Albanian government gets virtual minister to oversee public procurement procedures and tenders

With the appointment of digital assistant Diella as public procurement minister, Albania will become “a country where public tenders are 100 percent free of corruption,” according to Prime Minister Edi Rama.

A digital assistant who helps citizens navigate online government services has become the first “virtually created” minister and has been tasked with managing public procurement in an effort to reduce corruption.

Diella, which means “The Sun” in Albanian, has been advising users on the e-Albania portal since January, helping them navigate the full range of bureaucratic procedures needed to access around 95 percent of citizen services digitally via voice commands.

– The first member of the government who is not physically present will help Albania become a country where public tenders are 100 percent free of corruption – Rama said.

Announcing the composition of his fourth consecutive government at a conference of the ruling Socialist Party in Tirana a few days ago, Rama said that Diella, who was presented on the e-Albania portal in a traditional Albanian costume, would become a “public procurement servant.”

The Albanian prime minister stressed that the responsibility for deciding on the winners of tenders would be gradually taken over from other ministries and transferred to artificial intelligence to ensure that “all public expenditures in the tender process are accompanied by 100 percent transparency.”

Diella will review every tender in which the government contracts with private companies and objectively assess the merits of each bidder, said Rama, who was re-elected in May and has previously stressed that he sees artificial intelligence as a potentially effective anti-corruption tool that can eliminate bribery, threats and conflicts of interest.

Public tenders have long been a source of corruption scandals in Albania, which experts say is a hub for international gangs looking to launder money from drug and arms trafficking, and where corruption has reached the highest levels of government, according to the Guardian.

Albanian media hailed the move as “a major transformation in the way the Albanian government understands and exercises administrative power, introducing technology not just as a tool, but as an active participant in governance.”

Diella

Edi Rama

artificial intelligence