NZ close to launching govt Marketplace

The New Zealand government is close to launching its new digital government procurement platform Marketplace, the nation’s Government Digital Services Minister, Clare Curran, has announced.

Marketplace has completed testing with both agencies and suppliers and is set to go live soon, Curran said during an event introducing the procurement channel to ICT industry and government leaders.

Marketplace will play a similar role to Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency’s own Digital Marketplace, acting as a centralised portal for agencies to procure ICT and digital services.

The first iteration of New Zealand’s Marketplace will focus on software as a service, and the government plans to consult with industry on how to expand the platform in the future.

Curran said the platform has been designed to dramatically reduce barriers for suppliers engaging with government, while making procurement easier for agencies.

“Marketplace is all about government and the wider market working together to achieve better outcomes for all New Zealanders. It’s an example of transformational thinking in action,” she said.

“It’s been co-designed by suppliers and government agencies... Together we can change procurement into a much more flexible, agile process taking advantage of what digital platforms can offer and making it easier for organisations, especially small and emerging suppliers, to work with government.”

Over 90% of suppliers involved in tests of the platform were local small or medium-sized organisations, Curran said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Tijana

Please follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook. You can also subscribe for FREE to our weekly newsletter and quarterly magazine.