Digital Services Framework could enable 70 'new' firms to secure central government contracts

183 suppliers in total that can secure contracts - 84 per cent of which are SMEs

Seventy companies that have never done business with government before have won the opportunity to secure contracts with central government.

There are 183 suppliers in total that can secure contracts, and 84 per cent of these are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Of the 70 suppliers that had not worked with government previously, 94 per cent are SMEs, the Cabinet Office revealed today.

The government had issued a £40m tender for digital services in July as it aims to push through digital public services and eventually replace telephone and in-person transactions, as part of its ‘Digital by Default' agenda.

The new framework, dubbed the Digital Services Framework, has been developed to give government easy access to suppliers "of all sizes", with digital capabilities to design and build public services. It was put together by the Government Procurement Service (GPS) and Government Digital Service (GDS). The framework will be offered as a managed service to central government departments, allowing GDS and GPS to share experiences across departments and ensure best practice.

The capabilities to be supplied through the framework include software engineering, product development and service design, agile delivery management, front-end design and interaction design, content design and development, system administration and web operations, and embedding agile.

"The Digital Services framework shows how we are levelling the playing field for government contracts and living up to our ambition to support growth by giving opportunities to new entrants and smaller suppliers who can deliver innovative, cost-effective solutions based on user need," Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said.

Mike Bracken, director of GDS, added that the government needs access to the best, most cost-effective digital solutions if it is going to be able to deliver efficient and responsive services that the public demands.

"The Digital Services framework will be a flexible and speedy route for departments to the digital project expertise they need to transform their services," he said.