Editorial

CCS launches digital framework

Digital Outcomes and Specialists 5 agreement launches with a third of digital spend going to SMBs

Posted 21 January 2021 by Christine Horton


3,340 suppliers have been awarded places on the latest iteration of Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) agreement for digital specialists.

CCS has launched the Digital Outcomes and Specialists 5 (DOS 5) framework, revealing that a third of spend through previous iterations of the agreement went directly to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

The DOS 5 framework is designed to help the public sector buy, design, build and deliver bespoke digital solutions and services. Ninety-five percent of the 3,340 suppliers on the new agreement are SMBs.

The public sector has spent more than £2.5bn through CCS’ DOS agreements since 2016, with 34 percent of that spend – more than £800m – going directly to SMBs. 

“Our Digital Outcomes and Specialists agreement continues to facilitate our customers’ digital transformation while also creating opportunities for suppliers of all sizes,” said Patrick Nolan, technology director at CCS. “By simplifying the application process as much as possible we are reducing the barriers that SMEs can face when seeking to supply to the public sector.”

Level playing field

Paper, a Sheffield-based SMB, is working with the Department for Education to design a service, provide programme strategy, and conduct user research to support schools buying goods and services like computer equipment and energy more efficiently and at best value.

“The framework is accessible for us in many ways. It reduces the time taken to work through requirements by making the structure of opportunities consistent, and its focus on users and the problem at hand suits the way we approach projects and qualify work,” Mark Goddard, company director and service designer at Paper.

“Organisations such as the DfE get to see us on a level playing field. Without the Digital Marketplace, being seen by the DfE or competing with larger competitors would be a lot harder.”

DOS 5 is accessed through the Digital Marketplace, created in 2014 by CCS and Government Digital Service (GDS) with the aim of making government procurement easier and more transparent.

There are four solutions available to customers: digital outcomes, digital specialists, user research studios and user research participants.

The Government says it is working to build back fairer by “levelling the playing field for suppliers of all sizes.” This supports the Government’s aspiration that 33 percent of central government spending will go to SMBs by 2022.