The government of New Zealand will launch a digital marketplace for ICT procurement, creating a more agile process that will help small suppliers, it has announced.
Clare Curran, digital services minister, said the marketplace will reduce barriers for suppliers looking to sell to government and make the procurement process easier for agencies.
The New Zealand government spends around $3bn a year on ICT procurement.
Curran added that the marketplace was co-designed by both suppliers and agencies. Testing had been completed and the marketplace would “go live shortly”, she said, but did not specify when this would be.
Speaking at a Transforming Procurement event in Wellington, Curran said: “Together we can change procurement into a much more flexible, agile process taking advantage of what digital platforms can offer and making it easier for organisations, especially small and emerging suppliers, to work with government.”
More than 90% of the suppliers involved in testing the new marketplace were New Zealand-based SMEs, said Curran.
The marketplace will initially offer agencies a catalogue of cloud-based services before expanding to offer other goods and services. “This first iteration of marketplace provides software as a service. We want to continue a genuine co-design approach and work with suppliers on where we go next,” said Curran.
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