Before the scandal about the tender for the installation of the government website became public, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) had warned the government of the irregularities in the operations and existence of the Presidential Office of Information Technology and Communications (OPTIC). Yesterday, Presidential Palace sources confirmed that Microsoft had begun to implement the “Electronic Government” project in February, before the public tender was announced, as was informed by Clave Digital. The tender was meant to ease a series of questions that had arisen within the government because of the manner in which OPTIC contracted the project. A report presented by IDB consultant, Rafael Anta, entitled “Diagnosis and Analysis of the Current Situation of OPTIC” points out that OPTIC’s weaknesses include a lack of legitimacy before the rest of the State institutions and the absence of a formal budget. The report also determines that the OPTIC team was divided between two separate and distant offices, limiting the communication between team members, and especially with the General Director. The report adds that OPTIC does not have regular coordination mechanisms with public institutions for teamwork in a continuous manner. The IDB’s comments can be found on Pro-Reforma’s website at the following location: http://www.pro-reforma.gov.do. The manner in which OPTIC Director Domingo Tavarez hired Microsoft Dominicana for the Dominican Government website project has provoked mixed reactions. While the President of the National Ethics Commission, Dr. Jose Joaquin Bido Medina, the Technical Secretary of the Presidency, Juan Temistocles Montas, and the Director of the Corruption Prevention Department, Dr. Octavio Lister have expressed concern about the manner in which the negotiation was performed by OPTIC, the Presidency has not issued its official position. The Secretary General of the PLD, Reinaldo Pared Perez dismissed the issue, saying that the practice of contracting without tender was justified in projects that could be considered emergencies by the government.