What procurement process, if any, was used for purchasing artificial intelligence tools, if any, currently being used within the Minister’s departments, agencies, crown entities and any other bodies that the Minister is responsible for, if any?

Answer

The Parliamentary Counsel Office is currently working with two suppliers that provide AI software development services. They were selected through a closed competitive procurement process, with invited suppliers responding to an RFP and being evaluated against established criteria. The Parliamentary Counsel Office has adopted some AI functionality that has become available within software products already in use. As this represented an extension of existing systems rather than the purchase of a new AI tool, no separate procurement process was undertaken. Crown Law aligns with standard government procurement principles, specifically the 5th edition of the Government Procurement Rules. In this instance, procurement relates to purchasing Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses as operating expenditure, under our Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, facilitated by our licensing partner, Spark.