Companies wanting to sell to the government through Digital Outcomes and Specialists must fit one of the following categories:

1. digital outcomes – help research, test, design, build, release, iterate, support or retire a digital service
2. digital specialists – provide specialists to work on a service, programme or project
3. user research studios – provide space and facilities to carry out interviews, usability tests and focus groups
4. user research participants – provide access to a diverse range of user research participants including people who are digitally excluded, as well as those who have low literacy or digital skills, and those who need assisted digital support.

In a blog on the Cabinet Office website, it explains that in February next year, the Government Digital Service (GDS) and the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) will replace Digital Services 2 (DS2 ) with Digital Outcomes and Specialists (DOS).

So suppliers currently on the DS2 framework need to apply to Digital Outcomes and Specialists, into one of the four categories described above.

The government claims the changes will make the commissioning process easier, reducing procurement time and giving greater opportunity to suppliers.