MoD brings in Amazon to boost tech skills of Armed Forces leaders
Ministry claims that MoU is a first-of-its-kind deal
HMRC invests in £2m software tool to help manage cloud spend
Department pursues FinOps practice via commercial agreement
EXCL: Government warned of ‘serious risk’ to services as UKCloud customers hit with sevenfold price increase
Customers that cannot pay fees seven times higher than contracted price face a race against time...
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Crown Hosting Service moves to CCS to gain specialist procurement talent
The number of public sector bodies using the Crown Hosting Framework for data centres is set to increase, as the Crown Commercial Service takes over responsibility for the service.
Budget 2017’s focus on innovation and technology welcomed, but industry calls for ambition to be matched by action
Tech companies have welcomed the focus on innovation and IT skills in yesterday’s Spring Budget, but called for the government to follow up its ambition with targeted actions.
In it for the long-run: Why Luton council signed a 10-year ICT deal
Luton Borough Council chose to renew its IT contract rather than go with a new provider. The council’s technology lead tells Gill Hitchcock how it shifted to an outcomes-based approach – and why a flexible 10-year contract can still be a good deal.
Cloud hosting ‘critical’ to sustainability, says Defra CTO
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has opened a procurement drive for its hosting and application support services as part of the exit from its IBM and Capgemini contracts.
Keeping tabs on transformation: Why tracking progress will be crucial for success
A lack of benchmarking data on digital transformation programmes in government makes it hard to evaluate success at a time when it has ever been more important, says Jane Roberts, strategy director at TopLevel.
Socitm: Collaboration and leadership needed for ‘SuperCloud’ initiatives to take off
Public sector organisations need to proactively work with existing large-scale public sector cloud-based networks to deliver more savings, a report from the association of IT professionals, Socitm, has said.
Peers grill HMRC’s Making Tax Digital team over software development plans
Civil servants running HMRC’s digital tax reforms have defended the timeline of the plan, but admitted that some software suppliers will not have products ready until October – six months after the pilot of the scheme is due to start.
GOV.UK roadmap for 2017-18 aims for flexibility of scope and more robust metrics
The Government Digital Service has said it will use “more robust metrics” for GOV.UK as its 2017-18 roadmap reveals plans to improve email subscription, content search and user journeys.
Senior buy-in and real incentives 'urgently needed' to make transformation strategy a success
The government's transformation strategy needs buy-in from the political top brass to drive the radical culture change that underpins the plan, writes PublicTechnology editor Rebecca Hill.
HMRC seeks “visionary” data exploitation director as part of big data plans
HMRC is advertising for a director to lead its data strategy and help personalise customers’ interactions with services, as the tax authority reveals more details of its behavioural insights work.
MoD launches £6m fund to improve data use in defence decision-making
The Ministry of Defence has launched a competition for small businesses to develop new ways of using data to improve decision-making as part of efforts to increase its data analytics abilities.
Data privacy and lack of skills preventing public sector from making the most of digital, survey says
Senior managers in the public sector have said that data privacy, security and increasing regulations are all barriers to their organisations benefitting from mobile and digital technologies, according to a survey.
Whitehall must change its hierarchical workforce mentality and embrace technology, says Reform think tank
The public sector needs to use technology to reform its workforce by disrupting hierarchies, adopting new recruitment processes and automating administrative roles, a think tank has said.
GDS moves from ‘cloud first’ to ‘cloud native’
The Government Digital Service has said that although ‘cloud first’ remains government policy, its aspiration should be ‘cloud native’.
GDS launches consultation on G-Cloud 9 categories
The Government Digital Service has launched a consultation for the next iteration of its cloud procurement platform for buyers and suppliers.
GDS offers £125,000 for director to build digital, data and technology capability across Whitehall
Government plans to bring in expand specialist digital recruitment capabilities at the Government Digital Service and “address reward issues” in digital, data and technology have been revealed in a job advert for a new director for the function.
GDS calls for more civil servants to join cloud services community
The Government Digital Service has set up a community for people working on cloud adoption across Whitehall – and is seeking more members to drive up productivity.
Redcentric awarded three-year Health and Social Care Network contract
The IT managed services provider Redcentric has been chosen to provide the peering exchange for the UK’s new Health and Social Care Network.
GDS wants to ‘get better’ at understanding local government’s needs
The Government Digital Service has said it wants to find out what technology councils need to buy, in a bid to make its Digital Marketplace procurement platform more attractive to local government.
Industrial strategy promises boost for data infrastructure, skills and R&D
The government’s industrial strategy has emphasised the importance of data-sharing by Whitehall, as well as a push to improve digital skills training and boost funding for technologies like robotics and 5G.
Government signals end to Public Services Network
The Public Services Network adds unnecessary complications to providing digital services and will be abandoned, according to the Government Digital Service.