GDS plans alpha ‘model contract’
The Government Digital Service and the Crown Commercial Service have laid plans for an alpha project on simplified procurement contracts. They plan to test new ideas for contracts for the most commonly used goods and services.
This follows a discovery project in which the organisations worked with more than 50 ‘good contract champions’ from central and local government and suppliers, along with legal experts.
A blogpost on the issue says that all participants wanted contracts to be fit for purpose, legally enforceable, clear and precise. This should focus on liability, indemnity and insurance, intellectual property, service level agreements, contact points and escalation, and exit responsibilities.
Treasury promotes Pension Dashboard efforts
HM Treasury has awarded prizes for three sprint projects to develop functions for its prototype Pension Dashboard. This was followed a 24-hour competition to develop ideas for how the dashboard can support help people plan for their retirement.
The prizes went to: Webi, Sigma, Pension Portal and Pension Hub for their personal pension timeline with life event nudges; Bravura, MyFuture Now and True Potential for their financial age comparison tool; and Digital Space, GBST, NEST, Sprint Enterprise and SSP Advisor for a holistic savings tool.
The prototype is being used as the basis for dashboards that will help people to access their pensions information more easily. The Treasury said research has shown that over a third of people approaching retirement find it difficult to keep track of their pension pots.
Nicola Yates to become Future Cities Catapult CEO
The Future Cities Catapult has announced that Nicola Yates (pictured) has been appointed chief executive office and is scheduled to take up the position on 22 May.
She was director at Bristol City Council for three years until the summer of 2016, having helped set up the Bristol is Open project for the development of smart city technology. She previously held senior roles at Hull and North Shropshire.
The Future Cities Catapult is backed by Innovate UK and focuses on the development of smart infrastructure for cities, bringing together businesses, universities and city leaders to develop new products.
