GDS Calls For Next Round Of Assurance Suppliers

The Government Digital Service (GDS) has announced that it will begin the search for the next round of suppliers interested in becoming identity providers (IDPs).

A government blog post reveals that the procurement exercise will be launched at the end of November with the publication of a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

The exercise is part of Whitehall’s new identity assurance project – a programme that aims to create a faster and safer way for citizens to prove who they are when using online public services.

The first identity assurance contracts were awarded last year in September. These providers verify user identities and allow a secure, convenient sign in to digital government services.

The initial deals saw suppliers paid each time a user registered with them and covered the first 600,000 registrations – because government expected to exceed this, a second round of procurement began in April 2014.

Information To Be Made Available Beforehand

The exercise that begins at the end of November will be preceded by a market briefing event on 30^th October at the Royal College of Surgeons to explain the procurement process and address frequently asked questions.

A draft version of several documents will be published ahead of the OJEU notice going live to allow potential suppliers time to understand the framework requirements.

Such documents include second framework agreement and first call-off contract, an initial list of the services that will start to use identity assurance over the contract period and projects for the volumes of users expected to register for the scheme.

Prospective bidders will also be able to view the service’s technical requirements and operational standards, information about how the document checking service works and information about how procurement tenders will be evaluated.

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