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https://digitalmarketplace.blog.gov.uk/2016/12/19/service-update-part-2-what-well-be-working-on-next/

Service update part 2: what we’ll be working on next

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Digital Outcomes and Specialists, Digital Services framework

What we'll be working on next

In the previous post we talked about the work that we’ve done this year to help deliver on the mission of the Digital Marketplace to: “help the public sector buy what it needs to deliver great digital services”.

In this post we’ll share some of the work we have planned across the whole of the Digital Marketplace as well as its individual frameworks.

Digital Marketplace framework playbook

We have worked with the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) to host and award four frameworks via the Digital Marketplace. Using the patterns we have developed together, work has begun on a good practice guide to managing supplier applications. This might include standardised communications plans and email templates as well as best practice for being open, fair and transparent when inviting suppliers to work with government. We’ll be talking about this in more detail in a future post.

Simplifying call-off contracts

We want to look at putting contracts and statements of work online to help buyers and suppliers manage their contracts. If we are tracking contract award and invoices through the Digital Marketplace, we will have accurate spending data without needing to ask suppliers to submit this data independently. The Australian Digital Marketplace team have done some work in this area which we may be able to reuse and adapt.

Work on model contracts

This year we started work to scope how a user-centred, design-led approach could be applied to creating model contracts. Together with CCS and the Government Legal Department (GLD) we plan to consolidate this work looking at how to develop model contracts which meet the needs of a wide group of contract users across government.

Hire user research facilities online

Currently, hiring user research facilities is completed offline by downloading a spreadsheet and then filtering locations. We will be looking at how we can move the buying experience online, making it easier and faster for buyers to find the user research labs they need.

These are some of the changes we’ll be making specifically to Digital Outcomes and Specialists:

Notify suppliers when new opportunities are posted

We have been sending daily emails to suppliers about new and relevant Digital Outcomes and Specialists opportunities. Suppliers have found these emails to be helpful as they no longer need to spend their time filtering through the Digital Marketplace. Emails are sent manually by our team, however we’ll be working on automating this by the end of this year.

Showing key dates and timeframes in the buying process

We want to improve the way buyers communicate key dates in the buying process to suppliers, allowing timeframes for each requirement to be clear and more realistic. For example, this may include key dates around deadlines for answering supplier questions, application deadlines and the evaluation stage.

Share useful data with buyers and suppliers

Before opportunities can be published, buyers need to provide information and estimates to build a business case. Suppliers want to know trends so they can plan their supply pipeline, as well as learn what makes a bid successful or unsuccessful. We’ll start to provide them with the data needed.

It may be that some of these plans change over the next few months, but as always, we’ll be thinking out loud and will continue to share our plans and learnings with you.

If you have any feedback you want to share with us, we’d love to hear from you. Let us know your thoughts so we can continue to improve the Digital Marketplace.

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1 comment

  1. Comment by Jenny Mulholland posted on

    As the person responsible for government frameworks in our SME organisation, I look forward to these changes, particularly around online SoWs to reduce the need for reporting, and more sharing of data around successful/unsuccessful bids. Thanks!