The government has partnered with Google Cloud to upskill 100,000 civil servants with digital and AI skills by 2030, modernising the public sector’s approach to technology as part of the Plan for Change.

The training will help the UK government to implement and utilise advanced technologies and shake off decades of ‘ball and chain’ legacy contracts, which have been rife with inefficiency and left critical public services at risk of cyber threats.

Civil servants will be put through a new Google Cloud training programme, supporting the Prime Minister’s aim of having one in 10 civil servants working in technology roles by 2030.

Through the partnership, Google Cloud will support the modernisation of government services, from the NHS to tax returns, targeting £45 billion in efficiency savings through technology.

Sheila Flavell CBE, COO of FDM Group commented: “It’s encouraging to see the UK government prioritising workforce upskilling in digital and AI. AI isn’t here to replace people; it thrives when paired with human expertise. The future of work lies in embedding practical AI training that empowers individuals to understand and oversee intelligent systems. The power of upskilling breaks down barriers into tech.

At FDM, we’ve launched over 2,000 careers from our Leeds hub alone. Government and industries must work together to build a digitally confident workforce ready to meet the demands of tomorrow.”

Google DeepMind will also work with government technical experts to support the deployment of new emerging technologies and turbocharge efficiencies within public services.

Stuart Harvey, CEO of Datactics, commented: “Upskilling civil servants in tech and AI is a long-overdue and welcome step toward modernising digital public services. Tech and AI are the cornerstone of the digital transformation sector and having strong tech skills is key for having a more efficient and technology systems.

This is a great start to improve efficiency and save taxpayer money that could be better spent on public-facing initiatives rather than maintaining outdated legacy tech.”

While upskilling is a great start, these systems will only succeed if they’re backed by data quality and governance. Building clear and consistent data structures, making data accessible for public and cross-departmental use, and ensuring humans stay involved in key decisions, all underpinned by training in data skills will significantly boost accountability and transparency when it comes to government services.”

Over a quarter of public sector systems currently run on legacy technology, rooted in decades of old contracts that rely on old servers that are at risk of outages and cyber breaches. As a result, Google Cloud will support these organisations by moving from legacy technology to ‘secure-by-design’ cloud technology.

It forms part of a wider offensive to overhaul the way the government engages with technology providers, providing greater flexibility and driving greater innovation and technology adoption across the public sector.

Speaking from Google’s Cloud Summit in London, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “Britain will be using more technology, in more areas and more than ever before. So, my message to the big technology companies is clear: bring us your best ideas, your best tech, and your best price.”