Press Releases – Page 14 – Albanian Institute of Science

AIS starts the Improvement of Integrity of the Public Contractors Project, supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

04/09/2019/in Events, Homeposts, Ongoing Projects, Press Releases /by admin

The newest project started by AIS is named Improvement of Integrity of the Public Contractor, Legislation, Practice and Role of Civic Actors. The project is supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as one of the MATRA Program in Albania. On July 18th, the Dutch Ambassador Ms. Guusje Korthals Altes and Director of AIS Ms Aranita Brahaj signed an agreement for the launching of the project activities. The project shall make an assessment of the national legislation, comparing it with EU member states regarding the selection and evaluation of the private companies competing for public contracts. The findings shall conclude and recommend improvements for the national legislation and practice. Empowering investigative media and civil actors monitoring public contracting processes is going to be one of the components of the project, focusing on issues related with the integrity of private contractors.

Open Data Albania publishes data about the economic damage audited by Supreme Audit Institution during 2018

04/09/2019/in Homeposts, Press Releases /by admin

The Open Data Albania ODA Portal published several investigative articles of open data from the audit reports of Albanian State Supreme Audit Institution (ALSSAI) during 2018. The articles identify the economic damage found in monetary value, the institutions responsible for the highest damages, and the mostly affected sectors and areas. The damage and ineffectiveness identified by the auditing for this year is estimated to two hundred and thirteen billion Albanian Leks, or one point seven billion Euros. The damage consists of two categories, Irregularities and Financial Violations causing economic damage to incomes and expenses, and Violations of the Financial Discipline with a negative impact in the performance of the auditees. The audits were carried out in line with the ALSSAI’s Audit Plan for 2018, covering the institutions’ economic and financial activity for 2014 – 2018. During 2018, ALSSAI audited one hundred and sixty two institutions.

Events with Journalists. Role of Central and Local Authorities during electoral periods, Monitoring Practices

14/08/2019/in Events, Homeposts, Press Releases /by admin

On the 26th of July, a round table was held in Tirana with journalists and representatives from the civil society on the Role of Central and Local Authorities during electoral periods, Monitoring Practices. The round table was organized by the Albanian Institute of Science (AIS) and the Institute for Political Studies (ISP), supported by USAID/Accelerated Civic Development and Cooperation Project. The two organizations implement projects for monitoring and improving the situation in relation to the use of public assets in electoral years. AIS is implementing a project consisting of monitoring abuse of public assets by state-owned companies during electoral periods. As a result of this project, two databases were presented. One of them consists of comprehensive historical records and information for each tender procedure of state-owned companies over the two last years, including the electoral year. The other database provides the public with information and knowledge about the management and performance of state-owned companies from the time they were established up to the present. The database is accessible on the Open Corporates Albania portal, under the State-Owned. Companies section. The participating journalists in this event represented various traditional media and online media such as Top Channel; Ora News; BIRN; ShqiptarjaCom; Shekulli; News 24; Opinion; Citizens Channel; Centre for Quality Journalism; ExitAl, etc.
The experts at this round table were knowledgeable about both legislation and practices regarding the performance of the public sector and its monitoring, and mainly those of state-owned companies in Albania and in the region. The purpose of the round table was not only to present the monitoring findings, but also to enhance the capacity of journalists in producing quality reports on the use of public assets in electoral years.

Agenda Here

Photos:

Roundtable with representatives from the media, civil society, and institutions – Transparency, Monitoring and Evaluation of Procurement of Central Purchasing Agency (CPA)

12/06/2019/in Events, Homeposts, Press Releases /by admin

A round table was heldon 11.06.2019, with representatives from the media, civil society, and institutions. The purpose of this round table was:

to present the volume and dynamics of the institution’s work over the last 15 months;
analyze the context in which the institution was established;
assess the impact of the Agency on the efficiency and quality of Procurements and Contracts,
compare it with other models, and identify the need for interventions and further improvement

Moderators in the round table were experts in the legislation and institutional practices of procurement and contracting. They were: Muharrem Çakaj and Elton Lula, expert in procurement and appeals, former member of the Public Procurement Commission.

In addition to journalists and civil society representatives, participants included also representatives from the Ministry of Finances and the High State Audit.

