The Government Digital Service (GDS) has outlined its digital strategy for the year ahead – pledging to help the wider public sector get involved with its efforts.

With the publication of the team’s full Digital Marketplace strategy expected to be released this month, the GDS team have published a preview that suggests it will focus on getting the public sector on board with frameworks and scaling the Digital Marketplace.

Acting Digital Marketplace lead, Warren Smith said: “We will work to make the Digital Marketplace scalable, reusable and shareable, in line with other cross-government platforms. We want public sector contracting organisations to be able to open and award their own frameworks on the Digital Marketplace.”

The Digital Marketplace is home to the G-Cloud framework and Digital Outcomes and Services framework – the soon-to-be-launched replacement for the Digital Services framework. The G-Cloud framework has received widespread praise, but reports suggest that the majority of sales made through the framework are with central government bodies. Therefore, increasing involvement with the wider public sector is viewed as a priority for the GDS team.

Smith added: “We’re looking to make our Digital Marketplace service usage data more open.

“Ideally, we would like suppliers to be able to monitor their own performance working with government. Built-in analytics will enable us and our suppliers to design with data, to continue iterating services in response to real-time user behaviour and user needs.”

Self-service is a key focus for the year ahead, Smith said, vowing to help buyers become “self-sufficient” by providing necessary training and support.

According to the preview, increasing framework transparency is also a key priority for the year ahead. The GDS team aims to achieve this by providing necessary training and support.

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