Whitehall’s specialist procurement body has indicated its interest in buying and putting in place a new technology system that could help organisations set out commercial requirements and complete purchasing procedures

The Crown Commercial Service has revealed plans to implement a new digital system intended to help public bodies undertake procurement activities with greater freedom and autonomy.

The government agency has published a commercial notice of its own under the heading of “self-serve project”. The document outlines CCS’s intent “to procure a solution which will enable users to complete elements of their procurement journey with increased efficiencies and less complexity”.

“The overall aim is to improve customer experience and help them make more informed and compliant decisions earlier in the procurement journey,” the notice says. “This should encourage the uptake of CCS products, too.”

The ultimate objective is to implement a platform that could support public sector buyers in “easily raising and refining a requirement, being routed to the most appropriate buying channel and then developing the relevant procurement documentation – but reducing the manual effort currently associated with doing so.”

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The notice adds: “Example outcomes of this solution include: understanding buyer needs; recommending appropriate procurement routes; supporting the creation of procurement documentation; embedding compliance and policy guidance; [and] generating structured procurement data.”

CCS is not yet at the stage of inviting bids from potential providers of such a platform, but is currently engaged in a planning stage in which firms have until 30 January to register to take part in an engagement exercise through which the agency intends “to seek supplier feedback on existing market capabilities, delivery approaches, commercial models, [and] the maturity of technology available today”.

“Your active supplier participation is essential to ensure that the upcoming procurement is optimally aligned with current market capabilities and harnesses the latest innovations,” the planning notice adds.

Prospective providers are advised that, if and when the government procurement body proceeds with the deployment of a self-serve system, the “solution needs to seamlessly integrate with the wider CCS digital ecosystem and align with government digital, security, accessibility and data governance standards”.

“Solution design is flexible, the aim is to maintain a coherent customer journey regardless of which process stages across it are affected or improved by this initiative,” the notice says.