Lisbon, Feb. 3, 2025 (Lusa) - The Court of Auditors has moved forward with creating a risk assessment model for public contracts based on artificial intelligence (AI) that will allow for "improved control of public activity", the institution's president said on Monday.

"The award and creation of a transversal risk assessment model in the field of public procurement will make a decisive contribution to improving the control of public activity, based on a more effective analysis," said Filipa Urbano Calvão, president of the Court of Auditors at the Conference “Improving the Efficiency and Transparency of Public Procurement - Control by the Court of Auditors for Efficient Public Procurement in Portugal”, in Lisbon.

The model for assessing the risk of public contracts based on AI and advanced data analysis, which resulted from a two-year project with the cooperation of the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), will make it possible to "identify where and what to analyse, based on precise risk indicators", she explained.

The automation of this identification process is an opportunity for "more targeted control actions", she emphasised.

Filipa Urbano Calvão also acknowledged that the use of data science and artificial intelligence "brings challenges that cannot be ignored", which is why it is "critical to ensure that the quality of the data, the transparency and explainability of the algorithms and the protection of personal data and the privacy of its owners are critical".

Given these challenges, it is "the Court's duty to implement these tools ethically and responsibly, ensuring that the results are reliable and respect the values that guide the work" of the Court of Auditors, she concluded.

Also taking part in the conference was Kjartan Björnsson, deputy director and head of the Governance and Public Administration Unit at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support, who emphasised the significant economic impact of public procurement in Portugal, which has taken on a greater role with the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).

The model "has reduced the number of contracts that auditors have to review manually", he pointed out, and is an example of how AI-supported tools "can be used effectively in the supervision of public procurement and underlines the need for greater standardisation and improved data quality".

János Bertók, deputy director of the OECD's Public Governance Directorate, pointed out that this project is a "key element in improving public services", namely to improve the "potential and innovation in public procurement".

"All countries are facing this digital transformation," he pointed out, "at the heart of the modernisation of the public sector's digital tools and platforms and shows how to streamline processes, increase transparency and improve oversight."

For him, "emerging technologies, such as AI, offer interesting opportunities to improve public governance, provide better services and strengthen trust."

MES/ADB // ADB.

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