Somerville, Massachusetts – Since its incorporation in 1842, the City of Somerville relied on paper-based procurement processes for awarding municipal contracts. These legacy systems required physical bid submissions, manual evaluations, and extensive paper records, limiting transparency, slowing contract awards, and creating barriers to vendor participation.
After joining the City of Somerville in 2017 as Procurement Manager, Prajkta Waditwar identified procurement modernization as a strategic priority. She conducted a comparative evaluation of multiple electronic bidding platforms, assessing regulatory compliance, audit readiness, data security, sustainability impact, vendor accessibility, and operational fit before determining that BidExpress was the most suitable solution for the City.
Under Waditwar’s leadership, Somerville implemented electronic bidding in 2019, replacing procurement practices that had remained largely unchanged since the nineteenth century.
The transition produced measurable operational and policy outcomes. Electronic bidding reduced bid evaluation timelines by approximately 40 percent, significantly decreased paper usage in alignment with the City’s sustainability goals, and eliminated manual recordkeeping. The system maintained audit-ready digital records, increased visibility into bid activity, and strengthened compliance through automated audit trails and real-time tracking.
The platform also enhanced fair competition by standardizing bid access and submissions, while removing geographic and logistical barriers that previously limited participation. To ensure equitable adoption, Waditwar led supplier training and outreach initiatives, familiarizing vendors—particularly smaller businesses—with the new system and actively encouraging broader competition.
The significance of this modernization became evident in 2020, when COVID-19 disrupted in-person government operations nationwide. Because Somerville’s electronic bidding system was already operational, the City continued awarding contracts remotely without interruption, preserving transparency, competition, and procurement continuity during the public health emergency.
By leading the evaluation, selection, vendor enablement, and implementation of electronic bidding prior to the pandemic, Prajkta Waditwar delivered an original and high-impact contribution to public-sector procurement. Her leadership not only strengthened Somerville’s procurement operations but also supported broader U.S. government procurement objectives by demonstrating a scalable, compliant, and resilient model. The success of Somerville’s transition helped encourage other local governments to adopt electronic bidding, advancing modernization, transparency, sustainability, and fair competition across the public sector.
