DTA’s new Digital Marketplace now slated for October 2024 launch

The Digital Transformation Agency's (DTA) has announced that it expects to launch its new Digital Marketplace Panel 2 in October 2024.

The DTA said it has received 2,074 applications from partners seeking inclusion on the panel, which will replace the current panel launched in April 2017.

The current panel has now been extended until 31 January 2025.

The new panel opened for applications from suppliers offering ICT professional and consulting services or ICT labour hire services in March 2024.

The agency said all successful applicants will be onboarded to BuyICT.gov.au and all unsuccessful applicants will have the opportunity to re-apply in round 2, which is scheduled for November 2024.  

The expected October 2024 launch of the new panel is "subject to the completion of the evaluation and the execution of the panel agreements," the DTA said.

In a blog post, DTA's branch head Anthony Conway noted that "vendors will be disappointed and angered by the delay, so this is not a decision the DTA has taken lightly."

"However, we remain committed to creating an environment where sellers, particularly SMEs and start-ups, can compete for business, and buyers have absolute confidence in the capabilities of the vendors they engage through the marketplace."

"While we have increased our evaluation team to minimise further delay, other options that could have accelerated a 'go live' date were ruled out because of the risks they posed to us delivering on these goals.” 

Conway said that in addition to the high number of applicants, the DTA has also received applications across 7,222 categories.

"This means the DTA will evaluate over 14,000 case studies in the coming months. We want to make sure we take the time needed for these evaluations. We can see that there was an immense effort from industry in their applications and we want to match that effort in the evaluation.” 

“The number of category applications demonstrates overwhelming interest from industry in the marketplace and the value it can offer to businesses of all sizes, including start-ups, SMEs, and Indigenous business.”  

The DTA said the new panel will allow suppliers to request quotes and contracts across a variety of digital services and that it will expand over time to consolidate the DTA’s other panel arrangements, such as hardware, software and cloud.

It will use an "open often" approach to ensure evaluations are "fair and consistent," with the panel opening regularly to provide suppliers "many chances to join, update or expand their offerings," the DTA said.

“It is no secret that a light has been shone on several problems in government procurement recently, and while this new panel will not solve all of these problems, it is an important step in improving the transparency, integrity, and value-for-money of digital and ICT procurements across government,” said Conway.

“We are committed to improving procurement processes and outcomes now and into the future.”