UK Reports On Public Sector ICT Capacity
UK Reports On Public Sector ICT Capacity
October 3, 2006: The UK’s Office of Government Commerce has released new findings on the capacity of the ICT market in meeting the procurement needs of the public sector and the move towards ‘transformational government.’
The report for Chef Information Officer’s Council (CIOC) was commissioned to identify key issues within the ICT market and found “a number of specific capacity issues and constraints that could have an adverse effect on the delivery of ICT public sector projects.”
Some key findings of the report include concerns over the suppliers bid capacity in dealing with government contracts. The increased risks placed on suppliers a long with more stringent terms and conditions was also found to make suppliers overly selecting in the contracts they chose to bid for.
Some analysts in the UK report that bidding on public sector contracts has become an increasing difficult, costly and complex process. Associated with this are the tight terms and conditions that may make suppliers not only more selective on public sector contracts but also more likely to turn their resources towards the private contracts.
The availability of senior experienced personnel was another key finding with programme managers, technical architects and change managers all specifically listed as adversely affecting the capacity of IT related projects.
While the report found the above issues could adversely affect individual projects, it also reported a widespread shortfall in ICT capacity would be unlikely over the next three years.
The UK’s move towards ‘transformational government’ involves technology enabled strategies that seek to join-up shared services in the UK public sector while working to reduce duplications.