Impact Of Internet Blackout On Procurement
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Traditional way of managing supply chains has been evolving dramatically over the last 5 years. Face-to-face management, manual tracking systems, paper-dominated order processing systems, and wired communication links were the primary management tools available to logistics managers. Today, they are obsolete. The emergence of the internet as an enabler caused an eruption of innovations , including website structure, e-purchasing, electronic marketplaces, building vendor relationships, and the use of recent e-Procurement in Uganda.

While the use of network technology to exchange data electronically had existed long before, it was the widespread adoption of the internet for commerce (both B2B and B2C) that heavily impacted supply chains. With widespread adoption, the internet had a significant impact on supply chain management by creating electronic marketplaces, helping to realize cost reductions, increasing productivity, enabling e-procurement, integrating business processes and allowing for the creation of customized services. In the recent past, Uganda as a nation launched not only e Procurement through its regulatory body but also turned off the internet which only left the public and stake holders in procurement devastated.

Although the gospel of e procurement has not yet attained stature the few entities that could have been willing to join this transparent and less rigorous process of the supply chain, they are faced with the question of how do we survive without internet once “a matter of national security” arises.

That question will only be answered with greater innovation, but we have witnessed low interest, closure of projects in It departments to digest into e procurement.