AI & Digital Transformation for Public Procurement
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AI & Digital Transformation for Public Procurement
18–22 May 2026
The course is available in English
Introduction to the course
The daily duties of any public procurement officer are grounded in purchasing goods, works, and services in a way that is transparent, fair, efficient, and compliant with regulations, giving the best possible value for money. This makes procurement processes constantly (and increasingly) exposed to new opportunities such as digital innovations and Artificial Inteligence (AI). From strategic procurement planning to bid evaluation, contract management and risk management, AI is transforming how organizations can plan, source, and manage goods and services purchases; introducing new levels of efficiency, transparency, and freeing practioners to do better strategic decision-making through their expertise in judgement calls. Yet, the adoption of AI in procurement also raises critical questions related to data quality, ethical use, accountability, and digital readiness. Procurement officers will be able to develop a strong understanding of these opportunities and challenges to harness AI responsibly and effectively.
Who attends this course?
The course is designed for: - National and international public procurement practitioners; - Procurement staff of national agencies; - Project directors and procurement staff of projects funded by International Financial Institutions (World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, European development banks, etc.); - Personnel from the United Nations, the European Union, and non-governmental organizations; - Officers involved in the financing, control, and monitoring of national procurement operations, including those involving works and working on e-procurement systems.
Prove your skills with a Diploma
This course is part of one Diploma programme:
OBJECTIVES
By navigating in core public procurement principles and methods, this immersive residential course developed by the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO), will provide procurement professionals with practical knowledge and hands-on insights into the use of AI tools for specific procurement process(eg.: AI in Market Analysis, in Bidding Evaluation, in Contract Management, etc.), offering both a strategic and operational perspective, with a focus on how AI can be responsibly applied in procurement operations. Through interactive online sessions and plenty of case studies and applications coupled in the residential phase, and, participants will review procurement principles and, by understanding what digital technologies and AI serve for, reflect on how they may contribute to more efficient, transparent, and sustainable procurement practices. It is composed of an online phase and and is broken down into three phases.
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Delve into the core concepts of Public Procurement;
- Understand the core concepts of AI and its application to procurement;
- Identify usecases and apply AI-powered tools in different steps of the procurement cycle, such as strategic procurement planning, bidding process and evaluation, and contract management;
- Anticipate risks and ethical issues in the use of AI for procurement;
- Frame action-oriented strategies to leverage AI and digital workload management tools in their respective institutions for more efficient, transparent, and sustainable procurement processes.
TRAINING METHODOLOGY
This course is an immersive experiece that aims to build a solid understanding of AI fundamentals while revisiting core procurement principles, enabling the identification and application of AI within key procurement processes. The residential sessions will be focused on Digitalization and AI applied to Public Procurement and will accompany formal training with activities fostering knowledge exchange and cross-fertilization of ideas. Through interactive sessions, case studies, and peer exchange, participants will reflect on how these technologies may contribute to more efficient, transparent, and sustainable procurement practices. To conclude, participants should apply the key learnings and reflect on a ethical usage of AI to a concrete context.
MODULES SUMMARY
- AI Fundamentals (Data, Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, Generative AI – and Agile Frameworks applied to Public Procurement)
- AI in Strategic Procurement Planning
- Market Analysis
- Cost Estimation
- Scenario & Evaluation Criterias: sensitivity analysis
- Augumented Content Creation for Procurement Documents
- AI in Bidding Process and Selection
- Preparation of Bidding Documents
- Processing Bidders Proposals for Qualification
- AI in Bid Evaluation
- Streamlining Technical and Financial Evaluations of qualified bidders through RAG (Retrieved Augmented Generation)
- AI and Digital Tools in Contract Management
- AI-assistant for Procurement Manuals
- Digital Tools for KPIs Monitoring
- Agile Principles and Digital Tools for Task Management
- AI Implementation and Digital Transformation Roadmap
- Creating AI-ready Data
- AI Ethics
- AI Maturity Assessment Frameworks
- Challenges in implementation and foresight
- AI Governance and Ethics
- Wrap-up & Project-based assessment
The 5-day immersive face-to-face training course on “AI & Digital Transformation for Public Procurement” will take place from May 18 to May 22, 2026 and will consist of an immersion in the main applications of AI and Digitalization for Public Procurement throught the face-to-face sessions, case study exploration and hands-on exercises to apply the acquired knowledge and experimenting tools.
All the foundations and resources needed for making the most of the immersive experience will also be available online, through our e-Campus.
Each session will be hosted by a facilitator and an expert on the topic of the session, showcasing practical use of AI in procurement.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
After successfully participating in all sessions and its activities, participants obtain an official ITCILO Certificate of Participation in Digital Credentials Format.
How to apply
Applicants are kindly asked to send us a completed online registration form: https://oarf2.itcilo.org/CST/A9019322/en
For further information, please email digitransform@itcilo.org directly.
