Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 32

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Brian McKenna, Caroline Donnelly and Clare McDonald talk about some of the week’s biggest stories in tech, including the topics discussed at the annual Computer Weekly diversity and inclusion event, as well as Brian’s visit to the Oracle Open World conference, and what is next for the government’s digital transformation unit, GDS.

• Clare kicks off the podcast by filling the team in on what happened at the annual Computer Weekly and Mortimer Spinks diversity and inclusion in technology event. As well as talking about the event’s theme – how diversity and inclusion can go towards making the tech industry the best place to work – the team discusses the results of the top 50 list of the most influential women in UK tech, 2019’s women in tech Rising Stars, and the latest additions to the most influential women in tech Hall of Fame.
• Brian points out the depth and breadth of roles now featured in the top 50 women in tech list, with Clare highlighting that part of the list’s goal is to shine a light on role models in the sector as well as the different types of job available in tech that people can aspire to.
• Brian talks about his visit to Oracle Open World, including Larry Ellison’s yearly criticism of other cloud providers, to which he added SAP. The team also talks about Ellison’s emotional tribute to absent colleagues and friends in the industry.
• Caroline talks about legacy systems within the government, including monolithic contracts with suppliers that last longer than necessary, and whether the government has moved away from this pattern. Alongside this discussion, Caroline talks about the Crown Commercial Service signing a new agreement with Oracle for the use of cloud across the public sector.
• The team discusses the Government Digital Service (GDS), the government’s compass for digital transformation. While GDS has been quiet for the last year or so, Caroline tells the team about some of its aims over the next year, and they debate whether it is entering a new era of transformation – and is Brexit helping to break down inter-departmental silos in government to make digital transformation easier?