CTC partners with PSC to promote technology growth
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Professional Services Council announced plans to work with the California Technology Council to help local tech companies compete for state government contracts.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed by both groups, the organizations will work together to develop an agenda aimed at improving the government procurement process. They also plan to hold joint events for their members on topics like innovative tech and cybersecurity. The first event, slated for November, will be a seminar in Silicon Valley focused on disruptive technologies.
“We had our own agenda for helping entrepreneurs prepare for the marketplace in technology,” Matt Gardner, CEO of California Technology Council, told StateScoop last week. “It was an obvious value for us in partnering with them.”
California Technology Council —which represents organizations like computer programming school General Assembly, Acellent technologies Inc. and Bayer AG — hopes the partnership will mean the state has access to better technologies. California has the largest state information technology budget in the country.
“Especially as increasingly disruptive technologies become more readily available for procurement, it is essential that the government have policies and processes in place that incentivize innovation and enable the broadest possible array of business relationships and models,” Stan Soloway, PSC’s CEO, said in a statement. “Our members share an interest with CTC’s members in the continued evolution of the government marketplace.”
One goal of the partnership is to help entrepreneurs learn what they need to do before applying for government contracts. Gardner said the state government can be hesitant to invest in new technologies. However, Gardner said companies can use different approaches — such as partnering with large integrators — to make their products more palatable to the government.
“This could lead to bigger discussions on disruptive technology and where they could fit and how they fit,” said Gardner.
