The strategy involves the creation of a single public sector
telecoms network; a cloud of applications, called the G-Cloud; a
rationalisation of the Government's data centres; and a
standardisation of the IT infrastructure and the processes carried
out on it.
The Government claims that its new strategy could save £3.2
billion a year from 2013 onwards.
"The government will create one secure, resilient and flexible
network which will enable every area of government to adapt their
ICT to best deliver for the public," said a statement from the
Government's Cabinet Office. "Other changes include, for the first
time, bringing together Government departments, local government
and wider public sector organisations to remove unnecessary
overlaps between departments and avoid costly duplication of
technology."
"We have seen a period of significant change over recent months
and years. Technology has changed, the economy has changed and ICT
in government must also change," said John Suffolk, the
Government's chief information officer. "This strategy sets out a
new model for Government ICT which will deliver a secure and
resilient ICT infrastructure that will enable faster, better
services for the public."
The new strategy is designed to guide the development of the
Government's use of information technology until 2020. The strategy
says that in order to work it will need the Cabinet Office to work
closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government to
make sure that the wider public sector adopts the changes.
The strategy said that it would, if implemented properly, create
a "simplification and standardisation of ICT across the public
sector that enables interoperability and data sharing, where
appropriate, to deliver improved public services to citizens and
businesses".
The Cabinet Office said that the G-Cloud infrastructure would
"enable public sector bodies to select and host ICT services from
one secure shared network. Multiple services will be available from
multiple suppliers on the network making it quicker and cheaper to
switch suppliers and ensure systems are best suited to need".
It said that reducing the number of data centres used by
Government to 10 or 12 would not only save money but also cut down
on power consumption.
The strategy also proposes the creation of a public sector
'applications store'. "The Application Store will be a marketplace
for sharing and reusing online computer programs (like standard
Office applications such as word processing and email) on a pay by
use basis. It will speed up procurement and deliver savings of
approximately £500 million per year," said the Cabinet Office.
The Government said that it would save £400m a year by ensuring
that all public sector workers shared a common computer desktop
design.
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