Watch out for TED improvements coming shortly, October 2005

The Publications Office has announced that from the 3rd November 2005 the TED database, which publishes public procurement notices for tenders for services and supplies contracts exceeding certain threshold values, will be completely redesigned. The aim is to offer a more user-friendly interface with better browsing and search functions, including the possibility of browsing by location or by code. As far as possible the improvements will also be made available on the CD-ROM version as well. In addition it will be simpler for bodies and organisations submitting procurement notices to track their publication as in future they will receive notification by e-mail on the day of publication.
The site is a major enterprise to manage as around one thousand notices are published daily in 20 working languages, amounting to some 220,000 notices a year. With an average of 400,000 visitors and 11 million page hits a month, the site receives plenty of traffic. To assess the redesign, visit {http://ted.publications.eu.int} after the 3rd November.
Changes have been made too to the SIMAP site which contains useful background information on procurement in the EU together with online submission forms. As a result of the online submission the length of the publication process has been reduced from 12 working days to 5, streamlining the system for businesses and suppliers. See {http://www.simap.eu.int} for more details.