Linked data support for filing public contracts

Management of the tendering phase of the public contract lifecycle is a demanding activity with often irrevocable impact on the subsequent realization phase. We investigate the impact of the linked data technology on this process.The public contract information itself can be published as linked data. A specialized vocabulary, the Public Contracts Ontology, was designed for this purpose. Extractors and transformers for public contract datasets in various formats (HTML, CSV, XML) were developed to enable conversion into RDF format corresponding to the vocabulary.Moreover, an application for filing public contracts was implemented. It enables a contracting authority to manage RDF data about itself and its contracts, suppliers to the contracts, to-be-contracted products and services, and actual tenders proposed by bidders. It also provides matchmaking services for finding similar contracts and suitable suppliers for a given call for tenders based on their history, which is a useful feature for contracting authorities.