Frameworks
Spark: The Technology Innovation Marketplace We revisit the advice and guidance of Rob Whitehead, category lead for Technology Products and Services at the Crown Commercial Service, in which he discusses how Spark will work, how it has been designed, as well as its desired outcomes For many years, there has been a strange who wanted to access such technology disconnect which has made it difficult for once the products were developed. organisations in the public sector to Spark: The Technology Innovation bring on board technologies Marketplace was launched in which are truly cutting edge. April 2019 to address exactly Let’s be clear - that’s not this issue - identified because innovation through conversations Spark p was a dirty word in we, Crown Commercial rovides a flexib the public sector. Service (CCS), Far from it: the UK held with our complia le yet n t government has been stakeholders. CCS r o ute to mark very active in funding helps organisations e t w adapts h i c h product development across the entire a capabil nd scales as which makes the public sector get the ities ch UK a world leader best deals on the goods ange when it comes to and services they need emerging technologies. to run their organisations But what we have and we have been at the not been so good at is heart of Spark’s development. providing a route to market for We want our customers to have those customers within the public sector access to the latest products and services,
and for innovative tech companies to work with the government and the wider public sector. Spark does all of this as part of a suite of wider government initiatives to bring cutting edge technology into the public sector: it compliments the GDS government technology innovation strategy, the GovTech Catalyst challenge and other similar projects. It was designed to encourage new, but proven technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI); wearable tech; and the internet of things - where everyday objects can send and receive data. Spark will enable true innovators, who have developed products through catalysts or catapults, to commercially exploit them by opening them up the entire public sector a market worth approximately £14 billion. Spark provides a flexible yet compliant route to market which adapts and scales as capabilities change. E Issue 27.5 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE
83
