 63 | 49 | 42 | 72 | 59 | 71 |
| 2015-2016 | 38 | 29 | 32 | 34 | 27 | 32 | 42 | 27 | 32 | 35 | 33 | 38 |
This table depicts the number of monthly contacts to the Office in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.
Educate, Facilitate and Investigate
Our approach to promoting fairness, openness and transparency in federal procurement focuses on three pillars:
- Educate: Raise awareness of procurement issues and exchange information
- Facilitate: De-escalate disputes and help resolve issues
- Investigate: Examine and review procurement issues
These three pillars—Educate, Facilitate and Investigate—provide the structure for understanding OPO's activities and how the Office handled the 283 procurement-related contacts in 2015-2016.
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