A new study from techUK, in partnership with policy and public affairs consultancy Henham strategy, shines a light on a barrier hampering Whitehall digital reform, and suggests possible remedial measures

Government’s transformation aspirations are being hindered by a “mismatch” between public-sector buyers and technology suppliers, a report from industry body techUK has found.

The Financing the Future study, delivered in partnership with Henham Strategy and published to coincide with techUK’s annual Building the Smarter State conference, is intended to “make clear the case for a fundamental shift in approach to procurement processes and funding models for digital procurement”.

The report claims that such a shift is necessary as current procedures are often overly rigid and often result in government buying single products for short-term needs – rather than longer-term investments geared towards desired outcomes.

Based on engagement with an array of stakeholders, the report makes various recommendations, including a call to embed “five guiding principles” that should inform digital procurement: flexibility; collaboration; competition; value-for-money; and pro-innovation.

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The assessment also calls for a revamp of current funding models to cultivate a greater focus on longer-term operational support – rather than upfront capital funding. Other recommendations include boosting digital commercial skills across departments, ensuring updates to legacy systems getting in the way of reform, and taking steps to align public procurement practices with the best of the commercial sector – which would make opportunities accessible for SMEs.

In his foreword to the report, techUK chief operating officer Matt Evans begins by acknowledging that “the government is clearly ambitious about the potential for technology to drive economic growth and deliver better, more efficient public services” But he warns that “there is sometimes a mismatch between how government operates as buyers and how the tech market functions as suppliers”.

Evans adds: “Government has a choice; continue with its current approach to digital delivery, procuring standalone products that, without continuous improvement, risk being left on the shelf; or take a proactive step towards productivity, collaborating with the private sector to support outcome-focused digital delivery, that supports economic growth, encourages innovation and meets user needs.”

The techUK COO closes his intro by stressting that his organisation “will continue to engage industry and central government to ensure digital delivery remains at the forefront of the national growth agenda”.