CGI to help Ontario schools buy online

CGI Group Inc. will build and operate an electronic marketplace for Ontario's publicly funded education institutions under a five-year contract worth about $38 million in U.S. dollars.

Under the terms of the agreement, CGI of Montreal will develop and manage an electronic marketplace and sourcing platform for Ontario's schools, colleges and universities, company officials said.

CGI will work with the Ontario Education Collaborative Marketplace, a not-for-profit organization established and supported by the Ontario Ministry of Finance through an initiative that aims to instill integrated supply chain management practices throughout the provincial government.

The purpose of the e-marketplace is to facilitate group purchasing, among other goals, CGI officials said. In the course of the project, the company will deploy solutions developed by Ariba Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif.

CGI plans to launch the project in two phases. In the first, the company will build an electronic retail environment in which users can order various goods and services. In the second phase, the company will make it possible for procurement groups in the education sector to issue requests for proposals for major purchases, manage supplier responses to the requests and execute contracts.

CGI ranks No. 73 on Washington Technology's 2008 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.