E-Business
Issue No. 29 - June/July 2006
IT industry welcomes tighter tenders
by Ms Leila Henderson
The State Government has responded to ICT industry criticism about the allocation of government contracts to big business, with a move to introduce an e-marketplace.
The idea of the eProjects Panel is to reduce the high cost of bidding for State government contracts for SMEs.
All government agencies and enterprises would be able to request a quote from companies registered on the panel.
Grantly Mailes, South Australia's chief information officer, said that the eProjects Panel aims to cut the time taken for smaller companies to apply for projects valued up to $750,000.
“The agencies can go to the panel, and, based on dollar value, require two or three written quotes to get the job done,” Mr Mailes said.
“We will already have on record each vendor’s skills and capabilities, key personnel and financial and insurance status to assist agencies in vendor selection.”
Agencies will be able to release their work specifications to selected vendors, who will only be required to submit suggested staff for the work, methodology and price.
Any change that reduces the burden for SMEs is welcome, but the recently released ICT Industry Strategic Plan, developed by the ICT Council for SA, says measures are also needed to reduce the high cost of liability insurance required for any company that has to do business with government.
Mr Mailes says the government is seeking concessions.
“We are looking to make sure that the panel contracts are appropriate to the scale and nature of the work categories, and we are trying to align the limit of liability so that it’s more sensitive to the risk profile of the work being done,” he said.
For a copy of the ICT Industry Strategic Plan, please email admin@itcouncil.asn.au
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