The Victoria government has launched a new cloud-powered system for ICT procurement. The new eServices Register will be used by all government departments and agencies in the state and replaces the old eServices Panel.
“The eServices Register will provide a simplified process for Victorian ICT companies bidding for government work, and allow the Victorian government to make more informed purchasing decisions from a greater range of suppliers as well as monitor the range and scope of eServices engagements,” Victoria technology minister, Gordon Rich-Phillips, said at an Australian Information Industry Association event in Melbourne.
The Coalition government in Victoria has expressed hopes that the new eServices Register will attract greater participation in ICT procurement by small and medium-sized businesses.
“What we’re finding is that innovation isn’t necessarily limited to large firms or the firms we’ve been trading with,” Victoria chief technology advocate, Grantly Mailes, said in a recent interview with CIO Australia. “Our ambition is to get as wide a pool of innovation as possible.”
The launch of the Register completes one action item of the Victorian government’s ICT strategy.
“Under principle six of the ICT Strategy we pledged to take advantage of industry capabilities by continuing to analyse the market’s capability to deliver value for money and innovative solutions that improve the delivery of government services,” Rich-Phillips said.
“The eServices Register uses the Ariba Network, an example of the ICT Strategy’s focus on using commercial off-the-shelf software whenever and wherever it delivers the best value for money.”
Victoria has used the cloud to power the eServices Register, which Mailes said gave the government “much faster time to value”.
“Traditionally we would have gone to a developer and developed our own in-house solution,” he said. “What we’re doing now is doing the procurement process for cloud-based electronic marketplace services.
“The solution exists in the cloud; we’re just subscribing to it.”
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