- The British Government is developing a new technical shopping platform
- The national digital exchange connects public agencies with suppliers
- This hopes to save £ 1.2 billion per year
Department for Science, Information and Technology has announced a ‘first-of-it Kind’ new platform for the public sector’s purchases, which it claims to lock £ 1.2 billion per day. Years in savings and modernizing the public sector’s tech investments.
The national digital exchange will be a platform where public sector agencies can judge and review tech products, service and software that will help schools, hospitals and other departments choose the most reliable and appropriate technology – and also help them tell them what to avoid.
By helping the public sector to make faster and better informed purchasing decisions, the platform opens the market for more British tech companies and to increase the involvement of small businesses in government -technical contracts by 40% within three years.
Faster, more fair and focused
This platform is currently under development and will be created under the procurement regulations and will be developed together with a “Digital PlayBook” that will guide purchasing officials against responsible technology purchases.
The British government has been pushing for technical development all around with the introduction of the AI action plan aimed at turbocharging the British AI sector.
This is a 50 -point plan that includes initiatives such as transferring public data to researchers, including anonymized NHS data, to educate AI models, as well as introduce “AI growth zones” that accelerate AI infrastructure -such as data center building and access to Energinet.
“We’ve all heard the stories – months of bureaucracy, tech that doesn’t deliver and wasted money. It’s not good enough for the people we earn,” said Feryal Clark, Minister of AI and Digital Government.
“The national digital exchange aims to change it. It will make it faster, more fair and focused on what works – with real reviews, advance prices and smart AI to match buyers with the right suppliers for hours. It is a clear example of our plan for change in action: cutting waste, increasing innovation and supporting British tech to provide better public services.”
