IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Amid concerns Government departments are paying over the odds for ICT, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched an enquiry into the supply of goods and services into the public sector.

The OFT has urged suppliers and purchasers to get in touch about the experiences of ICT procurement. In particular, the organisation is seeking information about the structure of the sector – are there too many or too few suppliers? Are there barriers to entry that prevent SMBs competing in the market?

Industry's own initiative to bring SMEs in on big government contracts has meanwhile got stuck in the mud, Computer Weekly can reveal.

Daniel Ruiz, Cabinet Office SME advisor, told Computer Weekly large ICT suppliers were still holding up government attempts to reduce their hold over the public purse.

Whitehall will not tolerate poor performance from its ICT suppliers, and will be introducing new performance measures to assess companies' worthiness before they obtain any new Government contracts.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude has warned ICT suppliers that the department's spending controls are set to become a 'permanent way of life', and that poorly performing companies relying on the bloat of administrations past will find it tough to get work.

The Cabinet Office has revealed £2.5 billion-worth of IT projects that are planned for the next five years.

The projects were revealed as part of a government-wide procurement transparency exercise, designed to "allow government and industry to work together to spot any skills and investment gaps so they can act to safeguard UK competitiveness and growth".

The contract will begin 1 December and will see BT provide contact centre capability to provide services such as direct debit set up for paying rates, managing information on grant eligibility and application status, and providing advice on a number of government initiatives and campaigns.

The OFT is reaching out to IT suppliers and buyers to learn more about how the industry currently works. It could affect how comptuing equipment is bought into Government-owned buildings and organisations, including schools.

"ICT plays a crucial role in the delivery of all public services, including schools, hospitals and the police. It is also an important part of the UK economy, with the top 20 software and IT services providers earning about £10.4bn a year in revenue from the public sector," read a statement.

The association for IT managers' research found that public sector IT departments are demanding shorter contracts from their suppliers and also trying to transfer more risk on to them - something that has certainly been evident in central government.

“The idea Everything in One Space has already been patented and many countries are interested in importing it,” said Nino Chichua, Executive Director of the House of Justice. The cost of the idea Everything in One Space has not yet been determined. The price will depend on the service that the particular ‘buyer’ wants to get, Chichua explains. “For example, it is possible to sell only one service and not the whole idea. It depends on what the country wants to get - whether it wants to purchase the whole idea or just a part of it,” she said.

Weltweit sind öffentliche Verwaltungen mit der Umstellung auf moderne, "kundenorientierte" Arbeitsabläufe beschäftigt, Stichwort: E-Government. Dafür braucht es Investitionen in Informationstechnik (IT) und Beratung. Das wiederum ist ein Milliardengeschäft für die Anbieter.

Many countries in this region and the world have now adopted e-government services in order to make the lives of their employees and those of their citizens easier. This is an area that IT firms have seen as good markets for their products.

Government spending on IT will grow across Europe this year but with some caution compared to the first years of the e-government hype.

In addition, local government executives are more optimistic regarding their tech budgets than their central government counterparts, according to the survey by IDC.

Die Finanzbehörde der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg hat die Beratungsagentur scoreberlin GmbH erneut als Usability-Dienstleister für ihr E-Government-Portal HamburgGateway ausgewählt. Zunächst bis 2006 wird die Hansestadt in allen Internetfragen rund um Usability und Barrierefreiheit betreut: Pünktlich zum Jahresbeginn flatterte den Berlinern ein Rahmenvertrag ins Haus.

Hart InterCivic, a leader in Electronic Government (eGovernment) systems for managing public records, has created a Professional Services Organization (PSO). Hart's PSO offers a full range of professional services supporting state and local government customers who are launching eGovernment programs involving the filing, recording, processing, storage, and retrieval of public documents.