Introduction by Tony Mather - FCO Chief Information Officer
'Welcome to the Ocean Programme. We are pleased to be working with OGCbuying.solutions on this global communication procurement. I am the Senior Responsible Owner for Ocean, and act as the Chief Information Officer for the FCO.The Ocean Programme is cross-government. We are working closely with colleagues from across Whitehall and the wider public sector to help establish our requirements and framework for delivery. Together, we make up the Ocean Team.
On a personal note, I am especially happy to support this Programme as an excellent example of working together to deliver Transformational Government.
I am delighted to be working in partnership with OGCbuying.solutions on this project, which will set new standards for public sector collaborative procurement'.
What is Ocean?
The Ocean Programme aims to deliver:- the first section of the Public Sector Network, to cover the majority of the government’s operations overseas and some parts of the government’s UK operations, and result in reduced cost and improved performance
- commercial arrangements that will allow other public sector organisations and their partners to access Public Sector Network services
- access to value-added communications services, with the FCO specifically planning to implement these to deliver improved business productivity and reduce cost.
Programme objectives
The Programme is seeking to achieve the following objectives:- delivering services that enable the public sector have the flexibility we need to use IT telecommunications in a way that best support our individual requirements. This may include ensuring a continuity of service provision, changing ways of working and potential increase for flexible working arrangements
- supporting value for money services. This is anticipated as being delivered through both the flexibility and scope of procurement as well as new ways of working
- achieving contracts that align to the Public Sector Network.
Progress so far
The programme team is currently working on bringing together all the elements needed to go to market and start the procurement process.
Ocean in a strategic context
The Ocean Programme is informed by government's wider thinking on future delivery of public sector communications.
Contact us
This email address is monitored regularly, but at this time, we will not always be able to respond to specific questions. We will take your ideas and proposals on board for consideration.
Please note
All e-communications by the Ocean Programme Team will be from a '...gov.uk' email address, and likely to be from the Ocean email address in the first instance.
Phonecalls are from named individuals on the team and are to arrange meetings with yourself in the first instance. Should you wish to confirm that the name provided to you in a telephone conversation is a member of the Ocean Team, please could you send a request email the Ocean mailbox.