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La Cascia, Joseph Huntington

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GovTech, IFMIS, Data Analytics, e-Procurement, Procurement, Sustainable Public Procurement, Green Public Procurement, Emergency Procurement
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Last updated: March 11, 2024
Biography
Hunt La Cascia is a Senior Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank's Governance Global Unit. He focuses on public sector reform, service, and knowledge functions to support the World Bank's global portfolio of projects with GovTech components. Hunt provides advice and support to government clients, global task teams, and governance staff in preparing and supervising projects with major GovTech investments. He plays a significant role in improving World Bank GovTech practices and approaches. Hunt works on GovTech initiatives such as Cloud Frameworks and Methodologies, Greening GovTech, Digital Economy Governance, and Anticorruption. He also leads initiatives to modernize procurement functions in World Bank client countries by spearheading global e-Procurement initiatives and other procurement reform activities, including Procurement Data Analytics, Green Public Procurement, and Emergency Procurement.

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2020 - 202552000 - 20191
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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Reaching the Potential for the Digital Economy in Africa: Digital Tools for Better Governance
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-08-28) Alcaide, Maria Delfina; Anderson, James; Kramer, Michael; LaCascia, Hunt; Mells, Travis; Valentine, Justin; La Cascia, Joseph Huntington
    That digital technologies can be tools for better governance is widely accepted - the degree to which they can meet their potential in Africa in the near future is an open question. Are the countries in Africa caught in a trap with digital progress limited by the very governance problems that such technologies could address? Or have they already progressed with large leaps forward? What are the factors that limit progress from being even faster? This study examines the progress and challenges in establishing the analog foundations for the use of digital technologies for better governance in Africa, and the degree of implementation of those GovTech tools. It covers the use of digital tools for providing information to the public, for streamlining the provision of government services including those related to taxation and business and land registration, courts and one-stop shops, digital identification systems, and interoperability between systems. The report similarly covers the use of digital tools for strengthening participation in policy making, accountability systems including grievance redress, and control of corruption. Finally, the report examines the adoption of electronic government procurement (eGP), as well as the procurement of IT systems by governments. The report concludes with recommendations for reaching the potential for the use of digital tools for better governance in Africa.
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    Vulnerabilities of ICT Procurement to Fraud and Corruption
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-08-28) La Cascia, Hunt; Kramer, Michael; La Cascia, Joseph Huntington
    Information communication technology (ICT) contracts are prone to fraud, corruption, bid rigging and collusion. The OECD foreign bribery report which shows that in 2014, 10 percent of the foreign bribery cases occurred in ICT sector. Integrated financial management systems (IFMIS) and other ICT systems play important roles in improving transparency and accountability and reducing the opportunities for fraud and corruption in developing countries. The procurement and implementation of such systems, however, present significant opportunities for abuse. The main reasons include: (a) the systemic corruption in many parts of the developing world where many such systems are procured, ironically in an attempt to reduce the impact of corruption and improve governance; (b) the large scale and complexity of such systems, which provide many opportunities to improperly rig contract specifications, manipulate implementation and inflate prices, and which make it difficult to detect such abuses; (c) the expense and potentially large profit margins of such systems, which provide ample margins to offer and pay substantial bribes to corrupt officials; (d) the relatively low risk of vendors or officials being caught and sanctioned, which is virtually nonexistent in many developing countries.
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    Adoption of eGP in Africa
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-08-28) La Cascia, Hunt; Valentine, Justin; Mells, Travis; Surapaneni, Vineet; Flanagan, Kelly; Alcaide, Maria Delfina; Kramer, Michael; La Cascia, Joseph Huntington
    The objective of this paper is to provide information on Electronic Government Procurement (eGP), a digital technology that can help public procurement organizations optimize spend, improve the performance of supplier markets, and minimize corruption in the procurement lifecycle. This paper aims to: Detail the impact of eGP on governance; Describe the preconditions that are required for successful eGP implementation; Provide country case studies that illustrate the benefits of eGP implementation; Review the progress of eGP adoption across Africa; Provide solutions and recommendations for countries that are interested in upgrading existing or introducing new eGP solutions and/or modules.
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    ICT Procurement in Africa
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-08-28) La Cascia, Hunt; Valentine, Justin; Mells, Travis; Surapaneni, Vineet; Flanagan, Kelly; Alcaide, Maria Delfina; Kramer, Michael; La Cascia, Joseph Huntington
    The objective of this background paper is to provide the reader with an understanding of information and communications technology (ICT) procurement with a focus on Africa. The intended audience of this background paper includes country officials working in ICT and procurement in Africa, including ministries of finance, regulatory agencies, and other government bodies.
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    Electronic Government Procurement Implementation Types: Options for Africa
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-01-27) Wu Chebili, Blandine; La Cascia, Hunt; Collineau, Francois; Salomon, Arnaud; Calvet, Baptiste; Moreau, Yoann; La Cascia, Joseph Huntington
    In recent years, more and more African governments are looking to implement electronic-Government Procurement (e-GP) solutions to address some of the challenges associated with public procurement, such as harmonizing internal processes to optimize their execution, increasing transparency and traceability, generating financial gains, facilitating access to public procurement for all economic actors. This study was motivated by the World Bank’s commitment to help African governments implement an e-GP solution that best meets their needs and constraints. For countries having and using already an e-GP system, this will help to enhance the development and updating of their system.
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    Improving Efficiency in Public Procurement in Georgia
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-06) Turkewitz, Joel; Nozadze, Sandro; Davenport, Stephen R.; Sjoberg, Fredrik; Mellon, Jonathan; Brough, Mark; La Cascia, Hunt; Agar, Mediha; La Cascia, Joseph Huntington
    The document provides a brief overview of the size and composition of public procurement. It then examines performance in relation to two key outcome variables – the success rate of competitive tenders, and the level of competition in open procedures. The nature of the performance issues in these two areas are explored, and specific recommendations are developed for improving performance in the short to medium term. A different perspective on performance is then provided through examining the degree to which small and medium firms participate in procurement tenders and are awarded contracts. A final section provides a limited number of recommendations on steps to establish a continuous process of data analysis and performance evaluation.