The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is developing a digital form builder in an effort to move away from the use of paper forms.
It set up a team within its digital, data and technology function to work in September on the project, and has now reported that it has completed a discovery phase and is moving to alpha.
This will involve the creation of prototypes, user testing and assessments of which existing technology can be used.
Jenny Taylor, the lead product manager on the project, has outlined the background and progress in a blogpost. She said the team has engaged with the GOV.UK Forms team – which is working on a form builder for all government departments to use, drawing on the product to deliver a digital form for users to comply with new legislation to ban XL Bully dogs.
It is continuing to work with the GOV.UK team and has analysed the 579 forms currently on the platform.
“Defra Forms is not just about delivering a Defra form builder as a technological solution, but a new approach for how, as a department, Defra can create, manage, and benefit from a consistent approaching to digital forms,” Taylor said. “This will ultimately involve a number of options and solutions, depending on the needs of the users, both within Defra group, and externally.”
