Goodbye Defence Contracts Online

The Chief Commercial Officer of the Ministry of Defence has published details of planned changes to Defence Contracts Online. You can see his letter here.

The planned replacement, Defence Sourcing Portal, is due to go live in January 2021, with Defence Contracts Online closing at some point during the second quarter of 2021.

We will not lament the demise of Defence Contracts Online. At best it is an anachronistic setup, a tender portal that also acts as a sales channel for a private-sector provider, a provider that also reserves the right to pass on registrant’s data to third parties. Any Government site that gates public information behind registration is a problematic one. One that gives a private provider exclusive access to that registration data is failing to provide a public service.

We hope that the new Defence Sourcing Portal has dispensed with the commercial tie-ins and instead opted for open licenses and fewer barriers to engagement for those wishing to view the data. We will update you once we see the new site. Whatever happens, we will certainly look forwards to the day that the execrable Defence Contracts Online is closed forever.

Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss our work or your procurement data needs.