By Gemma Simpson, 24 January 2007 17:05
NEWS
A government minister has called for smaller tech companies to play a bigger part in the development of technology to be used in healthcare.
Margaret Hodge, minister for industry and the regions, today said SMEs play an "absolutely crucial role", noting their ability to tap into niche markets.
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Speaking at the London Telehealth Symposium, Hodge said SMEs must contribute alongside the "titans of the industry".
But how likely is it that SMEs will be able to win out over the public sector's usual IT suppliers? In 2005, the Office of Government Commerce revealed 11 companies win 80 per cent of government IT contracts in the UK.
One route is to encourage collaboration between academia and wider industry as so many tech SMEs start as university spin-outs. Funding for research, in and out of universities, is growing but there is still "a long way to go" to increase this type of co-operation, which will then feed into healthcare, Hodge added.
The government has tried to give smaller companies a better shot at bidding for public sector contracts following the launch of a website last year listing 7,000 new contracts worth less than £100,000.
Small and medium-sized suppliers have previously accused the government of running a "closed shop" and preventing SMEs from competing with the bigger IT vendors for public sector contracts, some of which are in the NHS.
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. Tim Wright
The government need to realise that they are continually being ripped off by the major suppliers and that SMEs can easily provide their systems at a fraction of the cost. Most government projects are not complicated and SME software vendors are frequently supplying much more complex projects in the private sector with a great deal of success.
The government should focus on providing the project management, installation and training for projects and get specialist small companies to develop good quality software.
2. Stephen Matthews
I was "approached" by one of these so called "initiative driving" organisations to participate in NHS work. I had to "register" with them, submit CV's Vetting proofs, pages of "what I do, how I can do it" etc but first of all there is a "one off" registration charge of £350. All that work on my part, and no guarantee of even the slightest work? THis just sounded like another way for Gordon to get some money
3. Sarah
As someone who works with the public sector, most have a policy of only dealing for larger contracts with "established" (a way of saying large) companies, which basically, I can understand seems a safe policy given that they are dealing with public money.
However, given the number of high profile projects that have gone off the rails and companies being in serious financial problems (like iSoft), there is no longer any guarantee that using only these organisations will guarantee success.
However, I cannot see this policy changing anytime fast until the culture changes.
4. Andrew Meredith
I would dispute the use of the word "Previously" in the paragraph:
"Small and medium-sized suppliers have previously accused the government of running a "closed shop" and preventing SMEs from competing with the bigger IT vendors for public sector contracts"
I have been using this marvelous new web site that they say is going to fix the SME lockout problem, more or less since it started. On the very few occasions that there has been a contract that fits their criteria in my area, it is written in such tangled non-english that you would be hard pressed to work out what it was for, let alone how to craft a response.
This web site is not going to fix the problem. It needs a complete rethink of the centralised way in which they have been working. It also needs them to actually want to employ smaller companies.
5. Simon
I strongly suspect that the government wants to have it's cake and eat it on the risk/reward equation.
Smaller players simply cannot take part in contracts/projects where they are expeosed to huge risk. If government were to ask more responsibly and take on more of it's own risk then using smaller players would reap dividends.
6. Edwin
Though these tenders are supposed to be for small SMEs, the big suppliers do apply for them and still win. Some customers havae responded to the tenderers and in the list are the big companies.
Until there is a tangible change this process is tasking resources and funds of teh SMEs.