The well-structured database of procurements made by the Public Procurement Agency by their volume and characteristics was presented at the round table. Thus:

During this period of 15 months, the system has announced the signing of 293 contracts, which are worth a fund limit of 6 347 790 714 Albanian lekëhttp://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/list (no more than 20 contracts per month).
These 293 contracts include 12 contract by a value of more than 100 million Albanian lekë each http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/list/limit_fond/100%20infinit?
The highest-value tender is the one for purchasing Uniforms for the State Police and complementary accessories, reaching the fund limit of limit 908 973 900 Albanian lekë, announced on August 10^th, 2018. This tender is cancelled, because none of the submitted bids met the tender criteria. http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/view/id/30
The total number of cancelled tenders is 37, including 3 of a fund limit exceeding 100 million Albanian lekë. Two of those tender procedures were cancelled after a winner was announced http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/list/status_id/4?
23 tenders were conducted with one competitor only http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/list/bidder_no/1?
So far, the Central Purchasing Agency conducts tenders for 81 state institutions, including the Director of State Police, Customs, Prisons, Health Institutions, etc.
The RedFlag instrument has automatically marked so far 65 tenders by red flags, including 8 that exceed the value of 100 million Albanian lekë each (from 12 contracts in total) http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/redflag and 33 of 5 up to 100 million Albanian lekë each.

Upon conclusion, the round table participants identified the need for better regulating the process of selection of the Agency employees and their status; the needs for completing the secondary legislation needed for the institution, as well as the need for increasing the number of Government institutions delegating their procurement powers to the Agency. One of the most voiced needs was the one for improving and strengthening the role of watchdog stakeholders in monitoring public contracting.

Transparencë, Monitorim dhe Vlerësim për Prokurimet e Agjencisë së Blerjeve të Përqëdnruara

Central Purchasing Agency Roundtable Presentation PDF

Tendera të Agjencisë së Blerjeve të Përqendruara të proceduar nga Shkurt 2018 deri 31 Maj 2019.

10/06/2019/in Events, Homeposts, Press Releases /by admin

Aksesi në të dhëna standardi Open Contracting. Duke përdorur publikimet në sistemin e APP, të dhëna të buletineve, të dhëna të sistemit të Thesarit apo të dhëna të Open Corporates Albania është krijuar databaza me pasaporta për të gjitha tenderimet e prokuruara nga kjo Agjenci e Blerjeve të Përqendruara. Në rastin e tenderimeve me lote, secili Lot (garë) është konsideruar një pasaportë e vetme.

Në këtë periudhë 15 mujore, na rezulton që sistemi ka anoncuar 293 kontrata me një vlerë Fondi Limit prej 6 347 790 714 Lekë http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/list (jo më shumë se 20 kontrata në muaj).
Në këto 293 kontrata me vlera më të mëdha se 100 milion lekë janë 12 kontrata
Link: http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/list/limit_fond/100%20infinit?
Tenderi me vlerën më të lartë i njoftuar është ai për Blerje Uniforma për Policinë e Shtetit dhe aksesorë që e plotësojnë me fond limit 908 973 900 lekë i shpallur në datën 10 gusht 2018. Ky tender është anulluar pasi asnjë nga ofertat e paraqitura nuk përputhen me kriteret e përcaktuara në dokumentet e tenderit. http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/view/id/30
Tendera të anulluar janë 37 në total, mes tyre 3 janë me vlera të fondit limit mbi 100 milion lekë, ky dy anullime janë bërë pasi është shpallur fituesi http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/list/status_id/4?
23 tendera janë aplikuar me vetëm një konkurrent në garë http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/list/bidder_no/1?
Deri tani Institucionet për emër dhe llogari të të cilave tenderon Agjencia janë 81 mes tyre drejtori të Policisë së Shtetit, Doganave, Burgjeve, Institucione të Shëndetësisë etj.
Sistemi i markimit me RedFlag ka markuar deri tani automatikisht 65 tendera, nga të cilët me vlerë mbi 100 milion lekë janë 8 (nga 12 kontrata në total) kontrata http://openprocurement.al/sq/agency/redflag dhe me vlerë 5 deri 100 milion lekë janë 33 kontrata.
Projekti do të monitorojë dhe publikojë në formatin OpenContracting të gjitha tenderimet e kësaj Agjencie në 2 vitet e para të punës.

Ky proces për krijimin e databazës dhe monitorimin e të dhënave realizohet në kuadër të projektit Transparency, Monitorin gand Evaluation of Procurement of Central Purchasing Agency, projekt i mbështetur financiarisht nga Programi i Granteve të Vogla të Komisionit për Demokraci i Ambasadës së SHBA-ve në Tiranë, ku opinionet, gjetjet, konkluzionet dhe rekomandimet e shprehura janë të autorëve dhe nuk përfaqësojnë domosdoshmërisht ato të Departamentit të Shtetit.

