Why less means more for PPPs & data – Keys to collecting the right information in Canada

PPP projects have the potential to generate huge amounts of data. In the context of a tolled highway project, for instance, a PPP contract may require the private operator to collect, in real time, information regarding weather and traffic conditions, toll collections, vehicle types, license plate information, and power usage, to name but a few. Depending on the PPP contract, some or all of this information will end up in one or more reports that the private operator will be required to deliver to the public authority periodically.

The effect, if any, of this information on the PPP contract entered into between the public authority and the private operator will vary between projects and jurisdictions.

Some of this information will have a direct and relatively straightforward impact on the obligations of the public authority and private operator. For instance, in circumstances where demand risk is allocated to the private sector, payments to the private operator can be linked with the number of project users. A private operator can also be placed in default where reports are not delivered on time or do not contain required information and/or analysis.

In this article, Dentons’ Lampros Stougiannos and Maria Kourelis address certain issues surrounding data within PPP contracts. They will examine this from the perspective of the public authority involved in the procurement of a PPP project which must, prior to tendering a project, consider the type of information that is required to be collected and the effect this information will have on the project being procured.

Read the complete article Why less means more for PPPs & data, as originally printed in Handshake, with permission from the World Bank Group.