Government takes an important step to increase cloud use in the public sector

The Swedish multi-billion dollar market for cloud computing is moving towards better times. The government has decided on a draft bill with legislative changes that would make it easier for the public sector to use private cloud services. The government is expected to submit the proposal to parliament in April and the law could come into force on 1 July 2023. This is also good news for citizens and taxpayers as IT operations can become more efficient.
TechSverige has long been promoting better conditions for cloud use in the public sector. A survey of 158 government agencies found that together they had 220 data centers in operation. So there should be scope for both outsourcing and coordination.

Legal uncertainty, not least among public purchaser organizations, has severely chilled the market for several years. This has resulted in major costs. The analyst firm Radar Group estimates the direct costs at several billion kronor annually. The indirect costs, not least for the delay in the digitization of the public sector, are probably many times greater. Public sector IT operations amount to SEK 17 billion (in 2021) and are expected to grow to SEK 25 billion by 2025.

If the opportunities of digitization are to be fully exploited, the market must be allowed to meet the authorities without intermediaries. The latest report's proposal means that a small number of government agencies will deliver IT services to other agencies. In other words, there will be a range of government IT services. Although the investigator writes that services should primarily be purchased from private suppliers, there is no specific information on how this should be done. Instead, it describes in more detail how the government's range of services will be developed.

The possibilities for outsourcing cloud services are an important first step. Now the role of private providers needs to be clarified and strengthened in the way forward.

Fredrik Sand
Industrial policy expert

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