a The Board should do more to help government organisations to use the new ICT products and services created through the Strategy to realise benefits. As the technical work matures, the Board should plan how and when government organisations can use the new solutions being developed, such as cloud computing and 'agile' delivery. The Cabinet Office should also carry out more detailed planning about how it will work with central government and ICT suppliers to overcome barriers to change and agree manageable plans to adopt new practice.
b The Cabinet Office needs to engage more with the senior civil service who are not ICT professionals so that government reform programmes have ICT at their core. The Chief Operating Officer for the Efficiency and Reform Group told the Committee of Public Accounts that government has learned that there is no such thing as an ICT project, only business projects involving ICT. To do things differently, government requires large-scale behavioural change. The Cabinet Office needs to increase its activities to explain, in non-technical language, how the Strategy will improve the way government operates and enhance civil service capability to deliver better public services.
c Gaps in ICT capability remain a serious challenge to implementing the Strategy. The new Government ICT Capability Strategy sets out how ICT skills in the public sector can be improved in the medium- to long-term. However, the Cabinet Office and departments and agencies need to immediately address capability gaps, particularly in procurement, supplier relationship management, new methods (for example, 'agile' delivery) and digital services.
d The Cabinet Office must maintain a productive relationship with suppliers, as both sides face fundamental change in conducting their business. Changes in procurement are crucial to implementing the Strategy. Both government and suppliers need confidence that leaner processes and stronger capabilities are coming. It is important to celebrate some of the successes where the ICT and procurement professions across government have worked together with industry to shape better contracts. This will help to maintain productive relationships.