The Government Digital Service has set up a community for people working on cloud adoption across Whitehall – and is seeking more members to drive up productivity. 

The Whitehall cloud services community wants more members – Photo credit: Flickr, Chris Potter, CC BY 2.0

The community will support the wider adoption of cloud-based office services in government, and is one of many communities set up to allow people working in specific digital and technology areas to share ideas, best practice and problems.

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The latest community comes off the back of the Cloud Office Productivity Services, which is part of the GDS’ Common Technology Services and provides support for cloud-based tools that people use in the office to increase productivity, such as spreadsheets or email systems.

Writing on the Government Technology blog, Simon Brooks said that the community hosts monthly forums where departments can meet to discuss ongoing projects and offer assistance.

The discussions are also used to create good practice guides on cloud adoption, which departments can use to create their own strategies.

In his post, Brooks urged more people to join, saying that a bigger community would improve services and cut costs.

“The amount of money we can potentially save rises in tandem with the number of members in the community,” he wrote.

“More people in the mix means more shared knowledge. It means more resources to reuse, and ultimately, more ways for government bodies to help themselves.”