Budget cuts hit government IT agenda

House of Commons: much talk but little action on shared ICT services initiative

The government’s shared IT services initiative for civil service departments and local authorities is floundering due to funding and cultural issues, despite most public sector IT leaders being fully committed to its implementation.

Local authority chief information officers (CIOs), technology vendors, politicians and consultants last week gathered at the House of Commons to discuss the ongoing drive to boost public sector efficiency, which is largely centred on green IT initiatives.

One example of best practice came from Nottingham Trent University, which recently implemented a number of green IT measures such as deploying software to power down machines when they were not being used, and using heat from the burning of refuse to heat its listed buildings.

“We have 4,000 people working on desktop PCs and 26,000 hot desking students, and there are times of the year when our PC usage is much higher than others,” said David Swayne, director of information systems at Nottingham Trent University.

Its green IT strategy was formed in consultation with government representatives and chaired by the university’s own senior management team. It was partially funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE) Salix energy efficiency loan scheme.

“We have already paid back the loan on the savings we made, even though we expected not to see any real benefits for 12 months,” said Swayne.

Trewin Restorick is chief executive of environmental charity Global Action Plan, which offers advice to businesses, schools, community organisations and households on how to reduce carbon emissions. He applauded Nottingham Trent University’s efforts, but said it is an isolated success story.

“There are pockets of activity everywhere, but it is piecemeal. The biggest barrier is the lack of capital, but if central government puts money into green IT initiatives, you [government departments] can work together, and that’s a big if, and [suppliers] deliver IT systems on time, there is absolutely no reason why significant financial savings cannot be achieved,” said Restorick.

The UK government is committed to reducing the country’s carbon gas emissions by 30-40 per cent by 2020, but will have to transform the way its own systems operate in order to achieve that.

“The government moves at the speed of a sloth wearing snowboots wandering through treacle,” said Restorick. “IT uses about 10 per cent of UK electricity supply every year, and the government spends £13bn on IT annually, so it really needs to get its act together.”