All of the COI's roster agencies have received a letter explaining how its buying contracts might be better configured to maximise effectiveness.
The pitch process is expected to begin in the late autumn.
The COI acts as a central purchasing body for the UK Government, in the context of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006.
The move follows an internal review process at the COI by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) founder and media industry expert, Douglas McArthur OBE, which began in September 2007.
His brief covered areas such as the speed and spread of the move to a multi-platform world, the development of cross-platform opportunities and negotiation and the increase in online/digital media volumes.
Peter Buchanan, COI's deputy chief executive, said at the time: "Our present system of awarding buying contracts by medium to single suppliers has served us well to date.
"However, we feel that with the multi-platform world of the future, media owners expanding their own offerings across platforms and the increasing convergence of technology, we must look at whether our current systems are fit for purpose going forward."
Earlier this week, the COI's annual report confirmed the Government had become the UK's largest advertiser after its media spend increased 35% to £211m in the year to March 2009.
The move comes ahead of statutory reviews for all of COI's media buying accounts scheduled for March next year.
Currently Aegis's Carat handles the buying for TV and cinema, MediaCom handles press, I-Level handles digital, Starcom handles radio and Posterscope handles outdoor.
In this week's annual report, Mark Lund, chief executive of the COI, said: "The need for government to communicate with the public is greater than ever as society faces challenges such as obesity, climate change and the recession. Government campaigns can help save lives and save money."
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