{"id":35211,"date":"2017-09-25T16:13:39","date_gmt":"2017-09-25T15:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=35211"},"modified":"2017-09-25T16:13:39","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T15:13:39","slug":"delivering-a-digital-transformation-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/digital-construction-news\/bim-news\/delivering-a-digital-transformation-strategy\/35211\/","title":{"rendered":"Delivering a digital transformation strategy \u2013 A review of the GDS"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than six months on from the Government\u2019s Digital Transformation Strategy, Idox\u2019s Steven McGinty reviews the current situation, looking at the champions of, and opposition to, the Government Digital Service<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s been a period of change for the Government Digital Service (GDS) since losing Executive Director Mike Bracken in 2015. Since then, the service has experienced a series of high-profile departures, leading many commentators to suggest that the much-lauded GDS could soon be coming to an end.<\/p>\n

However, in the November 2015 Spending Review, then-Chancellor George Osborne announced that the GDS would receive an extra \u00a3450m over four years \u2013 a significant increase on the previous budget of \u00a358m per year.<\/p>\n

Osborne highlighted that these additional funds would help fuel a \u201cdigital revolution\u201d in central government and in particular create one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world.<\/p>\n

But, has new funding \u2013 and possibly the public show of support \u2013 led to a digital revolution<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Starting at the beginning\u2026<\/h3>\n

In 2011, the GDS was formed to implement the Digital by Default strategy \u2013 a key proposal of UK Digital Champion and lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox\u2019s report into the delivery of online public services.<\/p>\n

The GDS\u2019s first major project, GOV.UK, has in many ways proved to be a success. Launched in 2012, the publishing platform brought together over 300 government agencies and arm\u2019s length bodies\u2019 websites within 15 months. Replacing DirectGov and Business Link alone saved more than \u00a360m a year. Early testing demonstrated that GOV.UK was simpler for users, with 61% completing tasks on the new Business Link section, compared with 46% on the old website.<\/p>\n

GOV.UK has also been viewed as an example of best practice, with GDS team members supporting countries as far afield as New Zealand with their own digital government efforts.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s not been entirely without opposition. In October 2016, the Welsh language commissioner accused the UK government of weakening Welsh language services, explaining that provision on the site had \u201cdeteriorated astonishingly\u201d since the introduction of GOV.UK. Other recent articles have also identified challenges in making content accessible for users. For example, 73% of the content on GOV.UK is reportedly looked at by fewer than 10 people per month.<\/p>\n

Recognising government as a platform<\/h3>\n

A major theme of the GDS\u2019s work has been the introduction of a platform approach to digital government \u2013 principles proposed by technology guru Tim O\u2019Reilly. In 2015, Mike Bracken set out a new vision for digital government, highlighting the need to create:<\/p>\n

\u201cA common core infrastructure of shared digital systems, technology and processes on which it\u2019s easy to build brilliant, user-centric government services.\u201d<\/p>\n

GOV.UK is one such service.<\/p>\n

But the concept has gone on to inspire new services such as Gov.uk Verify, a platform that enables citizens to prove who they are when using government services. This common service was a world first and is being used by organisations such as HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).<\/p>\n

Additionally, Gov.uk Notify, a service that sends text messages, emails or letters, was introduced in January 2016. It helped support the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) transition some of its services to online only, as it provided the ability to send thousands of notifications at once.<\/p>\n

Observations from the National Audit Office<\/h3>\n

On 30 March 2017, the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report into the government\u2019s track record on their digital transformation strategy.<\/p>\n

The report concluded that the GDS had an early impact across Whitehall, successfully reshaping the government\u2019s approach to technology and transformation. However, Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, also observed that:<\/p>\n

\u201cDigital transformation has a mixed track record across government. It has not yet provided a level of change that will allow government to further reduce costs while still meeting people\u2019s needs. To achieve value for money and support transformation across government, GDS needs to be clear about its role and strike a balance between robust assurance and a more consultative approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

