The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) today (January 20) awarded 117 standing offer agreements to 70 companies for the provision of information technology (IT) professional services to the Government under the Standing Offer Agreement for Quality Professional Services (SOA-QPS) scheme. These standing offer agreements will commence on January 31, 2022, for a period of 48 months.
The Government Chief Information Officer, Mr Victor Lam, said that he was glad to see the continued increase in the number of companies engaged, and believed this could help foster IT industry development. "The SOA-QPS scheme has all along been an effective means to cope with the Government's large demand for IT professional services. The scheme also provides a promising business prospect for the IT industry and helps bring innovative and creative IT services to government departments.
"The number of companies engaged increased substantially from 49 in the previous round of contract to 70 in this new round, evidencing that the scheme is well-received by the IT industry. We are also delighted to see that 44 per cent of them are small and medium sized enterprises with their number doubled to 31 comparing with the previous round," Mr Lam added.
The Government has adopted the SOA-QPS scheme since 2005 to streamline the process for acquiring IT professional services. The new SOA-QPS scheme covers three categories of IT services:
Category A: pre-implementation, programme/project management services, ongoing services, implementation and combined system development services;
Category B: information security, privacy assessment and independent testing services; and
Category C: deployment and maintenance of common services.
During the contract period, government departments may invite proposals for individual IT projects from contractors in the relevant categories and select service providers to undertake the assignments based on technical and price assessments.
"The total contract value of the new SOA-QPS scheme is estimated to be over $3 billion. I would like to call on all contractors to bring in more innovative and quality IT solutions to develop a next generation digital government and join hands in building Hong Kong into a smarter city," Mr Lam said.
The list of contractors is available at www.ogcio.gov.hk/en/business/business_window/contractor_list.htm#soa-qps.
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