History of the Procurement Office

The Procurement Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network is a young institution. The milestones below record the arrangements that preceded it, its establishment and the work of its first day, and will be extended as tenders are awarded and the Office's reporting cycle begins.

1. Before September 2026

   Purchasing by member organisations

   Before the Office existed, each member organisation of the Network bought goods, services and works under its own procedures. There was no common set of rules, no shared list of approved suppliers and no single record of the contracts in force. Suppliers dealing with several member organisations registered separately with each.

2. 10 August 2026

   Interim procedures agreed

   At the start of the transition period the member organisations agreed interim procurement procedures for purchases needed to bring the departments and offices of the Network into being. Six tenders were conducted under those procedures, and the approved supplier lists of the member organisations were consolidated into a single list.

3. 21 August to 4 September 2026

   Transition tenders closed and contracts awarded

   The six interim tenders closed between 21 August and 2 September 2026. Five were awarded, for desktop computers, the fit-out of six clinics, security guarding, signage and vehicle hire; one, for catering at Central Exchange, received no compliant response and will be re-tendered. A sixth contract, for web hosting, was awarded by quotation.

4. 6 September 2026

   Office established

   The Procurement Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network was formally established, with responsibility for tenders, supplier registration, the procurement rules and the contract register of the Network.

5. 6 September 2026

   Official website launched

   The Office launched procurement.gov.vin, carrying press releases, official statements, every open tender, the supplier register, the procurement rules and the contract register.

6. 6 September 2026

   First tender round, supplier registration and the rules

   On the day of its establishment the Office published seven tenders with a combined estimated value of 734,000 credits, opened supplier registration with 214 suppliers carried over from the consolidated list, adopted the procurement rules and published the contract register with its first six entries.

7. Forthcoming

   First awards, second tender round and quarterly reporting

   The outcome of the five tenders closing on 28 September 2026 will be published within five working days of award. The second tender round, including the re-tender of catering at Central Exchange, is expected in October 2026, together with the Office's first quarterly report, covering the quarter ending 30 September 2026.

Announcements are published in the Newsroom. For the Office's present responsibilities, see About the Office; for the contracts awarded during the transition, see the Contract Register; for the Office's reporting on activity, see Statistics.