The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has officially flicked the big red switch on the second iteration of its new core IT procurement hub, known as Digital Marketplace Panel 2, after completing a long-awaited rebuild.
The DTA’s move comes as buying agencies and sellers prepare to be bound by the Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct, due to kick in in April.
In one of the biggest lift-and-shift exercises facing existing and new tech suppliers to the government, all companies and suppliers will need to re-apply for the Digital Marketplace Panel 2 even if they are on the existing Digital Marketplace Panel that was set up in 2017 when the then ground-breaking agency was tasked with improving the technology-purchasing process for government and industry alike.
“We are looking for sellers who are creative, flexible, and customer-focused. We care about diversity and inclusion in the digital sector, and we seek to collaborate with suppliers who have the same vision and values,” DTA chief executive Chris Fechner said in an official blog post.
“The panel is not a one-off opportunity. It is a flexible arrangement that enables suppliers to enter or change their products and services over time. The panel will also be regularly reviewed and refreshed to ensure it meets the changing needs and expectations of government buyers and sellers.”
The old panel will eventually be shut down, so suppliers who want to stay in business with the government through the current arrangement will have to move across.
The idea behind panel arrangements is to allow suppliers to be vetted and approved as providers without agencies using expensive and laborious tendering processes that have historically favoured large, incumbent and often multinational IT firms rather than smaller competitive businesses.
The historic bias towards big IT vendors and service providers was one of the key reasons blamed for many government agencies falling behind businesses like banks, airlines and utilities in terms of their online and digital delivery and user experience. Like being able to execute transactions and customer accounts recognising users.
The marketplace system functions a little like a giant diet-approved buffet where agencies can browse and assemble the plate they want rather than have to ask a number of chefs to bid for the meal the agency wants to eat.
The brainchild of former prime minister and minister for communications Malcolm Turnbull, the DTA and its predecessor the Digital Transformation Office initially were viewed with some suspicion by Labor in opposition, especially given that technology was traditionally regarded as a competitive differentiator against opponents of the National Broadband Network — former PM Tony Abbott sometimes joked about demolishing the fibre optic build.
Labor has historically tended to centralise purchasing and procurement around central agencies, namely the Department of Finance, where the DTA now has its machinery of government home after a stint couch-surfing at Services Australia and being sent on a brief tour of the public service.
Many had been expecting the DTA to just be absorbed into Finance, especially after the Australian National Audit Office hit it like a piñata over issues with commonwealth procurement rules.
However, its acumen and expertise in building procurement systems have proved invaluable in the wake of the PwC scandal because measures like the Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct and taxation hygiene checks like the Statement of Tax Record can be fairly quickly developed and deployed.
The marketplace structure also makes it easier for the government to standardise procurement data and filter it, making it less vulnerable to statistical muggings like the 2009 revelation of more than $500 million being spent on consultants in the first full year of the Rudd government.
With procurement crackdowns now a proven weapon in Labor’s armoury, the DTA has embraced the transparency and integrity mission with zeal to provide an impressive selection of whip and stick-like mechanisms to deliver the desired effect.
The most recent procurement-based signal has been that large companies that do business with the government will have to commit to gender equality targets to grab a slice of the $70 billion in annual federal government purchasing spend.
Lemonade never tasted so good.
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