The UK Government has set out its plans for a new digital centre of government based in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
It is publishing a blueprint for digital government today, with the aim of making better use of the £23 billion a year spend on technology to improve public services.
This includes a plan to make the Government Digital Service (GDS) the lead body in shaping the digital centre of government – which is meant as a generic term – working with DSIT and taking in the Central Digital and Data Office, the Incubator for AI and the Geospatial Commission.
It will be accompanied by the creation of a Technical Design Council led by AI and data experts to address the challenges in applying technology to public services, and a team to build services that make sense for the people using them. It will begin by looking at services for people with long term health conditions or disabilities.
This will be supported by rules making it mandatory for every public sector organisation to publish its application programme interfaces (APIs) to make it easier for organisations to exchange data through a controlled and secure approach. This will be part of what DSIT describes as a “common sense approach” to sharing information in different areas of government.
Contracts and commercial opportunities
On the commercial front, a Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence will be set up to look at how public sector organisations can negotiate contracts together to save money. It will also look at creating opportunities for UK start-up and scale-up companies to help drive economic growth.
A framework will be developed for finding and buying AI systems from the private sector, with a focus on ensuring small projects can be implemented quickly and responsibly, and on overcoming the barriers to using AI at scale.
It will be complemented by a new Responsible AI Advisory Panel, including frontline public sector workers and industry experts, to help develop safeguards and assurance for the use of the technology.
There will also be an effort to build digital skills in the public sector with a review of how professionals are paid, with a view to making it more competitive, in a sustainable manner, with the private sector.
This will be overseen by a new government chief digital officer – the position for which will be advertised soon – who will have responsibility for leading central government’s digital profession and will sit as a second permanent secretary in DSIT.
Freedom to take risks
The department has also indicated that for the next Spending Review HM Treasury will experiment with a new approach aimed at giving public services more freedom and flexibility in how they use technology, encouraging them to take more risks.
It will contrast with the current approach to technology funding that usually involves an initial burst of investment then a smaller allowance for maintenance costs. DSIT said that this does not correspond with the way most work to develop technology has worked over the past decade.
In addition, a Digital and AI Roadmap will be published during the summer to align with the second phase of the Spending Review.
The announcement follows shortly after DSIT’s claim, to be highlighted in a new State of Digital Government Report, that the public sector is missing out on £45 billion of productivity savings a year due to archaic technology and a continuing over-reliance on contractors.
Headaches and stress
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: "Sluggish technology has hampered our public services for too long, and it’s costing us all a fortune in time and money. Not to mention the headaches and stresses we’re left with after being put on hold or forced to take a trip to fill out a form.
“My department will put AI to work, speeding up our ability to deliver our Plan for Change, improve lives and drive growth. We will use technology to bear down hard to the nonsensical approach the public sector takes to sharing information and working together to help the people it serves.
“We will also end delays businesses face when they are applying for licenses or permits, when they just want to get on with the task in hand – growth. This is just the start.”
