G-Cloud is the jargon for the UK government's adoption of "cloud computing", providing common software and datacentres to the Whitehall network, reducing the cost of local provision. There is a silicon.com "cheatsheet" here.
However, there are dangers. Traditionally, government departments held only data which were required for their purpose, and not shared even with other departments. So, the department responsible for personal benefits would not have access to an applicant's record of vehicle ownership. These physical and philosophical boundaries have been broken down in the last generation, something which the British public is just waking up to. G-Cloud is going to increase the pressure to aggregate personal information and spread its access across government, in the process increasing the risk of sensitive information falling into inappropriate hands.
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