Mark O'Neill, Head of Innovation and Delivery at GDS, said that the work with GDS is a good "example of how government and SMEs can work together to achieve successful outcomes".

However, Taylor did point out that although GDS is working in a way that government has been talking about for years, through its use of agile methodologies and open source technology, it still faces some significant challenges.

He said that GDS is pretty much open source "top to bottom", but still struggles with procurement and security assurance.

"One of the main challenges for GDS is its ability to procure open source technology. What the government needs to do is get more open source companies on the G-cloud framework, because the traditional route is too clunky and expensive," said Taylor.

The government launched its CloudStore in February, which saw 257 suppliers signed up to the G-Cloud framework and catalogued within an online portal. It is hoped that government department procurement costs will be cut down using Cloudstore, as it removes the requirement to tender for contracts.