Work to focus on new products to be used in Public Services Network
Mark Smith has been appointed as head of the Public Services Network (PSN), stepping up from the role he has held for the past two years as head of compliance and transition.
The appointment was made public in a blogpost by Andy Beale, the government deputy chief technology officer, who said Smith will work closely with the Common Technology Services team in the Government Digital Service on products that can be used around the public sector.
“He is ideally placed to continue the development of the PSN into a network that will bring together a far broader community and help connect those people who can really make a difference at the frontline,” Beale said.
A new PSN compliance process went live in May of last year, followed by the publication of new technical network policies to provide more flexibility and, in March of this year, the dropping of the £999 compliance charge to use core services.
This came after the release of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Maps by the Cabinet Office that showed that some central government departments and agencies were not making full use of the PSN. No updates have yet become public.
Before joining the PSN team, Smith was at language technology company thebigword, and had previously been in a number of private sector IT roles.
Picture from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
