- New partnership sees Google Cloud agree to work with the UK
government in helping public services use advanced tech to shake
off decades old ‘ball and chain' legacy contracts which leave
essential services vulnerable to cyberattack.
- Alongside the partnership, Google Cloud will aim to upskill
up to 100,000 civil servants in latest tech by 2030, helping meet
Prime Minister's target to have 1 in 10 officials as tech experts
to speed up the delivery of the Plan for Change.
- Comes as Tech Secretary tells other tech companies to “bring
your best ideas, your best tech, and your best price” to the
negotiating table, in bed to secure “a new deal for buying tech
for the British taxpayer”.
Google Cloud will today agree to offer tech support to help
modernise government services millions of people use every day,
such as the NHS and services from local councils, and save
taxpayers' money by replacing old tech – helping to create a more
agile state that is equipped to deliver the Plan for Change.
The partnership ultimately aims to make sure people can get the
information and support from government services – from
healthcare, to bin collections and tax returns – more easily and
without undue stress, as well as targeting the £45 billion
jackpot technology offers the public sector in efficiency
savings.
Google DeepMind will collaborate with technical experts in
government to support them in deploying and diffusing new
emerging technologies, driving efficiencies across the public
sector, including accelerating scientific discovery.
Government departments will also be helped to leave “ball and
chain” tech contracts where companies have made it too difficult
to transfer data to modern systems, with some companies hiking
the prices while the taxpayer is locked into contracts.
Currently over 1 in 4 public sector systems run on legacy tech –
rising to 70% in some police forces and NHS trusts – whereby
decades old contracts mean they're trapped using old servers that
are vulnerable to outages and cyber breaches.
Google Cloud is able to help these organisations move from legacy
technology to the latest ‘secure-by-design' cloud technology,
which will give them much more choice in future.
This strategy is boosted by a target to upskill tens of thousands
of public sector workers in AI and digital by 2030 through a
new Google Cloud training programme proposed to run in parallel
to the partnership, helping to hit the Prime Minister's target to
have 1 in 10 civil servants working in tech roles by the same
date.
The Technology Secretary is expected to announce the partnership
at Google's Cloud Summit London today, as part of a wider push to
overhaul the way the government engages with technology
providers. The move is in a bid to give government better
bargaining power to drive innovation and technology adoption in
the public sector by negotiating for the full public sector on
behalf of the taxpayer.
At the summit, Technology Secretary will say:
Without deals like this in place, we had hundreds of public
sector organisations going it alone in negotiations with big tech
companies - leaving them without the market clout they need to
get the best deal.
When I negotiate with tech companies, I am negotiating on behalf
of the British taxpayer.
Britain will be using more technology, in more areas and more
than ever before. So, my message to the big technology companies
is clear: bring us your best ideas, your best tech, and your best
price.
The partnership also recognises Google Cloud's ambition to
support the delivery of the “blueprint for a modern
digital government”, which aims to overhaul public services
with technology and save British people and businesses time and
money when interacting with archaic public services, driving
economic growth to deliver the Plan for Change.
Under the strategic partnership, Google Cloud and the UK
government will work together to explore the potential of
groundbreaking technology, such as quantum computing, in the
public sector.
Tara Brady, President, Google Cloud EMEA, said:
Google Cloud is proud to be a strategic partner of the UK
government as they embark on this ambitious digital
transformation. As the country evolves, the flexibility of Google
Cloud will help the government lead the AI era.
We are deeply committed to empowering the UK public sector with
the technical skills and innovative AI-powered solutions required to
build a truly modern, secure and efficient digital future,
delivering tangible benefits to citizens and driving significant
economic value.
In partnership, the new arrangement will also see Google Cloud
explore the potential development of a single platform to monitor
and respond to cybersecurity issues across the UK government,
helping to defend the public sector from growing cyber threats.
Notes to editors
These arrangements will operate in full compliance with all
applicable public procurement laws, and may be subject to future
commercial agreements.
