The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is planning to set up a procurement framework for big data and analytics services with a projected value of up to £2 billion.
It has published a procurement notice saying it intends to put in place a pan-government collaborative agreement that it will be the recommended vehicle for all big data and analytics required by central government and available for the wider public sector.
The notice says the use of big data and analytics has been boosted during the Covid-19 pandemic and is fast becoming recognised as business critical to the sector. The National Data Strategy reinforces the requirement to access and interrogate government data more effectively to improve services.
The framework is expected to comprise two lots. One will be for ‘design, build and run’ services to support different needs from niche work packages to data service transformations. This will involve advanced analytics and cognitive solutions, data risking, platform services, reporting and dashboards, and search and discovery.
COTS option
The other lot will be for commercial off-the-shelf software for big data management, data mining, risking and science, machine learning and artificial intelligence, reporting and analytics, and search and data discovery.
“The supplier ecosystem created by the framework is designed to grow internal capabilities and reduce recognised skills gaps, supporting the creation of intelligent big data and analytics functions across the UK public sector,” it says.
CCS is aiming to award places on the framework early next year.
Image from iStock, Peter Howell
