22.04.16
Connecting the capital through a Supercloud
Source: PSE - April/ May 16
The London Grid for Learning (LGfL) Trust has appointed former London Borough of Camden chief information officer John Jackson as its chief executive. He writes for PSE about his ambitions to develop a SuperCloud to connect the public sector as a whole in the capital.
The LGfL Trust is a community of 2,500 schools, academies and local authorities which benefit from the ‘bulk buying’ of internet connectivity, associated services and engaging BETT award-winning digital curriculum content, procured or created by subject specialists within their fields.
Founded in 2001, LGfL works with its community to enhance teaching and learning and to drive up educational outcomes through the effective use of technology. In my new role, I am keen to continue to provide this top-quality service to schools as well as build on the service that LGfL is now delivering outside the capital.
London SuperCloud
Alongside my ambitions in support of education, I also have a broader vision for developing a London SuperCloud to connect the public sector as a whole. This service would enable public bodies to share information and resources far more efficiently as well as reduce costs for public bodies.
One of the things that excited me about LGfL was that it has been providing cloud services and technology successfully for over 15 years. I want to bring that experience and blueprint to the wider public sector. We already run the secure Public Service Network for London and, at a time of austerity when we need to be more efficient and creative, it’s time we built on what works already. So I’m committed to developing cloud services for the public sector as a whole under the SuperCloud initiative.
This means aggregating digital services so councils and public bodies do things once rather than many times – which is expensive and inefficient. It means making it possible to share data efficiently so we can help vulnerable people and enable new insights that help solve complex challenges relating to health, education or the environment.
It means building a 21st century digital infrastructure for the sector that enables London to be a world centre of excellence, attracting digital companies and investment to the capital and generating growth and employment. And, of course, the great thing for the sector and our customers is that LGfL doesn’t seek to make profits for shareholders, it reinvests back into the sector to make things better.
Through the development of this digital infrastructure, the public sector could stand to save £1bn a year, allowing essential resources to be shared and continuing to sustain London as a global centre for innovation. Also, integration across sectors to drive breakthrough innovation needs to be more greatly encouraged and it is far easier and more cost-effective to do things once, or at best a couple of times, rather than 33 different ways across London.
The London SuperCloud will enable cloud and shared services that will support devolution, health and social care integration, and multi-agency safeguarding hubs, as well as digital delivery. Other public bodies can harness that capability. Through the wide range of services it provides, including the London Public Service Network, there is a real opportunity for LGfL to play a true enabling role, driving innovation and helping lower costs across these crucial and complex areas of the public sector.
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