Following the publication of the strategic implementation plan (SIP) for the government ICT strategy, the Cabinet Office yesterday published sub-strategies for 4 of its 19 delivery areas – cloud, green ICT, end-user devices and ICT capability.  For ease of reference for Intellect members, we have highlighted some of the key points from each of the four strategies.

In addition, here are some of our observations on each of the four sub-strategies.

Government Cloud – The vision of the G-cloud strategy shows that the UK government is in step with the industry.  Commitments to a ‘public cloud first policy’, the move to ‘on-demand delivery’ and buying more solutions from the market ‘as is’ are on the money.  (more…)

Technorati Tags: Cabinet Office, capability, cloud, end user devices, Government ICT, green ICT

The Cabinet Office has today published updated guidance for ‘Government ICT Offshoring (International Sourcing)’

This is essentially a ‘how to’ guide to offshoring, with the underlying message that offshoring (even where personal data is involved) is now acceptable given appropriate risk assurance, security of information, etc. The guidance states that this is not a new policy, but we note that this is a change in emphasis of the government’s default position. Here is an extract from the summary:

“In order to maximise value for money in procuring services, and uphold their ‘duty to safeguard public funds’ CIOs will want to ensure that potential suppliers are aware that offshore solutions will be considered and they may want to utilise the potential capability advantage and cost savings of globally provisioned shared or cloud services. But CIOs will also want to ensure that potential suppliers understand clearly the requirements that they will have to meet. Finally, the CIO will need a clear understanding of both the benefits and risks of offshore solutions in order to make a sound evaluation of such offers, before committing to proceed.

“From a security perspective, data, information or services may normally be offshored provided that … high-level Information Assurance (IA) requirements can be met.”

How will this affect your business? Sound off with a comment below.

Technorati Tags: Cabinet Office, government, ICT, offshoring

Today the government has announced greater centralisation of purchasing for common goods and services. This makes good sense, and is something the technology industry has long advocated as a way to minimise duplication and reduce the costs of procurement (though ICT services can be slightly more complicated than stationery, of course). Even greater savings will be possible if local public service delivery bodies take advantage of centralised deals, and the technology industry is keen to do its part to help make this possible.

(more…)

Technorati Tags: Cabinet Office, Innovation Den, intellect, John Collington, procurement, SMEs, Stephen Allott

My mother teaches a class of 9-year-olds in the US. Recently, she dug out 10 small slates and some chalk and brought them into her classroom. She fired questions at the students and asked them to scribble their answers on the slates in teams. The kids found this to be a huge novelty and were actively engaged in the lesson for over an hour. Fantastic – slates and chalk are now so old, they are retro cool!

I think this is a great illustration of how stimulating students’ creativity and engaging them in the learning process has got to be the new paradigm. You don’t need the latest and greatest technology to do this. However, ICT can be a huge asset to opening up possibilities and expanding what you can do in or out of the classroom. But don’t take my word for it. (more…)

Technorati Tags: education, ICT, learning, teaching, technology

Well, that title’s a bit of an exaggeration, I must admit. I do, however, have some observations from Brussels that I thought I’d pass on from the ‘Lift Off towards Open Government’ Conference on technology in public services across the EU.

From the EU president, the EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, the Belgian minister of ICT/reform/the economy, and even the US Government CIO, the messages on open government were remarkably clear and consistent. Key themes of all of these presentations include:
- open data
- privacy, but with an end aim of inspiring trust in technology
- facilitating democracy – an astronaut even managed to vote in a secret ballot from the International Space Station in 2009
- long-term structural reform, but with quick deliverables along the way
- interoperability
- and of course, the cloud, which was presented alongside rationalising data centres as a near-panacea

(more…)

Technorati Tags: EU, Europe, government, lift off, open government, public services, women in IT

The Department for Education have managed to escape substantial budget cuts, and their business plan reflects this with an emphasis more on new and improved services as opposed to driving efficiencies. This could partly reflect a point made in their vision statement on the need for the UK to keep up with international competition: “In the most recent Performance in International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, we fell from 4th to 14th in science, from 7th to 17th in literacy, and from 8th to 24th in mathematics.”

Savings were mainly to be achieved through the elimination of quangos and the discontinuation of the Building Schools for the Future programme, ie actions that have already been taken. (more…)

Technorati Tags: BIS, business plan, DFE, education, government, ICT, technology

Most of the direct references to ICT in central government can be found in the Cabinet Office business plan. The departmental plans contain some interesting bits, but most of the big bits have been announced previously in the Spending Review, such as HMRC’s plan to invest £900m in recovering additional tax revenue and DWP’s plans for universal credit. The following observations therefore focus on the Cabinet Office plan.

Increased delivery of services online now seems to be enshrined with the commitment to mandate channel shift (1.13.ii). The dual levers of central mandation and departmental budget cuts will likely help accelerate this move. In addition (while it has long been known that online service delivery is vastly cheaper than via other channels) the ‘input indicator’ to publish every department’s cost per citizen transaction on the internet, phone and in person should help give this even greater momentum. (more…)

Technorati Tags: business plan, central government, efficiency, ICT, Obama, procurement

Sir Philip Green’s efficiency review of central government was published yesterday (in a very reader-friendly format). Some relevant points are copied at the end of this post.

The main messages from the review will not be a surprise to suppliers to government – data in government is poor, there has been little incentive for departments to save, (more…)

Technorati Tags: Efficiency and Reform Group, Efficiency Review, government, Green, procurement, Sir Philip Green

09:35 I’m sitting here at the Tower with a couple lovely ladies from the National Archive Office and a gentleman from Steria (also lovely). Compared to last year, it’s now a lot easier to have a chat with my fellow attendees as we are sat in cabaret style (instead of theatre style) in a giant hall at the Guoman Tower Hotel. Flat screen televisions around the room so that everyone in the back can see what’s on the screen. Nice air-con. Just about ready to get going.

09:40 John Higgins (Intellect’s director general) steps up to the stage following a funky, trance music intro. Scattered grooving throughout the room (to the music).
(more…)

Technorati Tags: Cabinet Office, Lord Davies, Public Sectors, public service reform, Tom Watson, Tower '09

Next Thursday (14 May), a few hundred government representatives will be gathering with senior members of the industry at the Intellect-Cabinet Office event, Tower ’09. I’ll be blogging live from the ‘Tower’ to give you an update on the government’s vision for wider public sector reform, and the visions, experiences and innovations shared by key government figures.

Our cadre of top-notch speakers, including Tom Watson MP (parliamentary secretary) and Lord Davies (the trade minister), will be looking at themes such as open government, empowering people and businesses, and driving service transformation to increase productivity and innovation.

I hope to see you then and/or in the blogosphere.

Technorati Tags: Cabinet Office, Tower '09