Government insists G-Cloud name is not getting axed

G-Cloud Twitter handle to be killed off next month as Digital Marketplace takes over

The government has insisted that the G-Cloud name is set to stay and will not be swallowed up as it moves towards its new Digital Marketplace model.

In November, the government unveiled a public beta version of the Digital Marketplace, which replaced the CloudStore as the place where the public sector can purchase cloud services. The G-Cloud framework currently sits under the Digital Marketplace brand, and other projects such as the Digital Services framework are set to be integrated under the banner in the future.

As part of the integration, the government told suppliers on Friday that the G-Cloud Twitter account will be merged into a new Digital Marketplace one.

From next month, the @G_Cloud_UK account – which has nearly 7,600 followers – will change its name to @GOVUKDigimkt.

But the government insisted the integration does not indicate the beginning of the end for the G-Cloud moniker.

"This doesn't mean that G-Cloud is being phased out or that G-Cloud is no longer a significant part of the platform or process," the government said on the Digital Marketplace blog. "The change in name is simply a more sensical way for us to communicate about Digital Marketplace, G-Cloud and Digital Services, as well as any other framework that might be added in the future."

It said the move will help "streamline" its approach to social media communications.

"The Digital Marketplace team are responsible for all communications concerning the Digital Marketplace, G-Cloud, Digital Services and any other frameworks that may sit under the Digital Marketplace platform in the future," it said.

"It wouldn't make sense to post an update on the Digital Services framework from the @G_Cloud_UK Twitter account, likewise, it wouldn't make sense to set up a separate Twitter account for every framework."