Mike Bracken


In the press

Digital 1 year on
Mike Bracken summarises progress with Government’s digital strategy Head of the Government Digital Service (GDS) Mike Bracken, gave Society for IT Management (Socitm) delegates a quick gallop through of his team’s success on the day that the first year’s progress report on the government’s digital strategy was published. He also called on Socitm to be more […] Read more – ‘Digital 1 year on’.
Passports may become exemplar digital service
Inflexible contracts with an incumbent supplier have been blamed for the decision to suspend work on one of the forerunner exemplar digital by default services, the Government Digital Service has revealed. It announced last week that the criminal record check exemplar from the Disclosure and Barring Service would be shelved as “due to the nature […] Read more – ‘Passports may become exemplar digital service’.
U.K. Official Urges U.S. Government To Adopt A Digital Core
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’.
Government lets users call its digital tune
(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’.
One-stop gov mark IV: GOV.uk goes live
Wednesday 17 October 2012Author: Michael Cross [original post here] From this morning, every visitor to the www.direct.gov.uk and www.businesslink.gov.uk has been directed to www.gov.uk. Under the promise to be ‘simpler, clearer, faster’ the site is billed as the new online home of government services and information. The Cabinet Office’s Government Digital Services says GOV.uk is […] Read more – ‘One-stop gov mark IV: GOV.uk goes live’.
Government services go ‘digital by default’ to save almost £3bn
Website overhaul will see more transactions, such as driving test bookings and tax payments, move online Charles Arthur, technology editor guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 November 2012 16.15 GMT [original post here] In 2011 about 150m phone calls made to government services could have been avoided if the online service were better. Photograph: Getty A sweeping redesign […] Read more – ‘Government services go ‘digital by default’ to save almost £3bn’.
GOV.UK steps out of beta and replaces BusinessLink and DirectGov from today
17TH OCTOBER 2012 by JAMILLAH KNOWLES The UK Government is finally launching GOV.UK out of beta. From today this website replaces DirectGov and BusinessLink to consolidate the information that people need to get things done. The idea is to create a ‘simpler, clearer and faster site’ and the changes have been in the works since […] Read more – ‘GOV.UK steps out of beta and replaces BusinessLink and DirectGov from today’.
Mike Bracken and the UK Government’s Digital Strategy
by Stefany Barker [original story here] In September import•io attended Wall Street Journal’s TechCafe talks with Mike Bracken, director of the Government Digital Service unit (GDS) in the Cabinet Office, and Ben Hammersley, David Cameron’s Tech City ambassador and author of 64 Things You Need to Know Now for Then, to gain intimate insight into […] Read more – ‘Mike Bracken and the UK Government’s Digital Strategy’.
Wall Street Journal // The U.K.’s Digital Plan to Innovate 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’.
Wall Street Journal // Delivering Government 2.0
By Ben Rooney How do you go about transforming the U.K.’s civil service to deliver digital services? By recruiting the best people you can. Mike Bracken is the man responsible for delivering all of the U.K. government’s digital services. U.K. Tech City Ambassador Ben Hammersely describes him as a “god” in his role as executive director of digital […] Read more – ‘Wall Street Journal // Delivering Government 2.0’.
Computer Weekly // GDS head Mike Bracken on Estonia’s digital services
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’.
How to get to ‘digital by default’ – interview on Government Computing
Mike Bracken, executive director of the Government Digital Service, has said the key is keeping user need central to the development of online service, writes Mark Say A few flags may be waved around the Cabinet Office today to mark the official launch of the Government Digital Service (GDS). In reality it has been at […] Read more – ‘How to get to ‘digital by default’ – interview on Government Computing’.
Computer Weekly // CIO interview: Mike Bracken, UK government director of digital
by Kathleen Hall Whitehall is not exactly known for being at the bleeding edge of technological innovation. But as the newly appointed government director of digital, ex-Guardian technology head Mike Bracken is set to change that perception. In an exclusive interview with Computer Weekly, he discusses the challenges ahead. When the £141,000 per annum role of digital […] Read more – ‘Computer Weekly // CIO interview: Mike Bracken, UK government director of digital’.
Wired // Mike Bracken appointed as government’s director of digital
By Duncan Geere The coalition has appointed Mike Bracken as executive director of digital in the cabinet office, following Martha Lane Fox’s review of Directgov. The post, which Wired.co.uk investigated thoroughly back in April, calls for a candidate to “change the model of government online publishing, by putting a new central team in Cabinet Office in control of the […] Read more – ‘Wired // Mike Bracken appointed as government’s director of digital’.
Telegraph // Government’s £142,000 ‘digital tsar’ named
Mike Bracken, co-founder of MySociety and former Guardian executive, to be government’s Executive Director of Digital By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor 11:00AM BST 20 May 2011 The Government has announced the appointment of its new head of all things digital. Mike Bracken will take up the post some have dubbed the ‘Twitter tsar’, having stood down […] Read more – ‘Telegraph // Government’s £142,000 ‘digital tsar’ named’.