The Cabinet Office is looking for suppliers for a shared technology service centre that could ultimately serve several government departments.
The idea is for central administration systems such as human resources (HR) or IT to be used by several organisations. It is a key part of government plans to improve efficiency and cut costs.
Initially Project Isaac is for the Cabinet Office only, to replace the current contract with supplier HP when it expires in 2007. Later the service will be offered to other Whitehall departments as well.
The first bids for the deal are expected in the summer, with the contract due to be signed in December.
The Project Isaac procurement is being run by the eGovernment Unit (eGU) of the Cabinet Office, which is also responsible for the shared services initiative for the whole of the public sector, included in the Transformational Government strategy published in November. The eGU is also running the Whitehall2 shared services programme.
The original Whitehall2 scheme was for a shared HR system for the Cabinet Office, Treasury and what was then the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
However, the plan was cancelled at the end of last year because it was considered too expensive.
There are now plans to includes as many as 10 departments and agencies in a revamped scheme that will benefit from greater economies of scale.
Related stories
Government services worth billions
reader comments