Credit: GDS

The Digital Marketplace platform is to be expanded to overseas governments in a move that, according to the Government Digital Service, “means UK SMEs will have access to the global market”.

GDS first revealed [1] last September that it had received funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to work on a project exploring the possibility of taking the Digital Marketplace into three other countries. The aim of the project was to combat corruption by promoting transparency in procurement, as well as allowing all four nations to benefit from sharing expertise and working together on the same goals to achieve faster outcomes.

The scheme – which is now officially named Global Digital Marketplace (logo pictured above) – also hopes to provide a boost to the digital, data, and technology (DDaT) sectors of the participating countries. 

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“The Digital Marketplace has changed the UK procurement landscape. Now we’re ready to go global – and we need your help,” said Digital Marketplace director Warren Smith. “It’s an expansion of the Digital Marketplace that will be open to international governments. And it means UK SMEs will have access to the global market.”

GDS and the Whitehall and Industry Group are jointly hosting an event in London on 12 April in which it hopes to gain feedback on the project from representatives of both government and the technology-supplier community. 

“In particular, we want to talk about how GDS: plans to work collaboratively with UK DDaT supplier partners; plans to support smart-city initiatives around the world; [and] can work with government organisations and suppliers to support international governments to deliver transformation,” Smith added.

The event will also seek feedback on a procurement playbook that GDS has jointly developed [5] with counterparts in Chile, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. A draft copy of the document will be shared at the event, kicking off a consultation period.