Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Public Procurement—Case Study of Nigeria

Governments worldwide are exploring the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to improve public services. Organizations may utilize AI, machine learning, deep learning, and big data together to acquire relevant business insights, increase efficiencies, make better decisions, and advance their objectives. Governments worldwide are rapidly developing and deploying artificial intelligence derived from machine learning to improve operations, public services, compliance, and security activities. Government procurement in Nigeria has had several issues, including corruption. Corruption from both government officials and contractors has been an issue of significant concern. This chapter looks at how several government agencies in developed countries around the world are using artificial intelligence (AI) in their contracting procedures and some of the capabilities that are being considered for future use. This study looks at ways in which the Nigerian government could implement AI in its contracting to maximize efficiency and reduce the rate of corruption. AI has the potential to profoundly change how government agencies handle contracting, from vendor selection through contract closeout and everything in between. However, AI is not error-proof, and issues regarding technology implementation are also reviewed in this chapter.