For many years now, future gazers in the technology sector have observed that the world is changing at an incredible pace. If you’re not prepared to embrace the very latest technology, you’ll either be outcompeted, out of business or out of luck. The private and public sectors are converging, especially in technology – and even more so since March 2020 with the raft of change the pandemic has brought to all our lives.
So, what does all this change mean for prosperity, security, and resilience on a personal, organisational and national level? With rising costs of living and a digital skills gap which risks holding back UK productivity, the private and public sectors must work hard to find solutions to these pressing problems, and the right partners to deliver.
We can do more
Over several decades, BT has built a strong position in underpinning the UK’s critical public services, serving millions of consumers, and more than 1.2 million corporate and public sector customers, including small, medium and large businesses, local authorities and government bodies.
As a critical enabler and the epitome of a trusted partner, we provide fast, reliable and secure solutions, including smart bases for the MoD, great connectivity for NHS sites, supporting the country’s 999 service and operating the Emergency Services Network (ESN).
Our new Charter to provide business and public sector customers with a springboard for growth is our way of saying we can do more. The commitments in this charter include a greater focus on purpose-driven goals, innovation, world-class cyber security, a new suite of digital services and customer service improvements.
To accelerate the pace of innovation across the UK, we’re investing almost £100 million over the next three years to develop solutions which integrate technologies like 5G, IoT, Edge Compute, Cloud and AI. These solutions will transform and modernise key industries, driving positive business outcomes and fuelling the UK economy.
Furthermore, we’re creating a ‘Digital Fabric’ for the UK – powered by the biggest full fibre and 5G public networks – which will deliver a series of hyper-connected ‘Smart Spaces’ across the nation. These will unlock intelligent and immersive experiences for businesses, consumers, and communities alike.
To keep our customers better protected against the rising tide of cyber-attacks, a new cyber health check tool, Safe Security – already available to larger UK corporate and public sector customers – will be extended to small businesses. We’ll also roll out our Eagle-i proactive cyber defence platform later in the financial year. Together with our 3,000 cyber experts across the globe, these tools will provide superior levels of security to customers.
Connecting for good
Our core purpose ‘to Connect for Good’ still guides us. Almost 600,000 small business owners and employees have received free digital skills training through our Skills for Tomorrow programme, and by March 2023, we’ll reach a further 350,000 small firms.
Our commitment to leading the way towards Net Zero includes removing all single-use plastics for new business product packaging and devices within the next year and working with our supply chain to kick-start a device and equipment recovery, refurb and reuse scheme. We’re also electrifying our entire fleet (the second largest in the UK) fully by 2025.
This is just a snapshot of our commitment to building better businesses and public services, with our network and technology making our customers more resilient, better connected, safer and more secure, whilst creating opportunities for innovation, collaboration and growth. We take this responsibility seriously and will continue to play a critical part in enabling a prosperous and resilient United Kingdom for today and for tomorrow.
For more information visit https://business.bt.com/public-sector