Government ICT agency Becta has been reported to the European Commissioner for Competition in Brussels for allegedly breaching European regulations in its recently announced learning platform procurement framework.
Crispin Weston (above), managing director of Dorset-based Alpha Learning Ltd, provider of the Engage learning platform, has made the complaint in a letter to the European Commission. He has published the letter, along with supporting materials, on his website at www.alphalearning.co.uk/ojeu.htm. And the controversy will be taken into ICT's biggest international platform, the BETT 2007 show at Olympia, London, with a press conference on the Alpha Learning stand at midday on Wednesday January 10.
Crispin Weston alleges that “a significant number of the successful tenders fail to satisfy criteria which were described under the contract notice as mandatory”.
He explains, “Becta did not enforce its own mandatory requirements when it realised that no-one would meet them. While smaller companies and open source products have been effectively excluded from this competition, larger companies have been included even though they do not necessarily meet standards for interoperability.”
Alpha Learning did not take part in the Becta framework process because it is a small company and did not meet Becta’s financial criteria. However, Mr Weston describes himself as an expert on standards for interoperability who has sat on the DfES’ Technical Standards Working Group, Learning Platforms Stakeholders Group and Becta’s Learning Services Technical Sub Group. He was a contributor to Becta’s best practices guide to supporting open standards, published in January 2005.
He adds: “Becta has for many years failed to implement technical standards for interoperability for learning software in schools. The result has been an uncompetitive market with a poor record for innovation. The lack of support for these standards is also making it difficult for the BBC to meet the conditions under which it is required to operate the digital curriculum”.
He also refers to the numerous MPs have signed John Pugh MP’s Early Day Motion of November 21, last year, expressing concern at the distorting effect on the market of Becta’s “outdated purchasing frameworks”.
Alpha Learning will hold a press conference at midday on Wednesday, January 10, on its stand (S95) at the BETT 2007 educational technology show at Olympia, London.
Alpha Learning, New Barn Studios, West Milton, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3TN. Tel: 0130 8485054
Kent learning platforms blog
For a perceptive analysis of the Becta learning platforms announcement, it's worth visiting the blog set up by Kent, a county which has already conducted a very progressive, inclusive response to learning platforms, trialling a number of systems (its experiences are featured in The Guardian's special report on Tuesday January 9, sponsored by RM):
http://clusterweb.org.uk/cs/community/kcc_digital_curriculum/archive/2006/12/22/4952.aspx
Becta's own learning platforms framework can be found at:
www.becta.org.uk/schools/learningplatforms
