In an effort to modernize "ball and chain" outdated IT systems and upskill 100,000 civil servants in digital and artificial intelligence by 2030, the UK government has established a strategic cooperation with Google Cloud. Currently, 25% of public sector systems in the UK are still operating using outdated technology. In many police departments and NHS trusts, this number jumps to 70% due to decades-old contracts that oblige them to continue utilizing outdated systems that are susceptible to outages and cyberattacks.
The UK's tech secretary, Peter Kyle, has advised other IT firms to try to get other agreements to solve the country's tech problems by bringing their best innovation, ideas, and prices.
The NHS, local councils, tax returns, rubbish collections, and other services are among the many sectors that the government and Google are concentrating on modernizing through this cooperation. The government intends to switch from "locked-in" contracts to "secure-by-design" cloud technologies by selecting Google Cloud. An estimated £45 billion might be saved by the public sector.
In addition to what has already been discussed, Google DeepMind will collaborate with government technical specialists to assist them in implementing new, cutting-edge technologies, like artificial intelligence, to increase public sector efficiency. According to the government, it will accelerate scientific discovery in addition to time-saving measures.
As part of this agreement, a new Google Cloud training program will train up to 100,000 federal servants in digital and AI skills over the course of the following five years. The training that Google is providing will help Prime Minister Starmer reach his aim of having one in ten civil servants become tech specialists in order to expedite the delivery of the Plan for Change.
There is great potential for artificial intelligence to increase public sector efficiency. According to a UK government research last month, AI can save each civil servant roughly 26 minutes a day, allowing them to work on other projects. Additionally, it revealed a breakthrough in AI that will reduce planning delays and enable the delivery of additional homes.
Additionally, the government declared that Google Cloud will investigate the creation of a unified platform capable of tracking and addressing cybersecurity concerns throughout the government. Additionally, the two will collaborate to investigate emerging technologies, such quantum computing, for application in the public sector.