So, an extra £450m to save money. Sir Humphrey is undefeated - it costs money to save money.
Spending Review: GDS gets £450m, Cabinet Office budget slashed
In a shock announcement, Chancellor George Osborne has today pledged £450m in extra funding to the Government Digital Service. The news follows the recent mass departure of GDS top brass, including Mike Bracken, amid rumours the body would be slashed. GDS's current annual budget is £58m per year. The £450m bonanza will be …
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Thursday 26th November 2015 01:04 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Err f'ing what?
There's no way £450m will cover that.
Just the marketing will swallow that amount of money, which reminds me:
A bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes,,,.
Thank you Mr Adams, you continue to make me happy after all these years.
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Wednesday 25th November 2015 15:24 GMT Charlie Clark
Those suggestions
a Common Technology Services programme will allow the Civil Service to purchase consistent, flexible and modern IT, driving savings and improving performance
Oh great, let's start doing everything different. Again! In systems procurement flexibility and consistency rarely go hand-in-hand are never seen with the word "cheap". Consistency usually goes with "standard" which can be simpler and perhaps cheaper. Well, that's the theory.
a new way of delivering digital services, Government As A Platform, will provide a common set of core systems that enable government departments to share digital services, technology and processes
This one's dead before it starts. There are no "digital services", just existing services delivered digitally.
the development of the GOV.UK Verify programme to enable individuals to prove their identity online and to access government services securely and safely.
Impossible without some form of electronic id-card with TFA (card and secure reader). Make it entirely voluntary and highlight the advantage for people of having a government system that can securely and anonymously verify identity. Could do a lot worse than buy in the existing the Estonian system. Or at least work with its components because the UK system will probably be subjected to more criminal energy than the Estonian one. By no means try and resuscitate old schemes or start with something blue sky.
Fuck, $ 450 will probably have been spent by the end of January. Time to buy shares in whale cruises, josstick factories and Vegas conference centres! Oh, and some "cowanking" space in London.
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Wednesday 25th November 2015 16:41 GMT Steven Raith
Re: I smell a pork barrel. ..
To be fair, the idea of herding the cats that are the major Govt depts that you pay things to is a terrifying one; I say this having worked in local and national govt IT depts across a couple of different fields.
GDS is starting to level out and have a proper crack at stuff; the very worst case scenario is that it all goes just as poorly as other major Govt IT projects.
Best case, they do a DirectGov and actually manage to bludgeon there way through the departments involved and get them to do something other than lining their own pockets with their own backwards, non-interoperable systems.
I mean, jesus, even if they get a common backend, and everyone still 'runs' their own little fiefdom, it'd be a start.
Steven "likes to be optimistic as there are now, at least, some fairly bright, savvy people in Govt IT again, unlike a decade ago" R
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Wednesday 25th November 2015 17:41 GMT dogged
Re: I smell a pork barrel. ..
It could be worse. I mean, there is scope for savings on this kind of thing even the holiest of holy cows.
By which I mean, why does each and every NHS Trust and each and every GP's surgery have its own IT infrastructure, support, purchasing, licensing etc etc? The reason the NHS is good value (and it is) is largely because of the Single Payer system for medical consumables. We don't have Pfizer ripping off each Trust individually for essential drugs, we make them offer a good price because of the size and exclusivity of the contract.
But we don't do that with IT suppliers. And we don't do that with hardware. And we don't do that with administration or all the other crap that gets in the way of patient care. We overspend by billions because it's done a stupid way in the name of wholly fake competition.
That needs stamping on.
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Wednesday 25th November 2015 19:10 GMT John Brown (no body)
budget is £58m per year. The £450m bonanza
"GDS's current annual budget is £58m per year. The £450m bonanza will be spread out over four years."
Is this a "bonus" or is this the total 4 year budget? We all the Govt. are experts at bigging up numbers or re-announcing them 3 or 4 times as if they are "new" budget increases.
Not including any "normal" budget increases, their budget would have been £232m, so if this is just a top-up to £450m then it's not as impressive as it sounds.
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Wednesday 25th November 2015 22:02 GMT David Roberts
Pay for everything online, online tax account?
As far as I know I can pay for all the government services (local and national) online already.
I've done my income tax online for yea these many years, and made/received any payments electronically.
About 15 or so years ago I had a vefified online identity with the Government Gateway - a Digital Certificate - but didn't bother to renew it because it gave no apparent benefit over user name and password and cost money each year.
So what is new and innovative? Or is this just same old same old with added fluffy bunnies?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
