County accepts software for a gem (8)
I believe the answer is:
sapphire
'a gem' is the definition.
(sapphire is a kind of gem)
'county accepts software' is the wordplay.
'county' becomes 'shire' (I've seen this before).
'accepts' is an insertion indicator.
'software' becomes 'app' (I've seen this before).
'shire' placed around 'app' is 'SAPPHIRE'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for sapphire that I've seen before include "Blue gemstone" , "Blue gem" , "His paper can be made into a jewel" , "Precious stone of rich blue" , "Precious transparent stone of blue corundum" .)