WIREDGOV

The announcement of the successful suppliers for the provision of IT services for the Public Services Network (PSN) demonstrates a major milestone in the Government’s ICT Strategy, Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said recently.

The PSN will provide a single logical network and marketplace for public sector communications, bringing suppliers and customers together to substantially reduce costs. It will be the platform for public service providers to operate, share and deliver services across traditional departmental and regional boundaries, in more cost-effective and innovative ways.

PSN-compliant services and systems are already in use in local and central government and the programme produced confirmed savings of £64.2m in 2011/12.

Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude said:

The goal of the Government’s ICT Strategy is to ensure we can deliver smarter, more cost-effective, modern public services. With the award of the PSN Services Framework, following the PSN Connectivity Framework in April, we have passed a major milestone by establishing a competitive ICT marketplace at the heart of the public sector.

“The PSN will drive savings and efficiencies by removing duplicate network connections, providing simpler procurement and greater competition, and allowing public sector employees to work in more flexible, user-focused ways.”

Twenty-nine suppliers have been named on the new framework being established by Government Procurement Service (GPS). They offer services ranging from CCTV and physical security monitoring, to video- and teleconferencing systems, call/contact centre services, mobile services (Voice, SMS, Data), messaging services, and secure gateways.

PSN Programme Director Craig Eblett said:

The PSN Services Framework, together with the PSN Connectivity Framework, provides the public sector with the preferred route to market for all PSN networks and telecommunications spend.  A fair and open PSN marketplace is now in place, and there is strong demand from public sector organisations to access it. I’d like to congratulate all the successful suppliers and wish them well as they compete for work under the framework.

Note to Editors

1. The successful PSN Services suppliers are:

2e2 UK Ltd
Airwave Solutions
Azzurri Communications Ltd
British Telecommunications plc
Cable & Wireless Worldwide
Capita Business Services Ltd
Cassidian UK
CSC Computer Sciences Ltd
Computacenter (UK) Ltd
Daisy Communications Ltd
Easynet Global Services
Everything Everywhere Ltd
Freedom Communications (UK) Ltd
Fujitsu
Global Crossing (Level 3)
Icom Holdings Ltd
KCOM Group plc
Logicalis UK Ltd
NextiraOne UK Ltd
PageOne Communications Ltd
Phoenix IT Group Ltd
Siemens Communications
Specialist Computer Centre
Telefónica UK Ltd
telent Technology Services Ltd
Thales UK Ltd
Uniworld Communications Ltd
Virgin Media Business Ltd
Vodafone Ltd

2. The Public Services Network (PSN) will substantially reduce the cost of communication services across UK Government and enable new, joined-up and shared public services. PSN is creating one logical network, based on industry standards, and a more open and competitive ICT marketplace at the heart of the UK public sector. Market participation in the procurement process has been strong. 

3. Two national PSN frameworks have been established by (GPS) for connectivity and additional services. They will provide a simple and cost-effective way for the public sector to obtain and industry to supply PSN-assured services that will not only offer best value and commercial transparency but provide standardised services across the public sector, enabling more flexibility in the way government buys and shares telecommunications services.

4. For further information about the Public Services Network, visit www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/public-services-network

5. The Government’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/content/government-ict-strategy - set out how the Government ICT landscape would change over the current spending review period, and included 30 actions that form the foundation activities for achieving the Strategy’s core objectives of:

o reducing waste and project failure, and stimulating economic growth;
o creating a common ICT infrastructure;
o using ICT to enable and deliver change; and
o strengthening governance.

• The Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP), published in October 2011 - http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/uk-government-ict-strategy-resources - sets out how Government will deliver the ICT Strategy to ensure that frontline services have the tools to deliver effective public services and outlined how implementation of the strategy would be managed as a portfolio of 19 individual delivery areas with Senior Responsible Owners from the CIO Delivery Board providing oversight and driving delivery of strategy commitments.

• Successful implementation of the ICT strategy across central government is projected to contribute to £1.4bn of savings within the SR10 period with £460m savings in-year in 2014/15. The majority of projected in-year savings will be delivered through the creation and exploitation of a common ICT infrastructure. Additional ICT savings will be realised through improvements to suppliers and project management. The report “One Year On: Implementing the Government ICT Strategy” can be viewed at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/one-year-on-implementing-government-ict-strategy