Digital
Region E-Bulletin no 3
Update on Procurement of Business Partner
Following the submission of three
bids at the end of May 2006 for the first stage of
the EU procurement process, each submission has been
under evaluation by the Digital Region Project Board.
Whilst the bids are
being reviewed in advance of the negotiation stage,
work that has been ongoing to engage stakeholders
from across the subregion continues.
Engaging
regional stakeholders
A series of presentations and
meetings to each Local Strategic Partnership and related
forums have been ongoing since Autumn 2005 throughout
South Yorkshire. Through discussions and meetings,
the Digital Region team has been raising awareness
of the project, its potential and its impact.
For example by:
- assessing how the project
will impact on issues such as the South Yorkshire’s
investment plan
- looking at where it
may integrate with existing contracts that local
authorities and other public bodies may hold around
their IT services
- engaging with key community
based organisations such as SY Open Forum, Community
Alliance
Raising
awareness of Digital Region
As a unique project, with the
potential to become the largest open access broadband
infrastructure platform in the world, interest in
Digital Region is growing in the UK and beyond.
In June 2006, an international
audience were presented with an overview of the project
at the European IT Works Forum event in Newcastle,
where attendees were impressed with South Yorkshire
taking a lead in this field.
The Digital Region project
was also presented to a Yorkshire Forward conference,
including attendees from RDA’s across the UK. Again
the support and interest for this initiative was substantial.
What happens
next?
The first phase of the procurement
process began back in Autumn 2005 when potential business
partners were invited to bid for the design, build,
management and operation of the Digital Region infrastructure.
