Maryland is changing how state agencies approach technology purchases, asking them to start with the problem they need to solve rather than a specific software product. A new team of technology specialists will help agencies look at possible solutions, including whether another state agency already has a system or service that can meet the need.
The effort is being led by the Maryland Department of Information Technology (DoIT) as part of the state’s Procurement Reform Act of 2025 and the governor’s push to improve government purchasing. In partnership with the Department of General Services (DGS) and consulting firms MokSol Impact and ProcurelyDoIT is creating Maryland’s first technical acquisition team and setting up a centralized process for reviewing technology requests. The changes also include updated purchasing documents designed to make the process easier when a new product or service is needed.
Maryland is rethinking the process for a reason. During Fiscal Year 2026, state agencies submitted more than 1,700 technology requests, representing more than $500 million in demand. But the review found that the paperwork used to handle those purchases wasn’t keeping up. Only about 3 percent of the different combinations of technology purchases and buying methods had a matching set of documents. Some requests for proposals stretched to 118 pages after older forms and documents were pieced together.
Under the new model, agencies would begin by describing an operational challenge rather than identifying a product they want to purchase. DoIT would then examine the underlying need and determine whether an existing state system, shared license or available platform could address it before the agency moves forward with a new acquisition.
The earlier process was built around fulfilling individual agency needs, which could lead to separate purchases, systems that did not connect and overlapping software capabilities.
Nathan Miller, communications director for DoIT, said the department is trying to move away from that pattern by making technology decisions more collaborative. The new approach is intended to identify resources already available across state government and reduce purchases made for only one agency when an existing solution could serve the same purpose. But Miller said the department’s ambitions extend beyond changing the paperwork involved in purchasing.
“The larger goal is to transform the state’s institutional relationship with technology,” he said, moving away from “simply responding to individual technology requests” and toward shaping the state’s technology environment around shared needs and long-term public value.
The shift also puts more emphasis on whether proposed technology is worth adopting in the first place, particularly as agencies consider emerging tools such as AI. Rather than evaluating a purchase only in response to an individual request, the new process is intended to examine a solution’s usefulness, security and ability to fit into the state’s existing technology environment.
DoIT plans to establish common technical and compliance requirements through nine internal review functions covering areas such as cybersecurity, privacy, accessibility, data governance, AI, licensing and legal oversight. Those shared requirements would give agencies a consistent set of standards for evaluating technology requests while reducing the need to work through the same administrative reviews separately for each purchase.
The department also plans to work with Partners for Public Good on the use of AI in the acquisition process. Any AI tools developed for that work will be subject to Maryland’s Responsible AI Policy.
The purchasing documents themselves are also slated for an overhaul. DoIT and DGS, working with Procurely, are developing templates designed for specific types of technology purchases. The department expects the revised documents to be roughly half the length of those used in the previous process, with more attention paid to what a product can do and how it addresses an agency’s needs. Statewide compliance requirements would be incorporated into the templates while retaining applicable procurement and regulatory requirements.
The division of responsibilities between the two state departments will remain in place. DoIT will handle technical discovery, solution development and technology standards, while DGS retains its statutory procurement duties, including procurement governance, solicitation oversight and applicable approval authority.
The new process is already being tested with seven state agencies, giving DoIT a chance to see how it works in practice before expanding it across state government. The department has not named the agencies while testing is underway, but Miller said their participation has helped validate the centralized intake process and the idea of looking at an agency’s needs before settling on a technology solution. What the state learns from those tests will help it make adjustments along the way.
The work will continue as DoIT builds the team responsible for carrying the new approach forward. The department has not set a firm date for statewide implementation, but Miller said the process is expected to roll out gradually over the coming months as the permanent Technology Acquisitions team comes together. Agencies will begin using the centralized intake process for technology purchases as it becomes available.
DoIT has already started recruiting for the team, which will work with agency procurement officers and the Department of General Services’ Office of State Procurement. The initial posting for a senior director of technology acquisitions, who will lead the group, drew more than 100 applicants from across the country, according to the state. The department is also hiring user experience researchers and designers, product managers and software engineers.
The goal is to make better technology decisions before agencies spend money, but Miller said the payoff should reach much further than the purchasing process itself.
“Beyond a faster and lower-cost procurement process, Marylanders and state employees would notice more intuitive and reliable digital services that better meet their needs,” he said.
Source: www.govtech.com
