The government came under fire earlier this year after it emerged that it had awarded billions of pounds of contracts to Carillion despite the construction giant having issued profit warnings.
However it has committed to awarding more contracts to small- and medium-sized firms to meet their target of spending one in three pounds with SMEs by 2022.
Oliver Dowden, who has responsibility for SMEs and also oversees the Government Digital Service, told 老九品茶Cloud that awarding more contracts to SMEs was a 鈥渓ong-term priority鈥� for the government long before Carillion hit the headlines.
鈥淭he strength of SMEs is that they are small and adaptable, they can be innovative and they also ensure that we have a diverse supply chain. We鈥檙e not reliant on too small a number of suppliers, we have a wide range,鈥� he said.
鈥淭his was a long-term priority for the government way before Carillion [happened]. But one of the lessons we can learn from Carillion is to have a more diverse, innovative and resilient supply chain.鈥�
Dowden believes that small tech companies have an exceptional ability to deliver innovation into the heart of government.
鈥淚 think this country has a real opportunity to be at the forefront of tech and in many ways it is,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he tech companies we have handling prestige government contracts have genuine innovation and bring something new to the table.
鈥淭he fact that they鈥檙e smaller and more agile means that they鈥檙e often at the forefront of technology so they鈥檙e attractive to government from that perspective. We鈥檝e already digitised an awful lot of government servcies and by many measures we鈥檙e one of the most digitally advanced governments in the world.鈥�
Dowden, the MP for Hertsmere in Hertfordshire and a former advisor to David Cameron, said it is not enough to merely provide a front-end allowing people to interact with government.
鈥淚鈥檓 pushing to ensure we have full end-to-end digitisation so that not only do you have a digital interface with government, but you have a government that is fully digital on the other side of the interface,鈥� he explained.
Last year the government announced the creation of a dedicated 鈥楪ovTech Catalyst鈥� team which would drive the use of technology in solving public sector challenges such as reducing traffic jams, freeing up teachers鈥� time and improving the experience of patients visiting their GP.
Dowden said the first wave of investment into successful tech firms from the 拢20 million fund will be announced shortly while he is also personally writing to major government suppliers asking them to make greater use of SMEs in delivering government contracts.
鈥淭his is beneficial to government as a whole but the suppliers themselves will also see advantages with the nimbleness of having small businesses as sub contractors.鈥�
Another objective is to have government teams actively working alongside start-ups, promoting innovation and collaboration, according to Dowden.