New Google partnership will help rid taxpayer of ‘ball and chain’ legacy tech and aim to upskill 100,000 civil servants in tech and AI
New partnership with Google Cloud will help modernise outdated government IT, upskill 100,000 civil servants in digital and AI by 2030, and secure better tech deals for the taxpayer.
- 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 bid 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 Peter Kyle 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.
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