Building a smarter state: tackling legacy IT in the public sector

Following the sad passing of HRH Prince Philip this event has been rearranged following the period of national mourning.

Successive governments have identified legacy IT as a barrier to modernising the public sector’s digital infrastructure. Yet, despite a wealth of information published on the GOV.uk website to help public services move away from legacy IT, there is a clear gap between guidance and actions taken on the ground. This translates into 45 per cent of the public sector IT spend going on supporting legacy, hindering value for money.

The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a crucial reminder that more work is needed to ensure the public sector’s digital infrastructure is ‘fit for purpose’, enabling rapid operational decision-making based on accurate data.

During his first speech as Chief Secretary, Steve Barclay announced that a key focus of the Spending Review will be addressing legacy IT and investing in the right data infrastructure. We are therefore delighted that he will be leading this roundtable aimed at identifying practical solutions to the legacy question, and ways to operationalise the Cabinet Office’s recommendations on legacy.

The roundtable will be held under Chatham House Rule. This event is kindly supported by Amazon Web Services.