That was the usual pattern in the UK too, until GDS. (We used to have world class computing facilities in the past before outsourcing them, but that was pre-Web

That was the usual pattern in the UK too, until GDS. (We used to have world class computing facilities in the past before outsourcing them, but that was pre-Web). Credit to those involved (and to Francis Maude, the Conservative minister who believed in the project and gave them sustained political cover - I am decidedly not a fan of the Tories but that was very good work).