The procurement timeline, which is preliminary and updated twice a year in spring and autumn, serves as a key tool for structuring and coordinating the city's administration. According to Jennie Bergh, a procurement officer at the Exploitation Administration, the city aims to be as transparent as possible to give suppliers time to prepare, which leads to better bids and stronger competition. This initiative addresses challenges in Sweden's current procurement system, where announcements are scattered across multiple channels, making it time-consuming and costly for suppliers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to monitor them.
Typically, procurements are open for about 30 days, sometimes only 2–3 weeks in renewed competitive tendering, but by publishing the timeline for the entire year, the city gives entrepreneurs more time to plan resources. The administration is also working to increase the visibility of framework agreements in the timeline, which are updated every four years, to help suppliers better prepare bids for larger procurements. Through this transparency, the city aims to advance its climate goal of near-zero emissions by 2030 by clarifying upcoming procurements and highlighting sustainability requirements early, enabling the market to develop solutions for sustainable urban development.
During the autumn, the Exploitation Administration plans a supplier day focusing on sustainability, where topics like electrification and climate-improved materials will be highlighted. Nationally, there is an ongoing political discussion about consolidating procurement announcements into one place to ease bidding for companies, and the City of Gothenburg views this development positively. The specific sustainability goals targeted through this timeline, the number of framework agreements currently visible and to be added, and the success metrics for the initiative have not been detailed.