DSIT is overhauling how the public sector buys tech, as it eyes potential savings of £1.2 billion.
It is creating an online marketplace called the National Digital Exchange (NDX), where IT pros can use, rate and review software across government. It aims to help government organisations negotiate together when buying the same tech to get a better deal.
The platform also has a target to boost small business involvement in government tech contracts by 40 percent within three years.
Harnessing bargaining power
NDX aims to allow teams across the public sector to access pre-approved tech deals at nationally negotiated prices, with an AI-powered engine that matches them with suppliers based on what they need, “in a matter of hours, not months.”
The plans follow the State of Digital Government report which warned that 209 NHS secondary care organisations and 320 local councils go it alone when negotiating tech contracts, despite widely using similar tools – missing out on essential bargaining power. Only 28 percent of public sector leaders said their organisations were able to track and make sure that their tech suppliers were delivering proper value for their services.
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Users will be able to rate and review what they’ve bought, “lifting the lid on which tools have delivered, and where promises haven’t matched performance,” said DSIT, which compared the platform to an app store that underpins the British state and essential public services.
“We’ve all heard the stories — months of red tape, tech that doesn’t deliver, and money wasted. That’s not good enough for the people we serve,” said Minister for AI and Digital Government, Feryal Clark, in a statement.
“The National Digital Exchange aims to change that. It will make it faster, fairer, and focused on what works — with real reviews, upfront pricing and smart AI to match buyers with the right suppliers in hours.”
New digital playbook
The platform, which will be created under the revised Procurement Regulations to help shape “a smarter, more open future for digital procurement”, is being developed alongside a digital playbook to guide officials responsible for buying technology towards best practice – making sure the long-term impacts of their decisions, and the social value of contracts are considered.
The news also follows the government announcing plans to test new ways of funding AI and tech projects, which is said aims “to bring a start-up mindset to testing the application and use of AI experiments on small budgets and then building on proof of success.”
