Government gets £40m intranet

The government has splashed out £40m on a secure intranet for government departments and their suppliers.

The Energis-supplied system went live today and uses data centres and applications supplied by Fujitsu. It serves over 140 local and central government departments containing 280,000 users. When the system is linked to the Criminal Justice Network, the NHS Network, the MOD and EU there will be over a million potential users.

Karl Edwards, director of government strategy at Energis, said in a statement: "Everything about the Government Secure Intranet (GSi) has changed for the better.

"Sending and receiving information between individuals, departments and suppliers will be much easier. Remote working will become a viable alternative and whole communities will have access to a wide range of innovative services for the first time."

Hugh Barrett, chief executive of government procurement agency OGCbuying.solutions, said in a statement: "The new Energis GSi represents a step change in technology, with the capacity to transform the way government communicates.

"The new system, which is available to central civil government and the wider public sector, as well as government suppliers, has the potential to finally deliver joined-up government in a way not previously possible."

The system will also be available to the emergency services and organisations such as the Civil Aviation Authority.

The Energis system will replace one provided by Cable & Wireless.