Innovation Marketplace
Summary
This agreement gives central government and the wider public sector access to suppliers specialising in a wide range of innovative services and solutions. This includes traditional IT as well as novel technologies, to help pilot innovations and contract with new supply chains. It is a dynamic market let under the Procurement Act 2023.
Description
RM6419 Innovation Marketplace is a new agreement developed by GCA in partnership with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST). It forms part of the wider DBIST Commercial Innovation Hub initiative.
It will provide a place for buyers to access suppliers who specialise in innovation. The Innovation Marketplace will cover a wide range of services.
The idea is to encourage innovation and provide a more accessible pathway from idea to public sector contract. Suppliers and buyers will be able to experiment with solutions before launching a formal procurement:
- Suppliers engage with organisations to come up with potential solutions to their challenges.
- Problems and solutions are reviewed within the Commercial Innovation Hub.
- The Innovation Marketplace provides a route to market for any potential solutions that are taken forward.
Benefits
- helps the procurement of innovation across government and the wider public sector
- provides startups, SMEs and academia a clearer route into government
- designed to improve awareness and practical use of commercial innovation opportunities
- enables buyers to access suppliers specialising in a wide range of innovative solutions
- integrates with DBIST-led Collaboration Zone (Sandbox) to facilitate problem-solving and solution development
- uses Procurement Act 2023 flexibilities to support novel technologies and SME participation
Product types
As this is a dynamic market, the exact scope of the agreement is not yet fully defined. The agreement will focus on providing a marketplace for innovative services and solutions. It will cover various sectors.
Customer engagement
We will have a compressed customer engagement phase, including drop-in webinars for:
- customers across central government departments
- devolved administrations
- the wider public sector
We will use a multichannel approach including surveys, live events, and focus groups. We want to understand:
- how our customers feel about innovation
- what our customers see as the benefits to innovation
- the barriers our customers face to accessing innovation
We also want to consult on routes to market and preferred agreement features.
Supplier engagement
We are also seeking input from a range of suppliers to shape the design of the marketplace. We want to hear from large organisations, startups and SMEs,
Engagement activities will include:
- supplier webinars (to be held on 25 and 26 August) to introduce the concept and share emerging designs
- supplier focus groups (to be held between 1 and 3 September) to explore specific perspectives
- a survey issued to all interested parties to gather feedback
You can register for our supplier engagement sessions using the online form.
We particularly want supplier feedback on:
- barriers to market entry
- how easy it is to use GCA agreements when delivering a fast paced procurement
- supplier onboarding
- conditions of membership
- proportionate assurance requirements
- SME accessibility
- innovation participation
- supplier experience
- marketplace features and functionality
To contribute, please register for our supplier engagement sessions using the online form.
Documents
RM6419 Supplier engagement frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Important links
| Pipeline notice | Read pipeline notice |
| Preliminary market engagement notice | Read preliminary market engagement notice |
| Planned procurement notice | Not available yet |
| Contract notice in Find a Tender (FTS) | Not available yet |
| Tender documents | Not available yet |
Timeline
| Activity | Estimated dates |
| Pre-market engagement | August to October 2026 |
| Drafting of procurement documentation | October to December 2026 |
| Marketplace goes live | Late March 2027 |