Yet many local governments still manage one of their most critical functions — procurement — using processes built for a paper-first world.
In cities across the country, bids are still submitted in sealed envelopes, physically delivered by a fixed deadline, logged by hand and stored in filing cabinets for long-term retention. Vendors print hundreds of pages, procurement teams sort through binders and contract awards move forward at a pace dictated by logistics rather than urgency.
This disconnect is not about reluctance to innovate. Public procurement operates under strict legal, ethical and transparency requirements that demand care and consistency. But as service expectations increase, the gap between what is technologically possible and what is operationally practiced continues to widen.
One of the most practical ways to begin closing that gap is by modernizing how bids are submitted and evaluated.
THE WEIGHT OF A PAPER-BASED LEGACY
Paper-based bidding has long been viewed as the safest way to ensure fairness and compliance. Over time, however, it has introduced inefficiencies that affect both governments and vendors, often in ways that are accepted as “normal” simply because they have existed for decades.
During my time working in municipal procurement, including leading a bidding modernization initiative in Somerville, Mass., in 2019, it became clear how deeply paper-based processes were embedded in daily operations. Like many older municipalities, Somerville’s procurement practices had evolved incrementally over generations, resulting in systems that were compliant but operationally heavy.
Vendors were required to physically prepare, print, seal and deliver proposals. Procurement staff manually logged submissions, verified compliance and stored physical records in accordance with public record retention laws.
Most government entities are required to retain procurement records for a minimum of 10 years. Over time, this results in thousands of pages of bid documents occupying filing cabinets, storage rooms and in some cases off-site facilities. In dense urban environments, these records consume valuable physical space while also requiring ongoing staff time for organization, retrieval, audits, public records requests and legal reviews.
What began as a compliance safeguard had quietly become a long-term operational burden.
On the private-sector side, today’s vendors operate almost entirely in a digital environment. Banking, compliance documentation, logistics and project management are handled through secure online platforms. Proposal preparation itself is increasingly digital, even when final submission requirements are not.
When vendors encounter paper-based public procurement systems, the friction is immediate. Printing costs, delivery logistics and rigid submission windows introduce barriers that have little to do with proposal quality.
Smaller and local businesses are often most affected. Without dedicated administrative staff, the effort required to participate in paper-based bidding can discourage otherwise qualified firms from competing. Reduced participation ultimately limits competition and narrows the pool of available solutions for governments.
Modernizing procurement is not about adopting private-sector practices wholesale. It is about ensuring that public institutions are not constrained by processes that no longer align with how organizations operate today.
TRANSITIONING A CENTURY-OLD PROCESS
Modernizing a government bidding process that has existed in largely the same form for nearly a century requires deliberate change management.
In Somerville’s case, the transition away from paper-based bid submission was approached incrementally. The objective was not to alter procurement rules or reduce oversight, but to modernize the execution of existing policies.
Phased implementation allowed staff and vendors to adapt gradually. Outreach and guidance helped ensure continued participation from small and local businesses. Internally, legal, audit and operational considerations were aligned before broader adoption.
Rather than weakening compliance, digital submission strengthened it. Electronic bids could be time-stamped automatically, access logged and records centrally maintained, reducing ambiguity and improving consistency across the procurement life cycle.
The shift away from paper altered procurement operations in measurable ways.
Administrative tasks such as logging submissions, managing physical files and coordinating long-term storage required less time and effort. Procurement staff were able to focus more on evaluation, compliance review and coordination with departments.
Vendor participation became less dependent on physical proximity and logistics. Digital submission reduced barriers to entry and expanded access to procurement opportunities.
Records management also improved. Electronic bid files supported long-term retention requirements without the need for physical storage. Documents became searchable and easier to retrieve, simplifying responses to audits, public records requests and legal inquiries.
When the COVID-19 pandemic later disrupted in-person operations nationwide, municipalities that had already moved away from paper-dependent procurement were better positioned to maintain continuity. What began as an efficiency initiative also proved to be a resilience measure.
DIGITAL RECORDS AS THE FOUNDATION FOR RESPONSIBLE AI
Electronic bidding does not introduce artificial intelligence into procurement overnight, but it establishes the foundation required for responsible use of advanced technologies.
As AI capabilities continue to evolve, digital procurement records can be analyzed for patterns and anomalies that are extremely difficult to detect in paper-based systems. Electronic documents — including PDFs and other submitted files — can be reviewed for metadata inconsistencies, unauthorized edits, duplication or other indicators of potential manipulation.
Paper documents rely almost entirely on manual review. Subtle alterations or document changes can be difficult to detect once physical copies are submitted and stored. Even the most diligent review processes are constrained by human capacity and time.
By maintaining procurement records electronically, governments position themselves to strengthen oversight, auditability and risk management, using technology to augment, not replace, professional judgment.
Local governments do not need to choose between innovation and integrity, and modernizing a 100-year-old government bidding process is not about chasing trends. It is about aligning foundational systems with current realities so public institutions can operate with transparency, resilience and readiness for the future.
Prajkta Waditwar is a procurement and strategic sourcing leader with experience modernizing public-sector and enterprise procurement functions. She has led large-scale sourcing initiatives focused on efficiency, transparency and change management, and writes on the intersection of technology, policy and public-sector innovation.
