Assistant Minister for Digital Transformation, Angus Taylor, has welcomed the ICT Procurement Taskforce Report (PDF, 549KB) and announced the first steps in the reforms.
The taskforce consulted widely with industry and government and identified key areas for improvement to ICT procurement. In particular, small to medium enterprises will benefit from the reforms.
Under the new framework government ICT contracts will be capped at a maximum of $100 million or three years’ duration. This will benefit small and medium enterprises who will have the opportunity to bid for smaller individual components of larger projects.
Work will continue over the next 12 months to deliver more pathways to improve coordination and reduce duplication of ICT procurement including an ‘ask the market’ capability which will allow industry to pitch innovative solutions to government. These changes will help remove the barriers which have sometimes stopped smaller businesses from working with government.
The DTA’s increased oversight of the government’s ICT investment portfolio and work underway on building digital capability will address the calls for a more strategic approach to ICT procurement and a stronger technical workforce.
Read the report here.