Transparency, Monitoring, and Evaluation of the Central Purchasing Agency tenders

30/05/2019/in Events, Homeposts, Press Releases /by admin

The Central Purchasing Agency is a state institution established in 2018 in order to concentrate the purchasing of goods and services for ministries and their subordinate institutions. The Albanian Government created this institution to increase efficiency and to better counter corruption in the use of public money for actual expenses. AIS has established a monitoring and assessment instrument regarding risk of favoritism and clientelism in these tenders. From February 2018 until May 2019, the Agency has procured 293 contracts in total, including 65 that lacked competition. AIS finds delays with the publication of contract signing or lack of publication of documents related with the monitoring of the execution of contracts in its database for transparent procurement. The Agency will continue to be monitored for its two first years of operation.

Risk Assessment Redflag: 18% of the 2018 Municipality Tenders are exposed to risk of corruption. Here is the list.

29/05/2019/in Events, Homeposts, Press Releases /by admin

Tenders without competition, direct negotiations, or tenders with only one economic operator competing, involve a high risk of irregularities and misuse of public contracts and funds. Through its Transparent Procurement Program, AIS has found that 18% of the total number of tenders carried out by municipalities involve at least one risk in this process. The assessment is made using RedFlag algorithm as an anti-corruption instrument. Municipalities and their subordinate institutions announced calls for tenders from January 1st to December 31st 2018 for 5642 contracts that were worth 21.9 billion Albanian lekë. The Redflag assessment system, on the other hand, marked 997 contracts by red flags for this period, i.e. 18% of the total. The Database for Municipality Transparent Procurement offers opportunities to monitor and assess every tender conducted by Municipalities for their first term in office, i.e. 2015-2019.

The TV program “31 Minutes” – an attempt to qualitative journalism.

19/05/2019/in Homeposts, Press Releases /by admin

The TV program “31 Minutes ” is one of the attempts to qualitative journalism. The program is being broadcast for the last few months on the public television thanks to cooperation between the Albanian Radio and Television and the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism. The Albanian Institute of Science AIS joined the program supporters by helping journalists write their articles of an investigative nature. Promoting qualitative journalism based on facts and expertise is one of the most important elements relevant to freedom and quality of journalism in a courageous and independent manner.

Europe Day in Tirana, the kursori.org, a learning Platform for Youth Employability in Albania and Kosova, was presented.

13/05/2019/in Events, Homeposts, Press Releases /by admin

The kursori.org Platform was presented in the framework of May the 9th, Europe Day in TiranaThis instrument in the Albanian language is developed as part of a project implemented by ODK and AIS on Open ICT Education for Youth Employability. The project offers free vocational training courses on Information Technology to “Kolin Gjoka” Vocational School in Lezha, “At Shtjefën Gjecovi” High School in Laç, “At Shtjefën Kurti” High School in Gorre, “Arif Halil Sula” High School in Mamurras, Miloti High School and two Universities “Ukshin Hoti” in Prizren, and “Haxhi Zeka” in Peja. ICT skills represent very good opportunities for employment in the European market without having to immigrate. The project is supported by the EU Delegation as a cross-border IPA Project for Albania-Kosovo. The Head of the EU Delegation in Albania, Ambassador Soreca, joint the promotion of the kursori.org and its activities benefitting youth vocational and economic development.

Ftesë për Praktikë Studentore, Student në Informatikë Ekonomike

06/05/2019/in Homeposts, Press Releases /by admin

Instituti Shqiptar i Shkencave promotor i standardit Open Data, fton studentët e Degës së Informatikës Ekonomike (Master), të interesuar për të bërë praktikë pune të konsiderojnë mundësinë e aplikimit pranë organizatës sonë. Kjo praktikë mësimore ju jep mundësinë të praktikoni dhe forconi njohuri më të mira në përdorimin e databazave në MYSQL (dhe QUERY), gjithashtu platformat MVC dhe Laravel Zend Framework.

Praktika e punës parashikon edhe mundësi punësimi pas përfundimit të saj. Të interesuarit të dërgojnë një email të shkurtër në adresën [email protected] deri më datë 20 MAJ 2019 . Titulli i emalit duhet të jetë Aplikim për Praktikë Pune pranë Institutit. Në email duhet të shpjegoni pse jeni të interesuar, çfarë eksperiencash profesionale apo studentore keni dhe cila është mesatarja juaj aktuale. Instituti ka parashikuar edhe plotësimin e formularit të vlerësimit dhe çdo dokumentacion tjetër për studentët që do të realizojnë praktikë studentore pranë nesh.