I am desperately sad to hear of the passing of Charles Agnew. During my time in Government, Charles was the CTO, CIO and continuous presence pushing digital Government at the Department for International Development (DfID) An exemplary public servant, Charles was one of the biggest supporters of digital transformation, and developed an excellent team, often […] Read more – ‘Charles Agnew’.
At the end of last week I went to see my boss, John Manzoni to tell him I’m leaving government. I wanted to take a moment here to thank everyone for the tremendous help I’ve been given in the last five years. I have to start with Martha Lane Fox and Francis Maude for […] Read more – ‘Leaving government’.
Today I was awarded a CBE in the 2014 New Year’s Honours list. It was made in recognition of the digital transformation of public services, and for working to develop football in the borough of Hackney. While a lovely recognition, it is, of course, largely symbolic. I am delighted to accept it on behalf of […] Read more – ‘On honours’.
It’s just been announced that Martha Lane Fox is stepping down from her role as the UK’s Digital Champion. Martha’s been an inspiration to us here at GDS, and the tremendous impact she’s had right across the civil service is worthy of someone who called for a ‘revolution’. If you’re a regular reader of this blog then […] Read more – ‘Thankyou Martha’.
Originally posted on www.npr.org by Elise Hu – October 23rd 2013 When he read about the technical failures plaguing HealthCare.gov, Mike Bracken said it felt like a real-life version of the movie Groundhog Day. During the past decade, the government in the United Kingdom faced a string of public, embarrassing and costly IT failures. Finally, a monster technical fiasco […] Read more – ‘U.K. Official Urges U.S. Government To Adopt A Digital Core’.
In 2011, early in my current role, I discussed with the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, the strategy I recommended we adopt for all things digital. The strategy was to be disarmingly simple: to deliver. Often, iteratively and repetitively. Read more – ‘On Strategy: The strategy is delivery. Again.’.
(Click the above screen to watch the video) TECHCITYINSIDER100: The Government Digital Service is sweeping reform through the state’s digital output, after being told by the Cabinet Office to deliver world-class digital products that meet people’s needs. It’s an agenda that’s forcing a rethink from the user’s perspective. The service’s director Mike Bracken spoke to […] Read more – ‘Government lets users call its digital tune’.
Mike Bracken speaks to the Select Committee about GDS and it’s role in public engagement in policy-making. Click the image to be taken to the video on the ParliamentLive.tv website. Read more – ‘Public engagement in policy-making’.
The big news this week has been the transition of two central government departments and three agencies to GOV.UK. Following the release of GOV.UK last month, it’s the next step towards establishing a single domain for government. Huge congratulations to everyone involved for months of hard work, and special thanks to all the people in departments and […] Read more – ‘This week at GDS’.
On Wednesday October 17th 2012, our new digital service www.gov.uk moved out of public beta development to replace the two main government websites, Directgov and Business Link. It is the first major, full platform release from the Government Digital Service. This release heralds a new approach to digital delivery of public services in the UK. […] Read more – ‘Why GOV.UK matters: A platform for a digital Government’.
By Ben Rooney – Featured in The Wall Street Journal – 19.09.12 At last week’s WSJ Tech Cafe held near London’s “Silicon Roundabout,” venture capitalist Saul Klein of Index Ventures said that the Internet was coming of age and should be able to tackle big things like health care, education, transport—or government. Described by one […] Read more – ‘Wall Street Journal // The U.K.’s Digital Plan to Innovate Government’.
Mike Bracken, executive director of the Government Digital Service, talked to Computer Weekly about what UK public services could learn from Estonia’s open source model and why a dose of its IT leaders’ humility wouldn’t go amiss in Whitehall. Estonia has one of the most advanced online public service offerings in the world and is held […] Read more – ‘Computer Weekly // GDS head Mike Bracken on Estonia’s digital services’.
The Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude today launched the Civil Service Reform Plan and we were glad to welcome him and Sir Bob Kerslake, Head of the Civil Service, to GDS this morning in advance of the announcement. You can see them chatting to GDS staff Alice Newton and Jordan Hatch in the video below. […] Read more – ‘Digital a key component for Civil Service Reform Plan’.
“Digital is not another channel, it is the delivery choice for this generation” – Francis Maude, Minister for Cabinet Office said at the Intellect World-Class Public Services Conference today, 11 June 2012 This morning I had a chance to speak at the Intellect World-Class Public Services Conference and to listen to the keynote speech delivered by the Minister […] Read more – ‘Francis Maude speaks at Intellect Public Services Conference 2012’.
This week I spent a few days visiting Estonia with Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, Liam Maxwell, the new Deputy CIO and colleagues with Cyber Security responsibilities. We came to see how a small country of 1.3 million has developed a culture and system of Governance and public service provision using the Internet […] Read more – ‘Estonia’s technology economy and online service provision – back to the future?’.
As with most of our releases and work at the Government Digital Service, we release our work early for review and comment. Recently the Identity Assurance Programme Privacy and Consumer Advisory Group, a working group of the main board, issued the following principles for discussion. Although not yet ratified by the full board, these principles […] Read more – ‘Identity and privacy principles’.
This week saw one of the key set pieces in the Government’s annual calendar – the Budget. All of Government is affected and we’re no different here in Government Digital Service. In this budget the government set out its ambition to make the UK the technology hub of Europe, supporting technological innovation and helping the […] Read more – ‘Budget Blog’.
Today the cross-Government Identity Assurance programme sanctioned DWP to publish a tender to procure Identity services for all of Government. The notice appears here in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), and marks the start of the formal process to create a market of identity services for access to digital public services. Commercially, it means […] Read more – ‘Identity: One small step for all of Government’.
The beta of GOV.UK is now live. Back in late summer last year, I wrote that ‘we exist to make public services digital by default, and we are relentlessly focused on user needs.’ About 10 minutes ago we released the next step on our journey toward a single domain for government – and it has been driven entirely by […] Read more – ‘This is why we are here’.
I really enjoyed being able to get to UKGovCamp 2012 last Friday where I had a chance to outline some of our thinking around GOV.UK. My reference to Chatham House Rules got an interesting reaction – I only meant in relation to further circulation of the slide deck – not to what I was actually saying. I […] Read more – ‘My Reflections on UKGovCamp 2012’.
We are open for business. We have a new home. It’s taken a few months of incredibly hard work to bring six parts of Government activity into one place, but we’re here now. We’ve had huge support, from Cabinet Office colleagues, our Minister and his colleagues in Number 10, and crucially the Treasury. We’ve had great support too from many in […] Read more – ‘Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, opens the new home of the Government Digital Service’.
Monday was a big day for the Identity Assurance Programme. The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, explained to a packed Technology Strategy Board event why a federated identity assurance model is essential for the ‘digital by default’ initiative and how important this digital policy is, not just for public services but for the wider economy. […] Read more – ‘Establishing trust in digital services’.
We are hiring. And we want more world-class digital talent in Government. It’s been a pleasant surprise to find outstanding digital talent across Government. From theTechnology in Business Fast Stream to the excellent work done to make technology procurement easier by John Collington and the Government Procurement Service, there is too much digital change occurring to list here. […] Read more – ‘The second lever’.
We exist to make public services digital by default, and we are relentlessly focused on user needs. At the moment, we are bringing together various strands of Government digital activity into one function in order to drive up quality and consistency of user experience. Please do take some time to review our projects. As the […] Read more – ‘Welcome to the Government Digital Service blog’.
I am delighted to have accepted a new position. To give it the full title, I will take the post of Executive Director of Digital Efficiency and Reform Group, Cabinet Office. I will start in early July. I am really looking forward to meeting the team at the Government Digital Service. For someone with my longstanding […] Read more – ‘On becoming Executive Director of Digital in the Cabinet Office’.
