The South East Grid consortium’s central aim is to provide its members with a collaborative approach to delivering their network requirements and build on the successes of The Link.
Overview of the Procurement
The South East Grid consortium are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to deliver network services for its members through a new framework agreement. This procurement is intended to offer a range of next generation technology services and is open to public sector service organisations from across the South East of England (NUTS code UKJ).
The framework procurement is being undertaken as an OJEU restricted process and is anticipated to be completed and available to use from Summer 2021.
Key Objectives of the SEG procurement:
- To provide continuity of service to Link consortium members as the existing contract comes to an end.
- To meet the emerging requirements for digital infrastructure services.
- To stimulate the development of gigabit capable fibre infrastructure that would benefit the public sector as well as residents, communities and businesses.
- To build a consortium of public sector organisations that can scale across the South East of England to provide a joined up and single sourcing route for the wider public sector.
- To deliver Social Value and Societal Benefits to the South East Grid consortium.
The South East Grid geographical area is defined by this map
SEG is the new name of The Link Consortium, that has joined with with South East Grid for Learning to establish a public sector network framework covering the South East region.
It will be open to all public bodies in the region including education, health, blue light and voluntary, charity organisations as well as local authorities.
Link Consortium History
In 2012, a consortium of interested public sector partners within East Sussex combined to develop a joint infrastructure and associated services to build a single ‘Public Sector Network’ within East Sussex for all partner organisations to share.
The resulting partnership became known as ‘The Link’. The Link enabled savings for all organisations involved, through sharing of costs, removal of duplication and enabling collaborative sharing of building assets. The Link services have been consumed by the founding organisations since 2012, with the venture proving to be successful for all members involved. Customers of The Link include local government, education, healthcare and blue light services.
The SEG procurement is being supported by South East Grid for Learning and its local authority members, who will be able to use the new Framework as a preferred route to access network services. South East Grid for Learning (SEGfL) is an existing consortium of 11 local authorities across the South East, supporting aggregation, innovation and value for schools.