A relatively new Government has come with perspectives - some new, some not so new - and a clear focus on the importance of digital tech for transforming public services.
The new administration has been keen to trumpet its enthusiasm for more digital change in the sector, with announcements of plans for a ‘digital centre of government’ supported by a panel of experts, a ‘test and learn’ approach to public sector challenges, and even indications of using AI to reduce the number of civil servants.
There has also been the reintroduction of the Data Use and Access Bill with an emphasis on its potential for better public services, and plans for a new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to be introduced next year.
Generally, it has been expressing broad ambitions rather than laying out detailed plans, which is not surprising given that it has been the politicians speaking and direction setting. It is the officials who are developing something more tangible out of those ambitions.
This is happening against a background of rapid evolution of digital tech, increasing tensions around national security and intensifying societal challenges. It creates an outlook in which some complex issues have come to the fore and are going to demand the need for serious thinking among public sector digital leaders, and the tech industry, over the coming year.
Constraints on the use of AI
Ministers have been sprinkling references to the potential in AI into their announcements on a range of issues, including public sector productivity and healthcare. It reflects the trend over the past two years for attaching the term to new digital initiatives and technology solutions – although it can be difficult for outsiders to be sure if this is genuine or a relabelling of the use of algorithms.
There was an indication of the bullish attitude in December, when the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) highlighted some notable applications of algorithmic tools when setting clear terms for the relevant transparency records.
But there has been a reiteration of concerns around the risks in using AI. These include whether the quality of data is good enough for it to work safely and effectively, can it is possible to ensure it does not reproduce any bias, for which processes can it be trusted and what are the limits of its role in making decisions on sensitive issues?
There have been steps to help organisations face up to these issues, such as the publication of assurance principles by the Incubator for AI and the Government setting up a Laboratory for AI Security Research. But there is a strong sense of the sector still feeling its way over the risks and ethics of using the technology, and fears that if it rushes into deployments some will produce seriously negative consequences.
There are going to be questions on the appropriate constraints, and maybe some areas that could be deemed ‘no go’, for the use of AI. Organisations will have to think carefully about deployments, and be ready to spend time on developing processes that strike the right balance in the roles of human and machine.
This could be a testing process in itself, especially for smaller bodies with limited resources, and they will be looking for guidance from their peers and central organisations on how to make the right choices.
New approaches to cyber security
The spectre of cyber threats is becoming even more scary. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has recently warned of a gap between the growing number and changing nature of threats and the UK’s resilience, and that the public sector has become a prime target. There is also widespread recognition of the technical ingenuity of cyber criminals, that some attackers are backed by big resources from hostile states, and that there are a lot of potential cyber vulnerabilities in supply chains.
Along with these is the fear that attackers could use AI – which can quickly learn and mimic human behaviour – to increase their own capabilities for more sophisticated phishing operations, quickly learn and mimicking human behaviour.
This is all creating the need for new techniques to respond to the threats. These can include harnessing AI for defences, as it provides the potential for a massive increase in the capability of an organisation to monitor its network traffic, take in intelligence from a wide range of sources and use it in its own defences. The technology can do much more than a human in a specified time, which gives councils the opportunity to expand their scope in watching for threats. The NCSC has published guidance on AI and cyber security, and on the approach for secure systems development.
It has also highlighted the potential for cyber deception, which encourages attackers into behaviour that does not inflict damage but can provide alerts of their intentions and intelligence on cyber threats. Some public bodies have been exploring the potential for themselves, indicating that it could be an increasingly important element of their armoury for resilience.
There is also a potential to add new elements, or refine existing approaches, to multi-factor authentication, pursue zero trust strategies in more depth and go further into ‘secure by design’. And there is a widespread eagerness to learn more about the details of the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill when it is placed before Parliament.
England’s local government shake-up
This one has come up late in the year, with the Government’s announcement of plans for a major reorganisation of local government in England. This is going to have some big implications for digital and data in the sector, partly in the move to increase the powers of local mayors – which is likely to require new investments in digital systems – but more so in the consolidation of councils in some areas, with fewer boroughs and districts and more unitaries.
This will create a need to resolve a multitude of issues about the consolidation of applications – for which different choices have been made by different councils – existing digital infrastructure, the roles and responsibility of digital and data teams, relationships with suppliers and who will have the ultimate control. And it is likely to require some serious spending at a time when there is little spare cash in local government.
The timetable for change is not yet clear and details will be floated in proposals, and it is likely to take years for all of the changes to go through. But it is going to require serious thinking about necessary changes in digital estates and infrastructure.
More digital in social care
The ever mounting demand for adult social care services, set against the continued squeeze on financial resources, is widely perceived as a crisis for local government. More people are living longer, needing more years of care, many of them without the money to pay for it themselves and there is a continual shortage of professional carers to provide the support.
Digital solutions cannot resolve the crisis by themselves, but they are going to play a big part of the efforts to get on top of it. There have been plenty of initiatives over the past year: small scale, such as councils signing up to a platform to support unpaid carers and using virtual reality in dementia care; and nationwide, such as the Department for Health and Social Care planning to build skills in the sector, funding larger providers to digitise their care records and creating data standards.
A priority for local authorities, provider organisations and central government is to develop more solutions to deal with specific issues. AI is likely to play a significant role, but technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, support apps, new types of assistive tech and maybe gamification could all make contributions.
There also has to be an effort to ensure that carers and those receiving care are comfortable with the technology. Councils have pointed to barriers such as a poor understanding of technology enabled care among the workforce, and there could be a natural distrust of tech in what is widely seen as a very human centred area of public services. There will have to be an effort to provide the relevant training for frontline workers and senior officials, and a public education campaign to convey the need for new digital approaches to social care.
Who will lead on digital in policing?
The Government recently announced plans for a new National Centre for Policing to bring together support services including those for IT and forensics. There is not yet a timeline for its creation or any details on how it will work, but it throws up a big question mark over the future of the Police Digital Service (PDS), which is in charge of the National Policing Digital Strategy but has gone through a trauma over the past year with the arrest of two employees and the appointment of a CEO on an interim basis only.
It is difficult to see a role for both organisations, both supported by the Home Office, with responsibilities for assessing the technology landscape and developing new solutions for policing. There has been speculation of PDS being folded into the new body, but nothing is yet clear, and digital leaders in UK police forces will be eager to see where they will be looking for national leadership in the future.
And the seasonal message
We will continue to keep readers informed on how these, and plenty of other issues in public sector digital, develop over the coming year.
Meanwhile, we’re wishing all our readers plenty of Christmas cheer – especially those who will be working through the festive season – and all the best for 2025.
