The future of the Government Cloud (G-Cloud) and Public Sector Network (PSN) likely lay in the implementation of devolved structures across regional and local authority networks, according to a panel debate at this year’s SmartGov Live.
The panel, which featured Socitm’s Dylan Roberts (in his capacity as CIO at Leeds City Council), Ian Osborne (Intellect’s director of digital systems knowledge transfer network), and David Wilde (CIO of Westminster City Council), toiled over some of the complexities surrounding the future structure of the G-Cloud, which has been seen in an increasingly precarious position in recent months.
Having formed part of the group that helped define a G-Cloud programme in the first place, Osborne argued it was essential, and that it fulfilled the requirement for an infrastructure that was more attractable for government services. “G-Cloud comes down to three things,” he said. “That it’s an infrastructure flexible enough to use across government; the implementation of the apps store as an interface to allow civil service users to access to new services; and finally data centre consolidation.”
Like Osborne, Roberts advocated the creation of the G-Cloud, but posed the question of the methods required in order for it to reach its full potential. “A move to these types of technologies and services is possibly the only way to go really,” he commented before expanding on some of the hurdles facing the programme. “As far as challenges are concerned there are a couple of things: Information assurance – how do you get access to the G-Cloud services, and what certification processes [are in place]. Also, if we talk about the Apps Store, what’s important is for our vendors’ applications to be available and consumable for a significantly reduced cost.”
Roberts went on to describe the strategy for G-Cloud and PSN implementation in Leeds City Council, and in the wider context of the Yorkshire and Humber region, in which he also plays an important role. “In Leeds, the G-Cloud isn’t one big monolithic procurement. From my point of view if you look at Yorkshire and Humber, we’re taking a more regional approach. You can deliver PSN through a ‘networks of networks’ approach. I think the same applies to G-Cloud.”
The notion of a more regional-based procurement strategy is a far cry what had been seen as ‘The’ G-Cloud, though in recent months it has seemed increasingly likely that the G-Cloud initiative would become more a brand to encompass multiple, and more devolved, G-Clouds across the country. In an interview with PublicTechnology.net after the panel debate Roberts went on to argue the changed form of the G-Cloud, from a monolithic entity to a more devolved and regionalised set of G-Clouds, didn’t have an exact tipping point. Wilde described the project as “more a brand than a physical entity,” which he admitted filled him with dread when it initially looked the government was advocating the development of a single network with a single provider.
For Osborne, the initial description of the G-Cloud (in the 2009 Digital Britain report) was “opportunist” at best; he added that, “from what I’ve heard so far there seems to be a general desire for shared services, and I think the idea of having a single solution for everything fell on stony ground.”
“There’s now a more refined understanding of the opportunities.”
All three speakers on the panel agreed that challenges lay ahead for the G-Cloud and PSN, not least how governments on central, regional, and local levels deal with legacy systems. Wilde commented “There are certain things we can’t move easily from one to another,” while Roberts argued the case for three different Cloud structures in government: Private, public, and the G-Cloud.
Ultimately, the deployment of the PSN and G-Clouds (either in a devolved or monolithic capacity) will have to overcome issues of control. Roberts argued the government take a similar approach to US President Obama, with increased levels of mandating, together with a more powerful and effective role for the Government CIO: “I would like to see the Government CIO have more teeth. I think the only way we’re going to [overcome issues] is to get mandating from central government.”
The coalition government is yet to announce its plans for the G-Cloud; it certainly didn’t get mentioned last week by Culture, Media, Olympics, and Sport secretary Jeremy Hunt last week, though with the devolved structure that seems to be forming around the initiative it’s perhaps in a better position than it was even just a few weeks ago.
As for the PSN, the infrastructure is expected to at least begin rolling out this October, though confirmation of this is also needed from central government. Certainly the Yorkshire & Humber region, heavily promoted by Roberts during the panel debate (for obvious reasons) is looking to be awarded a green light to implement its own regional PSN, and current uncertified networks in places such as Wales are also waiting in the wings.
There appears to be some headway making way, and certainly within the next 12 months we can expect there to be a clearer idea as to what the G-Cloud initiative will bring; by then the PSN (or PSNs) should be up and running, though there are additional issues that require addressing – not least how regional PSNs avoid being compared to government networks already in place. Part of the perceived benefits of the PSN and G-Cloud will bring is the implementation of “proper” shared services and interoperability, and for CIOs and IT professionals like Wilde, Roberts, and Osborne they promise the way forward to many opportunities.
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