It seems like it has been on the backburner for a while now, but plans for the G-Cloud are back on top of the government’s to-do list.

The project is aimed at making cost savings for IT departments across government institutions. The idea would see the government running data centres, consolidating hundreds of centres currently being run around the UK, in an attempt to improve the efficiency of its workers and reduce costs.

The intention to build a public sector G-Cloud first came to light in the government paper “Journey to Digital” back in 2009. It remained prominent for months but managed to slip off the radar, with the Cabinet Office failing to mention its progress. Local government took the lead into cloud services, but speculation began to grow that the G-Cloud was being canned.

The issue was raised again last week, with the Cabinet Office confirming that it will be launching procurement for a short term frame work lasting no longer than 9 months. The services will include infrastructure, software and cloud support services. The government aims to set up a longer term framework early next year.

Surreya Cansoy, Director of public sector said: “We see this as a radical change in the government’s approach to adopting technology, offering exciting opportunities for innovative products and services to be delivered to the public sector. The industry has long championed the benefits that the cloud can bring as we believe it will open the doors to more flexible and lower cost solutions.

“The new cloud services framework should help make the whole system more open and flexible, enabling existing players to share their ideas and products with government and encouraging new suppliers to enter the market. Companies will benefit from faster purchasing decisions by government and government will be brought closer to innovative ideas.”