‘Transforming for a digital future: governments 2022 to 25 roadmap for digital and data’ ....– but I am left disappointed and underwhelmed

Just a few days ago, the UK government published its latest update to its digital strategy. The first iteration was published in 2022, Transforming for a Digital Future, and described a roadmap for digital and data transformation by 2025.

The intention was to create a pan public-sector vision of digital opportunity and possibility, with associated actions to transform and to modernise government and public services in general.

Although the first iteration was welcome, it seemed lacking in a variety of respects, particularly in the substance of deliverability or a local perspective. So, the update, after feedback, should have been better.

But on reading the new version I am left with a mixed feeling of disappointment and a feeling being ‘underwhelmed’.

So What's the Problem?

The problem lies less in the intentions of the Roadmap, and more in a lack of connection with the context in which digital public services need to operate. This Roadmap is written for a typically centralist audience, with a centralist perspective.

The issues for me can be summarised simply:

1. The focus is on methods, ambitions and priorities that hark back a decade and do not look forward enough. How much is really new?
2. The central approach neglects the main digital government agenda which is not the civil service and Whitehall, but lies in UK regions and communities, where the real innovation and need occur (e.g. health, local government etc)
3. There is a conflation of ‘business’, ‘digital’ and technology’, which, on the one hand makes sense, but blurring the distinction creates mixed messages (e.g. about digital identity and its potential)
4. It does not address head on ‘lessons learned’; the UK has had abject failures in its national digital programmes for too long. Honesty about this, with recognition of what is different today is needed to create a framework for success
5. Deliverability – success depends fundamentally on central government embracing a whole new culture, governance, approach to industry, relationship with local government and health, investment and resource allocation (less at the centre), risk appetite … and a very different leadership style (political and executive).

Deliverability is, I believe, the main issue. It is the (lack of) skills and capacity (especially in-house), commitment, experience, political leadership, new models of executive control, and governance, ... and significantly more investment, which will hold back success.

There is no doubt that the ambition is good, with committed individuals working at the heart of government trying to make a real difference. But a failure to grasp the context, the opportunities and risks associated with IT and digital transformation, the lessons learned, or the need for a significant increases in investment and rationalisation of resource allocation, will seriously limit those good intentions.

The solution is clear: the UK needs a public sector wide digital strategy that embraces a wider context of connected places, digital policy permeating all aspects of public services, and community needs (not government needs).

This means that developments in health digitisation for example, need to fully integrate with social care. It means that ‘digital identity’ work needs to be defined from the citizen and local government perspective. And it means that government policies in general need a fundamental re-design to create consistency in how digital investments in the UK public sector are prioritised and managed.

Last (but not least), it means an honest and an objective evaluation of what needs to change in government methods and cultures, based on experience of past problems, to improve the outlook for this roadmap.

Local Government Association Socitm Solace Government Digital Service Digital Planning - Scottish Government Local Government Partnership Network (LGPN) NHS England Digital Profession Digital Catapult Gov Digital Future