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Article Article November 18th, 2016
Technology

Making a success of digital government in the UK

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Digital government is about more than just taking paper forms and putting them on a website

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Making a success of digital will require effort and work from acros government

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Digital technology could save government around £1.3 billion to £2 billion by 2020

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So what's digital government really all about? Let's take a look at the UK Passport Office, which was one of the first parts of government to enter the internet age.  As early as 2002, you could fill out your passport renewals form online.  But then you had to wait for the Passport Office to print it out and send it back to you.  You signed it... and then posted it back.

No longer.  On the new passport renewals service, many people can just upload a photo from their phone and tick a box to declare the legitimacy of their information:  no printing or signing required.

That is what digital government is about.  It's not just taking paper forms and putting them on a website.  It's about making the interactions between government, citizens and business as seamless and efficient as possible.

This can make life easier for citizens.  But it can also save money.  In the Institute for Government's new report, Making a Success of Digital Government, we estimate that these kinds of changes could save government around £1.3 billion to £2 billion by 2020.

With such a strong case for change, why is the new passport renewals service the exception rather than the rule?

The answer is that government is not a start-up.  Underpinning all of government's activities - like dealing with passport applications - are computers, laws, processes and organisations which date back to the last century (or even the century before).

So you don't just need technical experts to create something like this passport renewals service - although they're an important part of the equation.  You need people with the knowledge, expertise and authority to unpick the legal and organisational legacies that make it harder to build seamless digital services:  like the old requirement for a physically signed “wet” signature on your passport renewal form.  And those people need to be empowered to work collaboratively, not in separate professional siloes.

People with a good understanding of technology can come up with innovative policy solutions:  like the congestion charge in London which, thanks to licence-plate recognition technology, doesn't involve unmanageable queues at toll booths.  People who understand policy and the workings of government can unpick issues which baffle their digital colleagues, like on old myth in DVLA that licence-plate recognition technology had to be Home Office approved.  And ministers will make better policy decisions if they are presented with prototypes, as well as submissions.

If digital leaders are left to drag government into the internet age all by themselves, they will fail.  Making a success of digital government will require effort and work from the whole of government, not just digital and technology professionals.

The former prime minister David Cameron said digital reform would allow government to square the circle of the spending challenge, “saving money and improving services at the same time”.  But with the new government focused on Brexit, Theresa May and Philip Hammond have not yet voiced their support for making government digital, and the government's digital strategy - setting out how this can actually be achieved - has been delayed.  If they do not prioritise meeting the challenges outlined in our report, the opportunity to create a genuinely twenty-first century government will be missed.

 

FURTHER READING

  • Transforming technology, transforming government. Rare is the policymaker who doesn't see digital as a doorway for strengthening public services. But as Miguel Carrasco explains, the pace of the digital evolution means there is always more to do
  • Opening the digital playbook. A multi-year veteran of government, think tanks and professional services, William Eggers has devoted his career to addressing the twin challenges of reform and renewal. He tells us how governments can more fully embrace the digital revolution
  • Pushing people power through technology. mySociety founder Tom Steinberg knows a thing or three about ‘civic tech' - the online technologies that enable people the power to achieve change. He tells us about its influence and impact in government
  • In conversation with… Francis Maude and Mike Bracken.  Francis Maude and Mike Bracken are the guests in the latest CPI Podcast. They tell us about setting up the UK's Government Digital Service, making change sustainable and the lessons of transformation
  • Open data: unlocking development potential in Africa and Asia. Dr Savita Bailur explains how open data has the potential to empower ordinary people to participate in development, not just as its beneficiaries
  • Power to the people. Few countries have embraced the digital era as successfully as New Zealand. We talk to one of its government's key digital transformation leaders, Richard Foy,about how they've done it

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