Microsoft and Crown Commercial Service, on behalf of UK Government, have entered into a five-year agreement, providing access to enhanced value across Microsoft’s portfolio of AI-powered products and services.

The agreement, which will be effective from 1 November, will enable eligible public sector organisations, via their chosen procurement route, to pursue their digital transformation and innovation ambitions,through access to cost savings on Microsoft 365, the Azure cloud platform, Business Applications, and for the first time, Microsoft 365 Copilot. Microsoft 365 Copilot, embeds generative AI into Microsoft’s suite of productivity apps, enabling the automation of repetitive tasks and content generation, enhanced collaboration, efficiency gains, and improved public services.

Growth opportunity

The UK Government aims to increase the speed of innovation across the UK public sector, enhance efficiency, improve cross-departmental collaboration, and deliver improved services for UK citizens. The new partnership provides a platform for Microsoft to maintain its support for the UK Government’s missions to deliver the economic growth needed to help fund public services, ease the cost-of-living crisis, and create employment opportunities for all.

Recent research from Public First has found that accelerating the adoption of digital technologies could add £550bn to the UK’s GDP by 2035.

Welcoming the strategic partnership, Clare Barclay, CEO, Microsoft UK, said: “AI technologies present a unique opportunity to transform public services and fuel the UK’s economic growth.

“This exciting new five-year partnership will mean Microsoft can continue to support the UK Government to create a world-class, digital-first public sector infrastructure, that will improve service delivery for citizens across the whole of the UK and create opportunities for all.”

Plugging the skills gap

The UK Government aims to create a workforce equipped with the digital skills necessary to flourish in the age of AI. Microsoft is already developing new certifications and skilling programmes for public sector employees, as well as further investment by Microsoft in its Enterprise Skills Initiative. In addition, Microsoft aims to make available events, workshops, self-paced learning and certifications for users across government, driving the adoption of new digital skills and capabilities.

Fuelling innovation

UK Government is working to build the next generation of government cloud services to enhance data quality and productivity, enabling government departments to make more informed decisions around service delivery and establishing a digitally efficient, responsive and innovative public sector. Microsoft will continue to offer support to enable these initiatives through its portfolio of AI-powered services.

Roger Gonourie, Chief Commercial Officer at CCS said: “This agreement will support eligible public sector organisations to pursue their digital transformation and innovation ambitions, by enabling them to benefit from leveraging the size and scale of the UK public sector. It shows CCS’s continued commitment to providing maximum commercial value for our customers, removing barriers to growth across the public sector. It’s about securing a better future for us all.”