GovTech Catalyst: technology and service design standards
The government technology and service design standards that GovTech Catalyst funded challenges must meet.
Central government departments must include GovTech Catalyst (GTC) projects in their digital and technology spend control pipelines.
GovTech Catalyst criteria
These criteria are used to score challenges submitted to the Govtech Catalyst.
- the challenge describes an important public sector problem which could result in a new digital solution which creates a significant efficiency, policy or cost improvement
- demonstration of evidenced, clear user needs
- understanding of the market, including approaches that have been tried in the past, in order to demonstrate the opportunity for innovation
- demonstration of an empowered challenge owner team with sufficient time, money and people available to invest in the solution and clear plans to procure the final product
Other relevant cross-government standards and guidance
The end of phase 1 progression workshop explores how challenge owners have met GovTech Catalyst’s criteria for the following Service Standard and Technology Code of Practice points.
User needs are assessed against:
The team is assessed against:
Technology, security and privacy are assessed against:
- Evaluate tools and systems and ways of procuring them
- Understand security and privacy
- Use open standards and common platforms
- Share and reuse technology
- Integrate and adapt technology
- Make better use of data
- Create a simple and intuitive service
Design and content are assessed against:
GovTech Catalyst assessors may also consider these standards:
- Data ethics framework
- Local digital declaration (for challenge owners that are local authorities)
- Commercial operating standards for government (only if challenge owners don’t follow standard SBRI process)
It’s the challenge owner’s responsibility to make sure suppliers follow these standards.
Evaluation cycle
Challenges are assessed against the GovTech criteria at:
- challenge selection
- end of phase 1 and possible progression to phase 2
- end of phase 2
Challenges are evaluated using cross-government standards at:
- phase 1 midpoint
- end of phase 1 and possible progression to phase 2
- phase 2 supplier selection
- phase 2 midpoint
- end of phase 2
Challenges are also assessed against the original goals for the challenge at:
- end of phase 1 and possible progression to phase 2
- end of phase 2
End of phase 1 and decision to progress to phase 2
The GovTech Catalyst team evaluates challenges at the end of phase 1 based on:
- suppliers’ end of phase 1 reports
- supplier presentations at the end of phase 1 progression workshop
- a panel discussion with the challenge owner at the progression workshop
Challenges must still meet the GovTech Catalyst selection criteria at the end of phase 1 to progress to phase 2.
Whether a phase 1 project proceeds to phase 2 depends on:
- if suppliers met the challenge owner’s goals for phase 1
- how closely the challenge owner followed existing standards and guidance in their project design, priorities and management
Challenges that don’t meet the GovTech Catalyst criteria can not progress to phase 2.
Roles and responsibilities
The GovTech Catalyst team is responsible for making sure GovTech Fund money is usefully spent.
They do this by:
- making sure only the problems with the greatest chance of success are selected
- providing expert service design, technical and project management support to the public sector team and suppliers throughout the GovTech Catalyst project
- evaluating problems against the relevant standards
- only permitting challenges with a high chance of success to progress to phase 2
- learning from each challenge how government can get better at low risk, early stage innovation procurement
It’s the public sector team’s responsibility to make sure suppliers follow these standards.