The Digital Marketplace is transforming the way the public sector commissions digital and cloud services by making it simpler, clearer and faster for them to buy what they need. All public sector organisations can use the Digital Marketplace to find and buy cloud-based services, specialists who can work on digital projects, and physical data centre space.
This week the Digital Outcomes and Specialists framework opened for applications on the Digital Marketplace.
Services offered on Digital Outcomes and Specialists
Services on this framework fall into one or more of the following 4 categories or ‘lots’. These are:
- Digital outcomes - Suppliers who can provide teams to build and support a digital service. eg a discovery phase for an online billing application
- Digital specialists - Suppliers who can provide individual specialists to deliver a specific outcome with defined deliverables on a service, programme or project eg service managers or developers
- User research studios - Suppliers who can provide space and facilities to carry out interviews, usability tests and focus groups; where it’s possible to watch and record people as they engage with designs, prototypes and live public sector services.
- User research participants - Suppliers who can provide access to a diverse range of user research participants including people who are digitally excluded, as well as those who have low literacy or digital skills, and those who need assisted digital support.
If you are a freelancer or contractor in the digital or technology industry you can find out if you’re a suitable supplier here.
Why it’s quicker
Successful applicants will have the basic terms of their service agreed with government. Public sector organisations can buy services more quickly through the Digital Marketplace because they don’t have to run a full tender.
The benefits of being on Digital Outcomes and Specialists
The aim of the Digital Marketplace is to make the commissioning process simpler, clearer and faster. Buying and selling through the Digital Outcomes and Specialists framework will:
- reduce the time and cost traditionally associated with procurement
- allow buyers and suppliers to talk to each other so they can decide whether there is a good fit
- give more suppliers, of all sizes, the opportunity to support digital transformation across the whole of the public sector
All suppliers and services that have been accepted are expected to go live on the Digital Marketplace on 29 February 2016.
Find out more about the Digital Marketplace on the Digital Marketplace blog, join the conversation on Twitter, and don't forget to sign up for email alerts.
