While COVID-19 forces a third national lockdown, all UK public services continue to function but are pursuing digital strategies with greater purpose. “Rather than COVID-19 holding back progress, it has put a rocket booster under the digital ambitions of UK Government,” says research firm, TechMarketView.
The Government is making new money available to support those ambitions too. In November 2020’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR 2020), the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, announced ongoing funding for digital programmes and deployments in the NHS. It was widely reported the NHS will receive £559 million to modernise technology across the health and care system.
CSR 2020 also confirmed an increase to the schools’ budget of £7.1 billion by 2022–23, compared to 2019–20 funding levels. Not forgetting that in announcing the third national lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also promised to “distribute more devices to support remote education.”...