agenda
There has been a positive shift in civil
servants’ attitudes towards tech over the
last 12 months. However, they still don’t buy
from a wide enough range of suppliers, warns
techUK, the voice of the UK tech industry.
In a survey of 1,500 civil servants by Dods
Research, 84% agreed or strongly agreed that
tech is critical to delivering their department’s
business plan.
The proportion who view tech as an
‘enabler’ rather than merely a ‘necessity’
increased to 31%, from 22% last year. The
number who view it as a necessity fell from
76% in 2015 to 67%.
Despite this progress, civil servants have
not changed their views on the benefits of
broadening their supply base. Only 21% of
respondents agree or strongly agree that there
is an appetite in their department to procure a
higher percentage
of technology
services from
SMEs – the same
proportion as in 2015.
Julian David, CEO of techUK, said: “The
last twelve months have seen a positive shift
in how civil servants see tech. This gives us
hope for the future. However, the findings
clearly demonstrate a lack of understanding
of the benefits of a broad supply base and
the potential for innovative technologies
to revolutionise public services, putting the
Government’s target to procure 33% of tech
from SMEs in jeopardy.We must take a new
approach to show, not tell, civil servants how
new tech can transform both their working
environment and the services they provide.”
Civil Servants love tech
– but not from SMEs
ICT could combat
climate change
The ICT sector could play
a central role in combating
climate change and
promoting economic growth
across the EU, claims BT in a new report.
In
The role of ICT in reducing carbon
emissions in the EU
, BT claims that ICT-enabled
solutions could reduce EU carbon emissions by
1.5 Gt CO2e in 2030, equal to 37% of the EU’s
total emissions in 2012. Smart manufacturing,
smart buildings and smart energy account for
74% of the potential carbon savings identified
by the report.
Larry Stone, BT President of Government
& Public Affairs, said: “Increased use of ICT
solutions could help ensure the European Union
meets its carbon emissions reduction targets.
They are also an important enabler for the
circular economy.”
Google most popular
For the second year in a row, undergraduates have
voted Google the most popular graduate employer.
The full list of the UK’s 300 most popular
graduate employers based on a poll of 52,000
undergraduates by international research firm
trendence is available online.
gtimedia.co.uk
Security worries keep IT
pros awake at night
Security is the issue most likely to keep IT
professionals awake at night, according to
the
2016 Digital Leaders
survey produced
by BCS, The Chartered Insitute for IT.
When asked which IT trends were most
likely to give them sleepless nights over the
next 12 months, security came out on top, cited
by 59%, followed by cloud computing (48%)
and mobile computing, including BYOD (34%).
Adam Thilthorpe, BCS Director for
Professionalism, said: “Year-on-year, we’re
seeing that organisations feel they do not
have the necessary skills in-house to help
them face the IT trends that they know they
need to address to help their organisations
remain competitive. This continues to
be a serious issue not just for individual
organisations but for the UK as a whole.”
Julian David
IT struggles to keep up
with changing business
models
Almost half (46%) of European IT decision-
makers find supporting fast changing
business models a key challenge, up from
35% in 2015, according to research by
managed services provider Claranet. In the
UK, the number is even higher at 54%.
Michel Robert, Claranet’s UK managing
director, said the results highlight the growing
imperative for IT departments to be more
dynamic.
He said: “If IT departments are to empower
their organisations and keep pace with the
desired rate of change, they need to adopt more
progressive approaches to IT management,
focusing on practices which will boost their
applications, such as public cloud and DevOps.
The flexibility and agility brought by public
cloud services enable IT departments to spin up
new services which scale on demand, without
heavy investments in additional infrastructure.
DevOps, meanwhile, can increase the frequency
of updates and speed to market, ensuring
the application estate can support changing
business conditions.”
