NZ Government opens digital procurement channel

“Marketplace is all about government and the wider market working together to achieve better outcomes for all New Zealanders. It’s an example of transformational thinking in action,” says Government Digital Services Minister Clare Curran.

“It’s been co-designed by suppliers and government agencies as part of an ongoing effort to change how we work together. It’ll dramatically reduce barriers for suppliers engaging with government – and make procurement easier for agencies.

“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,” says Curran, at a ‘Transforming Procurement’ event in Wellington.

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This first iteration of Marketplace provides software as a serviceGovernment Digital Services Minister Clare Curran

The event is part of New Zealand’s commitment to the Working Party of Digital Government Officials, known as the OECD E-Leaders Forum, which New Zealand currently chairs.

“Over 90 per cent of suppliers involved in testing Marketplace are New Zealand-based small or medium sized organisations,” says Curran, in a statement.

Marketplace has recently completed testing with agencies and suppliers and is set to go live shortly.

Curran says the Marketplace approach should be a win-win for both customers and providers.

“The government spends around $3 billion a year on ICT, including capital and operating expenditure, and we’re taking a leadership position across the whole area of digital procurement to drive digital transformation and create an open government.

“We want our ICT community to grow with New Zealand, to contribute to our economy, and to continue supporting greater social inclusion and better public services,” says Curran.

Marketplace has recently completed testing with agencies and suppliers and is set to go live shortly. It will start off by providing agencies access to a catalogue of cloud based services before expanding to offer other products and solutions.

“This government is committed to being open and transparent. With the development of Marketplace we are doing well, but now we want to have the conversation about how we do even better,” she says.

“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, how we create value and on driving innovation for New Zealand.”

“We are committed to making engagement with government easy to navigate, timely and straightforward. That goes for all New Zealanders, whether they are accessing a service or running a business.”

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