FAST IiS hails government IT plan

Plans to create a unified government network to promote best practice for the public will benefit everyone, FAST IiS claims

John Lovelock: Government IT plans will benefit smaller suppliers

FAST IiS has welcomed government plans to transform IT spending, cut wastage and save £3.2bn annually.

Under its IT Strategy, the government intends to create one secure and flexible network, enabling every area of government to adapt its IT and provide the best offering for the public.

John Lovelock, chief executive of FAST IiS, said the move will help in the fight against unlicensed software, and also benefit smaller suppliers.

“The announcement that the government’s ICT strategy will focus on a smarter, cheaper and greener public sector ICT infrastructure should be broadly welcomed by both the industry and taxpayer alike,” he said.

“Promoting efficient and effective services for the public is a worthy objective. However, schemes such as this will only be truly effective when joined together and integrated seamlessly, as opposed to ad hoc and individual approaches that often lead to IT duplication and considerable waste," he said.

“Critically, for the first time the plan also intends to bring together all government departments, local government and wider public sector organisations to remove unnecessary overlaps between departments and avoid the costly duplication of IT,” Lovelock added.

“Within this context government cannot financially afford to continue to over-purchase software licences in this climate and legally cannot risk under-purchasing. These have to be the most compelling arguments for adopting effective software management policies in the current market.”