GovTech Barbados supports ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) at every stage of digital service delivery. This page explains the different ways we can work together – from light-touch advice through to hands-on delivery – and how to choose the right one for your project.
This page is for anyone in an MDA who is planning a digital initiative, working with a supplier, or wondering whether GovTech can help.
What GovTech does
GovTech’s role is to make it easier for every MDA to deliver good digital services. We do this by:
- setting the standards all government digital services should meet – the Barbados Digital Service Standards
- providing shared tools, including the Barbados Government Design System and open-source code on GitHub
- advising MDAs on technology decisions, procurement and service design
- building some services directly, where that is the fastest route to value
What GovTech does not do
Being clear about this saves everyone time:
- We do not take over your service. Your MDA owns its services, its data and its relationship with its users. We support – you decide.
- We cannot build everything. GovTech is a small team. We prioritise work with the highest citizen impact and work that creates reusable tools for the whole of government.
- We do not approve budgets or run procurement for you. We can help you write better requirements and evaluate proposals, but the procurement remains yours.
- We are not a help desk for existing IT systems. Support for day-to-day IT operations sits with your MDA’s own arrangements.
Ways we can work together
Most engagements fall into one of four models. They are not rigid categories – many projects move between them – but they are a useful way to talk about what you need.
1. Advice and guidance
Light-touch. Best when you are early in your thinking.
You bring a problem, an idea or a supplier proposal. We talk it through with you and give an honest view. Typical examples:
- helping you frame the problem before you commit to a solution
- reviewing a business case or concept note
- advising on whether to build, buy or reuse
- a second opinion on a vendor’s proposed approach or pricing
This costs you nothing but a meeting, and it is the single most valuable time to involve us. A one-hour conversation before procurement can prevent a multi-year mistake after it.
2. Standards and assurance
Ongoing checkpoints. Best when a service is being designed or built – by your team or a supplier.
We help you make sure the work meets government standards, whoever is doing it. Typical examples:
- reviewing requirements and RFPs so they reference the Digital Service Standards and Design System
- checking that a supplier’s designs use the Design System correctly
- service assessments at phase transitions – discovery to alpha, alpha to beta, beta to live
- reviewing architecture and security decisions before they become hard to reverse
Assurance works best when it is built in from the start. Include GovTech review points in your project plan and your supplier contracts, so they are expected rather than negotiated later.
3. Co-design and delivery support
Hands-on, working alongside your team. Best for complex or high-impact services.
For services that matter most, we can put GovTech people into the work itself. Typical examples:
- running or supporting a discovery with your team
- user research and content design support
- pairing with your staff or your supplier’s developers on the design system and shared components
- helping your MDA stand up its first product team, including coaching product owners
Co-design engagements are agreed case by case, because they depend on GovTech’s capacity. The earlier you raise the need, the more likely we can plan for it.
4. Direct delivery
GovTech builds it. Best for simple, high-volume services and shared platforms.
Some things GovTech builds directly. Typical examples:
- putting simple forms and transactions online through the GovTech Forms team, which has already delivered several live services
- shared platforms and components that many MDAs can reuse
- services with broad, cross-government impact
If your service is primarily a form – an application, a registration, a request – contact us before considering procurement. It may be quicker and cheaper for the Forms team to deliver it with you than for you to buy anything.
Which model fits your situation
| Your situation | Start with |
|---|---|
| “We have an idea but have not started anything” | Advice and guidance |
| “A supplier has proposed a solution” | Advice and guidance |
| “We are writing an RFP” | Standards and assurance |
| “A supplier is building our service now” | Standards and assurance |
| “This is a major service and we lack in-house skills” | Co-design and delivery support |
| “We need to put a paper form online” | Direct delivery (Forms team) |
If none of these fits neatly, contact us anyway. The first conversation is how we work out the right model together.
When to get in touch
The short answer: earlier than you think. Contact GovTech when:
- you are thinking about digitising a service
- you are planning a procurement
- a vendor has proposed a solution
- you are unsure whether to build or buy
- you need help framing the problem
The most expensive problems we see are the ones brought to us after a contract is signed. By then, the important decisions have been made and the room to fix them is small. Before the contract, almost everything can be improved cheaply.
What happens when you contact us
- We have a conversation. Usually within a week or two of your email. You describe the problem; we ask questions. No paperwork is needed – you do not need a business case, a specification or a budget to start talking.
- We agree the right kind of support. Together we work out which engagement model fits – it may be a single advice session, or something more involved.
- We put names against it. For anything beyond one-off advice, we agree who from GovTech is involved, who from your MDA leads, and what the checkpoints are.
- We stay engaged. As your project moves through phases, the support can change with it – advice can grow into assurance, and assurance into co-design.
What we ask of your MDA
Support works best as a partnership. In return for GovTech’s involvement, we ask that you:
- name a senior owner for the service who can make decisions
- give the work real time from your own staff – transformation cannot be entirely delegated to suppliers or to GovTech
- commit to meeting the Digital Service Standards and using the Design System
- share what you learn, so other MDAs can benefit from it
Contact GovTech
Email info@govtech.bb with a short description of your service or problem. You do not need to have all the answers before contacting us – early engagement leads to better outcomes and fewer delays.