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A recently published report 'Smaller, Better, Faster, Stronger', argues that in the near future the government must move 'from digital-by-default to digital, full stop', eliminating paper for interactions within and between departments, and moving to solely digital channels for public services that do not require a face-to-face interaction with the public.

A digitally transformed government could be up to 8% more effective by 2020 than if it continued as it is, freeing up £24bn a year which could be spent on either expanding public services or reducing the deficit. The paper acknowledges the government’s successes, saying that much progress has already been made on reform, spearheaded by the Government Digital Service. However, it says that it is only the 'end of the beginning', and ensuring that the government goes on to achieve the goals it has set itself is 'tremendously important'.

The paper (written by Chris Yiu, Head of Policy Exchange's Digital Government Unit and a former Treasury official) calls for the government to adopt electronic purchasing to make procurement more efficient, use electronic proofs instead of paper certificates, and publish its application programming interfaces (APIs) so developers can write apps that can communicate with government systems.

Yiu said, "The public sector has historically been slower and less effective when it comes to taking advantage of technology, data and the internet. The web is already inseparable from most people's day-to-day lives, and this will only increase in the years ahead. Switching to digital for everything the government does would generate billions of pounds worth of savings that could be used to cut the deficit or improve public services.

"Government is changing, but the world around it is changing faster. With the internet all around us, it's reasonable to expect government to embrace digital. Our public leaders need to rise to the challenge, or risk a chasm between new and old tearing the whole system apart."

Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said, "This report recognises considerable progress and remarkable potential. We estimate shifting government transactions to digital channels can save £1.2billion by 2015. This will deliver better value for hardworking families and better public services designed around users' needs. In future all Government services will be fast, convenient, agile and digital by default."

Mike Bracken, Executive Director at the Government Digital Service, said, "We've made huge progress since setting up GDS, working with other departments to release GOV.UK and start making services digital by default. But there is still significant potential to drive digital into everything the government does. This report is a timely reminder that our digital journey is only just beginning, and should inspire everyone in government to aim high when deciding where we go next."

London universities award £310 million IT hardware contract

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The NAO has released a report exposing poor programme management, unrealistic timescales and wasted IT investment in the governments Universal Credit scheme. DWP’s plans to execute the system nationally in October of this year was overly ambitious and is now planned to rollout in 2017. With a lack of clarity throughout the project, the Universal Credit team has had frequent problems with governance and unsatisfactory review of contract performance.

IT assets worth £34m haven been written off already, is it possible for this contract to come in within budget? Up to April 2013 £425m has been spent on the scheme, mostly on the designing and developing of IT systems

DWP criticised for missed targets

Five out of the eight Identity Providers on the cross-government identity assurance framework have been selected to deliver identity verification services as part of the transformation of government digital services. Digidentity, Experian, Mydex, The Post Office, and Verizon have all been chosen to work with the government on The Cabinet Office's Identity Assurance (IDA) service.

The scheme's first live services will "enable people to assert their identity online safely and securely, and allow government to be confident that users of online services are who they say they are" according to the Government Digital Service (GDS) website.

Five out of the eight Identity Providers on the cross-government identity assurance framework have been selected to deliver identity verification services as part of the transformation of government digital services. Digidentity, Experian, Mydex, The Post Office, and Verizon have all been chosen to work with the government on The Cabinet Office's Identity Assurance (IDA) service.

The scheme's first live services will "enable people to assert their identity online safely and securely, and allow government to be confident that users of online services are who they say they are" according to the Government Digital Service (GDS) website.

Through a recent poll of its membership, the NOA has identified that people are clearly important when it comes to outsourcing, and harnessing this talent it vital when it comes to delivering value from contracts.

Its no surprise then that according to Malcolm Preston, associate director of procurement at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, people are paramount. "If we pooled all of the expertise within the NHS, we would have one of the best-equipped and most capable procurement teams in the world. It would hold all the cards to find cost savings while improving services for patients. The problem is that we don't pool expertise" says Malcolm. This lack of pooling expertise in the government's NHS procurement strategy is "blocking NHS value for money".

