GovCloud – Implementing ‘Government as a Platform’ for Public Sector Innovation and Transformation
The Cloud is a way to break down silos, minimize redundant low-value activities, and enhance citizen services.
In today’s digital age, local governments face immense pressure to deliver efficient and effective services to citizens, and the cloud offers opportunities to modernize local government operations.
In the feature video Professor Mark Thompson from the University of Exeter discusses how government bodies are often seen as legacy organizations and how 30-50 percent of processes are becoming redundant—representing a modernization challenge and opportunity.
He highlights how public services share similar backend models and advocates for the cloud as a way to break down silos, minimize redundant low-value activities, and enhance citizen services.
Government as a Platform
Cloud computing is the fundamental building block for implementing a ‘Government as a Platform’ strategy, a topic Mark previously presented on for our webinar summit, exploring what the public sector might learn from commercial platform pioneers like Heart FM.
- From 1m:25s to 12m:55s Mark provides an introduction and sets the scene for the significant challenges public sector IT faces.
- From 12m:55s to 17m:15s he explains the core concepts of Government as a Platform, through referencing the radio network Heart FM and the latest research defining the topic.
- From 17m:15s to 31m:20s Mark explores how these practices are being applied in the UK and Scotland.
- From 31m:20s the session concludes with some Q&A from the audience.
Background
Mark is one of the world’s foremost experts on transforming the public sector through Internet-centric architecture that learns from the successes of the commercial sector, headlined under a theme of ‘Government as a Platform’.
Writing for Computer Weekly Mark Thompson asks ‘What is Government as a Platform and How Can We Achieve it?’ where he examines the key principles and how they might be implemented. In another he explores the distinction with Platforms for Government, one being still the traditional ‘cathedral’ mode of organizing government, versus the truly disruptive approach of ‘bazaar’ marketplaces.
Setting the scene for his upcoming talk his article Real Digital Modernization – A once-in-a-generation opportunity for the new UK government explores how the public sector might emulate the approach of business leaders like Heart FM, transforming public sector services through a Cloud technology-enabled platform architecture, ultimately achieving a scenario where:
“Government benefits from platform economics. This includes huge economies of scale, crowdsourcing from an ecosystem of innovation/investment attracted by consolidated demand and data, and significant infrastructural benefits for UK economy.”
