Oracle, British Company Join on U.K. Online Marketplace

Oracle Corp. of Redwood Shores, Calif., has formed a partnership with J2C plc, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, to deliver an online marketplace for local government procurement.

The two companies plan to bring together Oracle's public-sector background with J2C's expertise in running business-to-business marketplaces. BestValueZone, J2C's marketplace now running on Oracle's Exchange software, also will offer a hosted service to deliver Oracle's Internet procurement applications.

This e-business solution is expected to enable public-sector customers to move a step closer to the modernization goals set by the British government. The British e-government market is worth more than $30 billion annually, according to the Oracle statement.

"The public sector must increasingly address the same business issues as the private sector," said Stuart Turner, vice president of public sector sales for Oracle U.K. "This marketplace is expected to deliver the only complete and integrated e-procurement solution available in a time frame that will enable the public sector to meet challenging e-government targets across Europe."