Summary
Procurement of goods and services is a fundamental activity in the daily operation of the Government of Alberta. Each year, the government spends hundreds of millions of dollars contracting goods and services for large and complex projects. To ensure that Albertans realize the benefit of this spending, departments need to follow effective contract management processes.
The SuperNet is not the Internet. It provides the infrastructure for the delivery of Internet services to rural Albertans, as well as the underlying connectivity to enable public sector services across the province. See Appendix A for further details on the background and history of the SuperNet. Department management has estimated total government spending to construct and operate the SuperNet to be $1 billion.
Objective and Scope
Our audit objective was to assess whether the Department of Service Alberta has effective contract management processes to achieve desired results. We focused on existing SuperNet contracts to which the government is a direct party.
Conclusion
We conclude that the Department of Service Alberta did not in all significant respects have effective processes to manage the SuperNet contracts.