Summit to be held to discuss cloud benefits for government

Summit to be held to discuss cloud benefits for government

The second Open Government Summit, to be held later this week, will discuss how the open source model is opening up more cloud computing opportunities to benefit government departments.

It is hoped that this year’s conference will build on the topics discussed last year – mainly open source and open source standards, which were adopted by the UK government in November 2012 following an extensive consultation.

Speakers lined up for this year’s summit include Tariq Rashid, Strategy and Change, IT Reform group at UK Government Cabinet Office; Gavin Beckett, Chief Enterprise Architect at Bristol City Council; and John Powell, CEO and Founder of Alfresco.

Topics which will be discussed include open source innovation in the cloud and secure collaboration. There will also be case study sessions from the Cabinet Office and Bristol City Council as well as opportunities to network and ask questions. Participants will gain “insight into how Government CTOs can best steer their selection of technology and services to maximise value through competitive tension, choice and flexibility”, the event programme advises.

Aingaran Pillai, CEO of document and web content management firm Zaizi, who organises the summit, commented, “With the UK government having formally adopted open standards last November, 2012 was a watershed year. In this year’s event, we will demonstrate government organisations like Bristol City Council are really starting to reap the benefits from the cloud-based services that open source technology is enabling.”

The Open Government Summit is to be held on 25th April 2013 at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, London. Tickets are free but advance booking is required through online registration. Breakfast and lunch are included in the event and these periods will give delegates the chance to mingle with fellow attendees and potentially make new business connections.