We published the Digital Marketplace strategy for the first time in March this year.
It’s made up of 7 action points and sets out how Government Digital Service (GDS) and our colleagues at the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) plan to help transform the way public sector buyers buy technology and digital services. We aim to make the buying process for local and central government departments and wider public bodies simpler, clearer and faster.
Here’s a recap on the action points we set ourselves in March and an update on our progress since then.
Action 1:
Continue to develop the Digital Marketplace to be a compliant and digital by default commissioning platform that both central government and the wider public sector can use to buy what they need.
Update
We have:
- embedded a Government Legal Department (GLD) representative into our fortnightly sprint rhythm, ensuring that their guidance and advice on compliance with the EU procurement legislation steers the service design
- been working closely with Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) and the GDS Service Manual team to map out the buyer journey from spend approvals, service assessments, commissioning and project delivery
- developed prototypes of the Request for Proposal (RFP) process for specialists to deliver digital projects
- started development of an alpha which allows suppliers to apply for a framework and provide details on the services that they offer
Action 2:
Increase awareness of the Digital Marketplace across the public sector and improve support provided to commercial teams so that frameworks available under the Digital Marketplace are used properly.
Update
We have:
- GDS and CCS jointly held events in Bristol, Glasgow and Liverpool for public sector digital and technology buyers. We covered how to:
- choose the right technology. This includes understanding needs, defining requirements, unbundling service components, building internal capabilities and outcome-based commissioning
- use agile methodologies to manage third-party suppliers for successful service design and delivery
- begun sourcing written and video case studies from local and central government buyers. We aim to publish these regularly
- run a discovery on buyer and supplier needs around help and information on procurement; we have a working prototype which we are evolving with CCS and the GOV.UK team
Action 3:
Make more IT and digital frameworks available through the Digital Marketplace so that the public sector has one place to go to buy what is needed to build world-class digital services.
Update
We have:
- expanded the Digital Marketplace platform which now includes two additional frameworks.
- Digital Services (for teams and specialists to deliver digital projects).
- Crown Hosting (for physical colocation datacentre space for public sector legacy systems).
- started to explore how the Digital Marketplace can play a role in sourcing common technology services, alongside our colleagues at OCTO
Action 4:
In collaboration with CCS, ensure that new digital and IT frameworks meet the GDS design principles so that they are simpler, clearer and faster to use.
Update
We have:
- begun the discovery for a new approach to meeting user needs for commissioning digital services. With our CCS and GLD colleagues, we’ve formed a multidisciplinary Digital Services Team which includes expertise in procurement, commissioning, agile delivery, user research, service design, communications, content design, interaction design and law
- started development of an alpha which allows suppliers to apply for a framework and provide details on the services that they offer
- been looking in to simpler and clearer contracts to support the delivery of Digital Services 3 (DS3). This type of contract:
- meets user needs
- supports collaboration and agile ways of working
- uses plain English
- is in line with the Open Contracting Data Standard
- supported completion of the second procurement for the GOV.UK Verify framework, which now has 9 suppliers able to provide identity assurance services
- received endorsement from GDS and CCS stakeholders of the procurement strategy for the planned cross-government Digital Training and Support Services framework (which supports the Digital Inclusion Strategy)
Action 5:
Tailor the user experience to meet user needs and empower users to ‘do it themselves’ through a dedicated education programme. Provide straightforward guidance for buyers and suppliers so they can discover and buy what they need.
Update
We have:
- produced a buyer user journey (from initiation through to delivery) which is now a user research pilot across GDS
- evolved the DS3 journey to allow buyers an end to end digital experience and for suppliers to see an online pipeline of opportunities
- run a discovery on buyer and supplier needs around help and information on procurement. We now have a working prototype which we are evolving with the GOV.UK team
Action 6:
Identify the total potential value by department of spend that could go through G-Cloud and the Digital Marketplace.
Update
We have:
- started working with OCTO on two key areas.
- Our technology pipeline project will make marketable contract opportunities easier for suppliers to find by making them all accessible on Contracts Finder.
- Understanding how the Digital Marketplace platform could be expanded to support common technology services.
- requested information from buyers following our buyer events, about their potential and planned IT spend that could go through the Digital Marketplace
Action 7:
Work with our communities of buyers and suppliers to increase take-up of the Digital Marketplace across the different government sectors.
Update
We have:
- continued to engage with government and wider public sector buyers on a regional event basis (see updates provided for Action 2)
- seen increases in the use of the Digital Marketplace. Since March:
- 650 new government buyers have created accounts in the Digital Services Store (DSS)
- they represent more than 240 different departments from central and local governments and wider public bodies
- 180 of those bodies were using DSS for the first time
- and 74% of those bodies are local government and wider public bodies