February pencilled in for G-Cloud 6 launch

Government claims latest iteration 'should' be ready by then

The government has said the latest iteration of its G-Cloud framework "should" be up and running by the first week of February as it prepares to publish the tender document next week.

Over the past few months, the Government Digital Service (GDS) claimed the next G-Cloud tender would be launched by the end of October, but in a blog post today, G-Cloud director Tony Singleton said it would be published on 6 November instead.

"I can confirm that the G-Cloud 6 Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) is expected to be published next week, on 6 November, and should go live in the first week of February 2015," he said on the blog. "We encourage all suppliers to apply, so they can update their service descriptions in a way that makes it clearer, simpler and faster for buyers to find services that meet their requirements."

So far, 1,500 suppliers have joined G-Cloud and in August total sales soared past the £300m mark – more than half of which went through SMBs.

The second iteration of the Digital Services Framework is also due to go to tender in November, Singleton said, adding that more details about their plans to improve the project will be unveiled nearer the time.

"The Digital Services framework (DSf), which went live in October 2013, gave the public sector easy access to suppliers who have the right digital capabilities to help them produce public services that are digital by default and focused on user needs," said Singleton.

"So far, 30 contracts have been awarded under DSf, totalling £13.6m – to date £2.3m has been spent – of which 18 contracts were awarded to SMEs.

"While this is a good start, we know that there are areas which have needed more support and work."