Stakeholder roles

Early engagement with approvers can save significant delays when it comes time for approval of a procurement strategy. Approvers may need to know in advance that innovation-friendly procurement methods are being adopted. They may also need to endorse the investment of more time and resources into setting up the procurement, as well as funding and extra time for trials or other ways of proving potential solutions before committing to one. 

Common approvers include:

• Financial delegate (see dedicated drop-down for more information)
• Chief Procurement Officer or delegate (see procurement drop-down)
• Chief Information Officer or delegate (see ICT drop-down).

Buyers may also need to consult with or seek approval from other business units affected by the procurement. We recommend briefing anyone who needs be a part of the consultation or approval on the proposed procurement pathway.

Buyers should identify cyber security experts who can advise on how to meet the mandatory requirements of the NSW Cyber Security Policy and any agency cyber security requirements. There is uncertainty about the end solution when buying innovation. This makes it hard to know what cyber security considerations will be at the start of the project. Identifying the right expertise early and briefing advisors in advance are crucial steps. Keeping advisers involved at relevant stage gates will ensure buyers can access the right advice when the need for expertise arises.

Buyers should confirm their financial delegate early using their agency’s delegation manual. The financial delegate will be responsible for signing off on the procurement strategy from the business side, approving spend, and entering into agreements with suppliers. Briefing this critical decision-maker on procurement approaches early can help speed up approvals and achieve buy-in at a senior level.

Buyers should consult with central ICT and digital teams in their agency or Department early in the planning process to ensure they identify relevant ICT stakeholders. Central ICT or digital teams may be able to provide expertise – or help buyers access expertise elsewhere–on any of the following areas:

• alignment with existing ICT products or an ICT pipeline
• alignment with agency or NSW Government digital strategy or roadmap
• digital environment including architecture, technology and constraints
• market analysis including product maturity and leading suppliers
• product-specific expertise such as cloud solutions or artificial intelligence
• digital projects already underway delivering similar digital outcomes
• innovation models and supports or services already available.

ICT roles typically consulted include:

• Enterprise Architect
• ICT Specialist
• ICT partner. 

For the NSW Government to buy digital solutions, it needs to enter into agreements, which are legal contracts. Planning for this is necessary even when the end solution is unknown. In innovation procurement, it can be hard to know which agreements to use. This is because the terms and conditions may change with the stages of procurement.  

Tender documentation also generally involves legal terms and conditions. Engaging with a legal representative early ensures that the procurement strategy and business objectives can translate into the appropriate agreements, terms, and conditions. The right governance structures allow this information to be revisited at each procurement stage.

Procurement teams can advise on the best market approaches to meet the objectives of a buying project. They also ensure compliance with NSW Government and agency procurement requirements. 

Buyers should confirm the level of procurement sign-off required using their agency’s procurement manual. An agency procurement representative or even the Chief Procurement Officer may need to approve a procurement strategy. This depends on the risk and value of the buying project. For innovation procurement, we recommend briefing approvers in advance to avoid delays. 

Buyers should also confirm the level of ongoing support and involvement from procurement officers before approvals and beyond. Innovation procurement can require greater procurement support than projects buying known solutions. Clarifying roles, responsibilities and time commitments early will help procurement teams plan their resourcing, support buyers better and prevent delays. 

Procurement roles involved in innovation procurement may vary between agencies, and often include: 

• Business partner - understands the business unit’s objectives and helps translate them into a procurement strategy
• Sourcing manager - supports or leads the market approach
• Procurement officer - supports procurement activity
• CPO (or their delegate) - approval of procurement strategy.

Buyers should engage a risk, probity, or governance subject-matter expert as soon as they know they are adopting an innovation procurement approach. This is because buying innovation creates uncertainty around the end solution. This uncertainty affects the evaluation methods and often involves more interaction with suppliers. This expertise can help design a transparent, fair, and well-documented procurement process that stands up to scrutiny. 

For particularly high risk or high value projects, buyers might consider including an independent probity or risk advisor for the life of the project. These kinds of independent advisors serve as a witness to ensure that the project follows strong communication, evaluation, and governance structures, but they do not replace those structures. 

Buying innovation means being open to new or unknown ways of solving a problem. This means buyers should avoid detailed technical specifications that restricts proposals to a narrow range of solutions. Instead, they should frame a challenge statement, which often requires a different and niche skillset. 

We recommend you engage service designers (or a similar role with equivalent skillset) to help shape, frame, and define the innovation scope, including:

• design and facilitation of problem shaping workshops 
• synthesis of workshop insights
• concise problem framing
• definition of the challenge statement for the Statement of Requirements (SoR).  

If discovery activities have not been undertaken, service designers can undertake discover lite activity involving workshops with external stakeholders and insight synthesis (see Innovation scoping steps for more information).

Service designers (or similar role types) are skilled to lead Mobilisation activities and facilitate workshops. If they are undertaking the Innovation scoping activity, they should take part in project team Mobilisation activities. You should also engage them before the buying project kick-off workshop.