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Industry leaders support the publication of techUK’s public sector priorities for the new government.

Following the publication of 'Delivering Better Public Services through tech', leading UK and global companies have commented in support of techUK's public sector priorities for the new government. techUK's Public Services Board has identified four areas that the industry believe needs to be addressed in the next five years to deliver better public services for UK citizens.

Damien Venkatasamy, Industry General Manager, Public Sector, CSC UK&I and Netherlands and Chair of the Public Services Board at techUK:

"Much progress has been made in the approach to digital government over the last five years. This includes the creation of the Government Digital Service as an agent for sparking innovation, easier and faster procurement through G-Cloud, and the opportunities from open data. The challenge for the next Government is to build on these achievements and deliver truly digital public services, through end-to-end transformation."

Chris Price, Director of Public Sector & SIs, Computacenter and Vice Chair of the Public Services Board at techUK:

'The next five years are exceptionally important and it is key that both Government & techUK work together to ensure that we deliver better value for UK citizens. Key to this will be tackling the issues highlighted as priority areas by techUK's Public Services Board (PSB). Computacenter is fully committed to supporting techUK in delivering an improved engagement between Government and industry such that these priority areas can be positively addressed'

Carlos Oliviera, Founder & CEO, Shaping Cloud:

"As an SME focused on supplying cloud based software to the Public Sector it is encouraging to see such widespread recognition of the key role that technology can play in improving service delivery whilst at the same time lowering cost. However, it is concerning that the Government's SME message has yet to truly take hold and this is reflected in many of our day to day engagements with civil servants."

Stuart Mitchell, Programme Director - Public Sector, Oracle UK: 

"We are pleased to see this report which is very timely at this stage of the economic and political cycle. IT Suppliers of all sizes and scope have much more to offer Government and citizens in the digital transformation journey and we welcome the openness to greater engagement expressed in the findings. Oracle is keen to deliver additional value from its global expertise and technology assets and its close partnership with SMEs, that are already delivering successful outcomes and cost savings across Public Sector."

Ian Heath, Director for Public Sector, EMC UK:

"As the techUK survey reveals, the public sector cannot be immune to the current IT skills shortage and may, in fact, be more vulnerable than the private sector where budget is likely to be available to secure the best talent and also retain it. EMC is keen to help address the significant challenge ahead in developing the digital skills needed to grow the economy and be competitive. Without trained, qualified IT professionals across the Civil Service through more innovative collaboration with the industry via techUK, the improvements and cost savings that can be achieved through IT simply won't be realised and the UK will own a public sector shackled to outdated technology unable to respond to citizens' needs."