Malcolm also goes on to say that "NHS procurement needs more than a makeover. It requires fundamental changes in attitude to cope with the conflicting priorities of competition and collaboration...We should be pooling information and working together to drive best value and standardised quality through supplier contracts. This would give the entire NHS a quality baseline in terms of the services they deliver".

With increased pressure to deliver value from outsourced contracts, it appears that the golden rules in the NOA's outsourcing lifecycle model are as true today as they were 26 years ago when the association started.

For more information from Malcolm Preston, please visit the Guardian website.

One of the biggest deals in business history was confirmed today as Vodafone sold its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications. The deal was announced after the close of trading on the London Stock Exchange on Monday which saw Vodafone's shares rise by 3.4%. Worth £84bn, the deal is seen as the conclusion to a long-running rivalry between Vodafone and the US telecoms group.

Vodafone will return £54bn to its shareholders of which £22bn will go to shareholder’s in the UK and is seen as boost to the UK Economy. The funds raised are thought to allow the company to invest in Europe and to consolidate its business in a number of markets by acquiring broadband and cable TV assets to complement its mobile businesses.

Vodafone group chairman Gerard Kleisterlee said that the transaction will position Vodafone strongly to pursue its leadership strategy in mobile and unified communication services for its customers and enterprises in developed and emerging business markets. The company hopes to invest in developing as a business, aiming to fund its convergence strategy with buyouts of smaller firms, as well as investments that will allow it to offer almost complete total 4G network coverage by 2017 in 5 of its main European markets.

Vodafone moves to acquire stake in German telecoms market

It is predicted that existing government initiatives will boost economic output by up to £7billion per year by 2017 but O2 believes its recommendations in a report released at O2’s Campus Party tech conference in London by Development Economics will add a further £4billion to the UK economy necessary to sustain recovery and drive future growth.

The study suggests that the UK needs an extra 750,000 digitally skilled workers by 2017 to secure the extra billions per year that the UK will need to sustain recovery and support future economic growth. According to Development Economics, One-fifth of the jobs required to do so are “ideally suited” to the generation of “digitally savvy youngsters”.

To realise these aims O2’s report calls for greater cooperation between the public and private sectors to enable expansion of the number of jobs available in the digital sector which is estimated to create an additional 100,000 jobs in addition to the three-quarters of a million requirement, greater support from business and industry in the provision of digital skills education, and, support from government and businesses to increase engagement in digital skills exchange programmes.

Outlook rosy for UK economy

A new procurement consortium in Scotland is helping social housing landlords in Scotland to generate extra savings while supporting local SMEs.

September will see the launch of Procurement for Housing (PfH) Scotland which will recruit 31 social landlords who manage 40 per cent of the housing stock in Scotland and spend £580 million on goods and services each year. Scottish social landlords have called “for a greater strategic focus on procurement as they grapple with the impact of welfare reforms and tightening budgets”.

A spokesman said: “In talking to sector stakeholders in Scotland PfH found there’s a growing appetite among procurement professionals to explore new approaches to driving efficiency and value and supporting Scottish businesses, labour and skills. Social landlords stated that collaboration was not used enough and that current procurement resources were stretched. “By engaging small and medium-sized businesses, PfH Scotland is working to maximise the impact social landlords can have on their local economies.”

Since it was launched in 2004 Procurement for Housing has acquired 864 members across the UK and claims to have saved more than £38 million for the social housing. Andrew Carlin, commercial director at PfH, said: “Landlords in Scotland are under enormous financial pressure at present. We can bring an in-depth knowledge of the sector and its supply chains gleaned from managing the direct and indirect spend of hundreds of landlords for almost a decade.”

George Osborne on spending review: there is no Plan B

Serco has promised to right any wrong doings with its prisoner escort services after a government investigation showed that a number of staff were recording prisoners as being delivered to court when they had not in order to meet ‘performance measures’ that are stipulated in the contract.

The Justice Ministry will be overseeing the contract and has advised Serco to take certain steps to heighten their training and audit procedures.

This latest scandal could eliminate them from future government contracts which would be a substantial knock with Serco getting roughly 45 percent of its revenue from UK public sector contracts and approximately 25% of that from the government.

G4S pulls out of electronic tagging renewal bid after overcharging controversy