Dallas Stower, Assistant Director-General, Strategic ICT, DSITIA provided an overview of the new SME policy and how this can increase opportunities for SME’s in securing more ICT business with the Qld Government.

1. Small to Medium sized enterprises
(SME)
Dallas Stower
Assistant Director-General, Strategic ICT

2. Agenda
• Overview of the ICT SME Participation Policy
• Why SMEs are important
• Future opportunities
• Case Studies of how Queensland Government
are engaging SMEs
– David O’Hagan – Parents portal initiative
– Fiona Armstrong – One-Stop Shop program
– Linda Worthington – ICT Services Panel
• Q&A

3. Overview
• Why?
– The ICT SME Participation Scheme was introduced to assist
SMEs gain greater access to the Queensland Government ICT
market.
• Who?
– The scheme applies the Australian Bureau of Statistics
definition for the upper limit for a SME. “This is defined as any
business employing less than 200 people”.
• How?
– At least 2 SME’s should be approached for procurement up to
$150k.
– SMEs receive a 10% weighting in the evaluation of ITOs for
procurement over $150k.

5. Why SMEs are important
Driving better value for money
•Innovation
•Flexibility
•Customer service
•Industry development
•Increased local competition
•Developing local skills and growing local economy
•Support regionalisation

6. Challenges
• Current SME participation level needs to be
greater
• Accuracy of Whole-of-Government reporting on
SME participation needs improvement
– QTender
– Departments
– ICT Services Panel

7. • Queensland Government ICT strategy
2013-17 and associated action plan
• Key enablers to increase opportunities for
SMEs include:
– At least one responding SME capable of
delivering will automatically be short listed in the
evaluation of ICT offers
– Short Form contracts up to $1 million in value
– Innovative solutions up to $500,000 incentive
How things are changing

8. Innovative solutions incentive
Government can directly engage 1 SME in the
provision of innovative solutions up to $500,000
•What is innovation?
•Creating opportunities for innovation, partnerships
and diversity in the supply market
•Quarterly reporting on innovation incentive
•Innovation Portal is coming

9. What we are doing
• Marketing the new policy
– Departmental workshops
– Industry forum
• Minister’s SME Thought Lab
• Easier identification of SMEs across Government
– Queensland ICT Directory
– ICT Services Panel
– Vendor management tools to share good news stories

10. Future Opportunities
• Streamlining and standardising the procurement
of ICT services
• Modernising procurement to be more
commercially aligned

11. Copyright © The State of Queensland (Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts) 2013
The presenter is the author and that the State of Queensland is copyright owner and/or has the right to licence the content.
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under
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