Technology Innovation Strategy announced

The government has announced it's guidance on innovative technology and how this can be implemented in public services - with the official launch of Spark.

With technology ever evolving, there are great opportunities for government – and also potential risks! This week, they’ve announced their Technology Innovation Strategy to make sure that the public sector can keep up to date with these changes.

What is the strategy?

The strategy is based around three fundamentals: People, Process and Data & Technology.

• People – Having staff that are equipped with the right skills and culture. Making sure that those leading and delivering services within the public sector are able to meet the public’s needs.
• Process – Providing a platform for experimentation. Ensuring that innovative solutions are promoted by the government’s procurement processes.
• Data & Technology – The use of valuable data and insight to benefit from emerging tech. As well as the change from legacy to new technology and giving departments the confidence to experiment.

These three themes give some good insight into where the government want to go with the use of innovative technology. However, they have stressed that what is included in their strategy is not an exhaustive list and provides guidance for the public sector.

What does this mean for procurement?

Well, one of the key takeaways from the strategy is the launch of Spark. The DPS originally opened up in April, with a few suppliers joining to date, but this marks a big push from GDS and CCS.

The marketplace is designed as a platform for innovative and new technology for the public sector. The main goals of Spark are:

• To provide an easy way for the public sector to find innovative solutions and emerging technologies
• To be SME friendly, and make it easier for them to sell innovative solutions to the public sector
• To enable the growth of the UK technology sector, improving the ease and speed at which government can access proven new tech.

We definitely recommend having a read of the strategy. As it goes into much more depth about the actions government plan to take, especially in counteracting the challenges they face when providing our services.