Govt connects IT buyers and sellers as 'ideas boom' marketplace launches

More than 220 IT suppliers should find it easier to vie for a piece of the Australian government's $5 billion annual ICT spend after scoring positions on the newly minted Digital Marketplace.

The online portal went live in beta on Monday 29 August, ahead of schedule. The first cab off the rank is the the 'digital service professionals panel', which aims to help government agencies access digital expertise to supplement their in-house teams. Some 224 IT suppliers are listed across capabilities categories for developers, product managers, technical leads and more.

The Digital Marketplace was announced in March as one of the flagship initiatives under Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's "Ideas Boom". The project has been led by the Digital Transformation Office (DTO), which sought to identify obstacles blocking ICT suppliers from providing digital products and services to the government.

The DTO went to market in March seeking expertise across nine service categories.  

The portal aims to facilitate "collaboration and opportunities" between buyers and suppliers, helping government buyers to post briefs for requirements and allowing sellers to respond.

CRN Fast50 alumni are among the providers to have scored positions in the beta portal, including Artis Group, Business Analysts, CTO Group, Ignia and Outware Systems.

Artis Group chief executive Chris Greatrex said: "Being competitively selected in every category of service is a reflection for the low-risk, high-quality projects and engagements Artis Group is known for with clients across all industries including: all levels of government; banking finance and insurance; agribusiness; telco and others."

Other suppliers include major IT consultants such as CSC, Ajilon, Tech Mahindra and Deloitte, along with a host of other technology companies: everyone from Amazon Web Services specialist DiUS, to major Brisbane-headquartered IT provider Dialog, to systems integrator Diversus to RedCore, which was last week acquired by Accenture.

Further functionality is planned, including the "Ideation platform, where government buyers will be able to launch challenges to solve digital business problems and where suppliers can pitch creative ideas to solve these problems", according to the DTO.