"In the global race for growth, business and government need every competitive advantage possible. We need a strong, thriving and innovative ICT sector across the UK and here in Scotland," Mundell was quoted as saying by CloudPro.
Mundell made the comment on a recent trip to the Glasgow-based cloud services provider iomart Group. He said cloud computing could help revive the Scottish economy by creating jobs and giving companies a competitive edge.
Read more: GB: Scotland's economic future tied to the cloud, says under-secretary of state
The Treasury signed the outsourcing deal with Fujitsu in 2009, which covers networks, hosting applications, development, end-user computing, and is due to expire in January 2015.
Read more: GB: HM Treasury hopes to encourage SMEs with ICT 2015 programme
A G-Cloud 4 framework, just unveiled by the GDS, strengthens the UK government’s on-line procurement effort. This initiative is fully redesigning the way agencies will source products and services in the cloud.
The UK government spends an estimated £45 billion on goods and services. This offers agencies much-needed leverage to access and negotiate services in the cloud, in an open and competitive marketplace.
Phil Dawson, chief executive of Skyscape Cloud Services, said that the G-Cloud programme was "delivering significant cost savings" to the public sector, according to a report by Outsourcer Eye. Skyscrape provides hosting services for the Government's web portal, .gov.uk, and also provides a platform for services offered by the Disclosure and Barring Service to help businesses check whether prospective employees are suitable to work with vulnerable groups.
Read more: GB: G-Cloud framework provides multiple times savings on ICT services, says supplier
Connectivity, Content and Consumers: Britain's digital platform for growth, published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, says that the government has 'put consumers at the centre of its communications policy'.