In particular, the NAO highlighted concerns over the Gov.uk Verify programme. The service has proven difficult to adopt for some departments, which has led to the GDS allowing the use of alternate identity services. According to the NAO, this significantly undermines the business case for Gov.uk Verify and provides a poorer experience for users on government websites.<\/p>\n

Opinions from the Institute for Government<\/h3>\n

Influential think tank the Institute for Government (IfG) recently published two reports on the progress of the digital transformation strategy.<\/p>\n

In October 2016, the report Making a Success of Digital Government estimated that the UK government could save up to \u00a32bn by 2020 through efficiency savings by creating better digital services. Major digital transformation strategy successes were also highlighted, including the online registration to vote by 1.3m people by May 2016 and the introduction of a new digital road tax system (removing the need for paper discs).<\/p>\n

In terms of the GDS, the IfG expressed similar views to the NAO:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found that GDS has played an important role in bringing new digital capability into government. But, in the absence of a new digital strategy, its role is unclear. GDS needs to re-equip itself to support a government that now has rapidly developing digital capability, and high ambitions for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February 2017, the Government published a new Digital Transformation Strategy, including an attempt to clarify the \u2018evolving\u2019 role of the GDS.<\/p>\n

However, this hasn\u2019t stopped the IfG making several new recommendations for the GDS in its latest digital government report. These include:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Clarifying the GDS standards and distinguishing between standards and guidance.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Re-examining the role of the Government Gateway \u2013 an identity assurance platform \u2013 and of Gov.uk Verify.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Taking a more active role in the digital services market, such as designing the Digital Marketplace for different users.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Creating a store for Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to encourage their use throughout the public sector.<\/p>\n

The GDS has played a vital role in creating a new vision for digital government. However, the evidence suggests that over recent years the pace of change has slowed, with key initiatives such as Gov.uk Verify facing a variety of challenges.<\/p>\n

In the coming years, it\u2019s likely that the Brexit negotiations will be top priority for politicians and many government departments. It will be important, therefore, for the GDS to work with these departments and look to prioritise services that are vital for managing the Brexit process. In the meantime, services across the UK will continue to undergo digital transformation and evolve in line with technological changes.<\/p>\n

Supporting local authorities on their digital journeys, Idox has a proven track record in delivering smart, citizen-facing technologies to councils across the UK. To find out more about our work in the areas of planning, building control<\/a>, licensing and beyond, please visit www.idoxgroup.com<\/a> or contact us today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Steven McGinty<\/strong><\/p>\n

Research Officer<\/p>\n

Idox<\/p>\n

Tel: +44 (0)870 333 7101<\/p>\n

info@idoxgroup.com<\/a><\/p>\n

www.idoxgroup.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter: @Idoxgroup<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than six months on from the Government\u2019s Digital Transformation Strategy, Idox\u2019s Steven McGinty reviews the current situation, looking at the champions of, and opposition to, the Government Digital Service<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[305],"tags":[779,422],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[172457],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-35211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-bim-news","7":"tag-pbc-today-october-2017","8":"tag-sh-idox","9":"stakeholder_rel_tag-idox"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDelivering a digital transformation strategy \u2013 A review of the GDS | Planning, Building & 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When she\u2019s not working hard on cranking out first-class content for our online viewers to enjoy, she\u2019s keeping our social media lively and up to date\u2026 you could call her a social media guru? We\u2019re sure she\u2019d like that. With a BA in English and Journalism, Steph isn\u2019t fazed by attention to detail; on the contrary, she enjoys getting her teeth into a good article. In her downtime Steph loves nothing more than getting together with friends to enjoy a few (several) gin and tonics. Think you\u2019ve got some content Steph would be interested in? You can contact her either by phone on (01270) 502876 or by email at sblundell@pbctoday.co.uk","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/steph-blundell\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Steph_PBCToday"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/author\/stephblundell\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-13 10:22:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35211"},{"taxonomy":"stakeholder_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stakeholder_rel_tag?post=35211"},{"taxonomy":"contributor_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor_rel_tag?post=35211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}