Intellect initiatives will help government talk to SMEs

The Intellect report follows consultation with key figures, including government CIO Joe Harley

ICT trade body Intellect has announced a series of measures that attempt to address a perceived lack of access by government to all the ICT services in the market and, similarly, a lack of buying knowledge and skills around ICT services within government.

The measures were announced in a report entitled Better access to the tech market and better skills for government and released today to coincide with a suppliers' conference being held in London called The Crown and Suppliers - A New Way of Working at which the govnerment announced a significant overhaul of its procurement practices.

All the measures detailed in the report will be enacted by March 2012.

The report also follows a pledge made by the government in its ICT strategy released in March to ensure that 25 per cent of all ICT services come from small and medium companies.

However, according to John Hoggard, head of government and education for Intellect, the problem with procuring from smaller companies is that they tend to have a lower profile than larger companies.

He explained that where companies have just started up or are emerging players, it is not always easy for the government to know about their available services – this suite of initiatives aims to help address this problem.

The initiatives were drawn up following consultation with key players across government, including government CIO Joe Harley and efficiency and reform group advisor Liam Maxwell.

The first initiative from Intellect will see the creation of a dynamic map illustrating existing and emerging technology companies and skillsets.

All technology companies will appear on the map alongside their business profiles and relationships with other companies.

Second Intellect will create ‘market dialogue' which it says will create a structured pathway for conversations between government and the technology sector.

The body will also provide technology companies with ways in which they can present innovations to government – there are several examples of this already up and running, including an Innovation Den and Concept Viability.

The report also aims to improve technology market collaboration and technology market information.

In terms of collaboration, the body will launch a partnering portal which will allow companies to explore potential alliances. In addition, SMEs will be able to demonstrate professionalism through Intellect's Business Professional Certificate.

Regular market health checks will provide a snapshot of inter-company activity and the proportion of public sector business passed on to SMEs.

The body will also aim to provide information and guidance to small companies looking to sell their solutions to the public sector.

In terms of improving ICT skills within government, Intellect will launch a ‘bringing tech to life' and talent swap initiatives.

Bringing Tech to Life will provide free places for civil servants, on Intellect sponsored training courses.

The body will also facilitate site tours and work-shadowing opportunities for civil servants to experience 'a day in the life' of a technology business.

Talent Swap will allow government and technology businesses to exchange employees and build an appreciation and understanding of the pressures and different ways of working on both sides.

However, some industry commentators are skeptical regarding Intellect's involvement for example, a spokesperson for the National Outsourcing Association said that although they welcomed the government seeking advice around improving its commercial and technical skills, they have concerns about the government using Intellect exclusively.

"Intellect's community is a supplier-only community, lacking the balanced opinions that having end-users and intermediaries involved brings. The government is likely to seek bigger savings in the business process arena than IT, so are Intellect really the right people to offer the best advice?"