Google Cloud and UK Government Target £400bn AI Economic Boost by 2030
Google Cloud has partnered with the UK Government to modernise public services and provide free cloud and AI training to 100,000 public sector workers. This move supports the UK’s goal to generate a £400bn economic impact from AI by 2030.
Maureen Costello, Vice President UK, Ireland, Sub-Saharan Africa at Google Cloud, highlighted the partnership's goal to move away from outdated legacy contracts. The focus is on streamlining services, cutting costs, and building a strong digital foundation for AI success within government agencies.
Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, stressed the urgent need to replace aging technology that drives up costs and increases vulnerability to outages and cyber attacks. He noted that over 25% of public sector systems—and up to 70% in police forces—rely on outdated tech, which the government intends to phase out.
Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure Progress
Google Cloud’s data centre in Waltham Cross is set to become fully operational by year-end. This facility will provide UK businesses with high-performance, low-latency cloud infrastructure, essential for competing globally and accelerating AI adoption across sectors.
The investment supports Google Cloud’s focus on agentic AI, which enables enterprises to deploy intelligent agents that improve business processes. Google’s Vertex AI platform and Gemini models are central to this approach.
Practical AI Use Cases in the Public and Private Sectors
- Imperial War Museums: Using AI to digitise and transcribe over 20,000 oral histories from 1945 to the early 2000s, making this valuable information searchable and accessible. The system was implemented in partnership with Capgemini.
- Starling Bank: Launched Spending Intelligence, an AI tool powered by Gemini models that allows customers to ask natural language questions about their spending habits, such as “How much did I spend on transport last month?”
Retailers Leveraging Vertex AI for Customer Experience
- Morrisons: Introduced an in-app Product Finder using BigQuery and Gemini to help customers locate grocery items, handling 50,000 queries daily during Easter.
- LUSH: Uses AI-powered product recognition at checkout to reduce packaging waste, aligning sustainability goals with operational efficiency.
- Toolstation: Adopted Vertex AI Search for Commerce to enhance product search accuracy both online and in-store, improving customer satisfaction and sales.
Expanding Cloud Security and Data Residency
Google Cloud has extended data residency options to include Gemini 2.5 Flash processing, allowing organisations to keep data processing within specific geographic boundaries. This is particularly important for enterprises subject to strict data sovereignty regulations.
The security strategy integrates Google Cloud’s enterprise tools with Wiz’s multi-cloud visibility and Mandiant’s threat intelligence. Clients like Lloyds Banking Group and Vodafone use these tools to safeguard operations while innovating at scale.
Maureen Costello explained that acquiring Wiz strengthens Google Cloud’s ability to provide proactive and comprehensive protection. This security commitment supports a wide range of organisations—from banks to retailers—ensuring they can innovate with confidence.
For government professionals interested in developing cloud and AI skills, resources are available through platforms like Complete AI Training, which offers courses tailored to various roles within the public sector.
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