NSW minister of finance and services, Dominic Perrottet
More than 1000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have registered for the ICT Services Scheme in New South Wales, the NSW government has revealed.
As of 7 November, 1089 SMEs had registered, representing 88 per cent of all suppliers on the scheme, said NSW minister for finance and services, Dominic Perrottet.
“We’ve made some significant reforms to procurement over the last few years which have created more opportunities for SMEs to procure services to and work with government,’ Perrottet said in a statement.
“The high sign-up rate can be attributed to initiatives the NSW Government has undertaken to support SMEs and shows what we are doing is working. Increased competition, greater innovation and more resilient and diverse supply chains will result from greater engagement with small and medium businesses.”
The NSW government established the ICT Services Scheme in March 2013 and expanded it the following year to include hardware acquisition, software licensing and telecommunications. The scheme replaced a panel contracting arrangement with an online application process.
In September, the NSW government introduced changes to encourage more SMEs to participate.
“It is now easier for SMEs to demonstrate potential value for money under short-term high-risk contracts worth up to $250,000,” said Perrottet.
“Agencies are also required to seek at least one quote from a SME when using major NSW government contracts to buy goods or services worth up to $1 million.”
The NSW government has also recently made moves to encourage tech startups to bid for short-term contracts.
Adam Bender covers telco and enterprise tech issues for Computerworld and is the author of dystopian sci-fi novels We, The Watched and Divided We Fall. Follow him on Twitter: @WatchAdam
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