There’s a lot to be excited about in the blueprint for modern digital government
Last week was quite the ride. We kicked the week off with our Secretary of State (SoS), Peter Kyle, announcing the new Digital Centre, and blueprint for modern digital gov at the GDS office in London. It was a real buzz to be there and hear the support for our work from our ministerial team.
A massive thanks to the design team for all their amazing work branding the new digital centre (new GDS!) and supporting our SoS in that event. Kuba, Josh, Sarah, Gracie, Charlotte and Chris did a fantastic job, we got to a great place despite the tight timescales, brief and limitations - look out for a blog post from them all soon on how they approached that work.
Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Department for Science, Innovation and Technology speaking at the Government Digital Service London office.
The Blueprint
There’s been a lot of comment on the blueprint already, and the reception on the whole feels really positive. It feels like we’re at a major inflection point for public services, and as I read the plans I couldn’t help but feel excited for the work that’s to come over the next few years and beyond. Here’s a quick summary on what caught my eye in the blueprint.
The problems and opportunities
I agree with the reports opening synopsis - progress on public services has been good in the past, but now we find ourselves in a new paradigm it’s time for the next phase - one where we can reduce any unnecessary burden on users, and meet the new expectations people have. 2011 was a long time ago. There has been a sea change in the way users interact with technology, and the experiences they have every day with their banks, shopping, and other digital services has changed dramatically. We have to keep pace. And we have to do that whilst still meeting the needs of our users. So right from the start I wholeheartedly agree with the introduction in the report - there is work to do!
Ministerial and senior support for the blueprint
Having a mandate for this work, and public commitment from those senior folks makes me feel much more optimistic for this plan. The blueprint makes a really sizeable commitment, and cross gov collaboration and engagement needs to be enabled at the highest level if we are to stand a chance of meeting the many objectives the report sets out.
Inventorying and measurement of service quality, cost, risk and ability to deliver change
This one had me sit up and smile. In the public sector we have a tendency to reductively measure everything in financial cost - but there are many other things we can evaluate - are we reducing admin time (“time tax”), reducing digital exclusion, increasing social mobility, or improving trust in public services? There are so many things we can measure here, so I’m excited for this one.
Specifically committing to public services working for everyone
When there is a lot of work to do it can be tempting for orgs to throw things like accessibility and inclusion out the window, so I’m happy to see it called out as a specific part of the mission of what next gen public services will look like. I hope as part of this we invest in more accessibility specialists and leadership positions so we can fully deliver on this commitment. In general the “what next gen public services will look like”, and them becoming more human was a really positive aspect to the plans.
Hearing the users voice, co-design, ethics and accountability to our users
This is part I’m hoping to be directly involved in. To do great design, it has to be built on a strong foundation of evidence. People are complex, and the close we can bring our work to the actual people using it the better.
Renewed support for communities of practice
I couldn’t be more thrilled with this one - “communities are the glue” after all, and when you lose the glue things fall apart. When you invest in communities you invest in something really powerful: belonging. It sends a clear message that your people are valued, that there is a place for them. Communities bring support, camaraderie, focus and rigour to each discipline, and can be hives of innovation when a group feel psychologically safe to explore and grow together. I love this one.
Making public sector roles more satisfying, better tooling and training, and better pay
This feels pretty obvious - invest in happier, more fulfilled staff. 10/10, no notes.
Joined up services, beyond central gov
This list the dream right? Peoples lives don’t fit into the neat little siloes that we’ve set up across the sprawling public sector, so we should be designing for the complex journeys our users need to make - regardless of what entity can provide the service or information they need. Life is messy, people aren’t machines, and they shouldn’t have to understand how government works to interact with essential services and information.
Investment in infrastructure, libraries, backbones, and API’s
We can’t service those complex user journeys and needs without the right foundation to support it. Having a connected infrastructure opens up so many opportunities to improve the user experience. I’m particularly excited about how we might “chain” events together (proactively applying multiple benefits for users, providing real time application updates to users, connecting up local and central gov services…there’s a lot of possibility, but we have to built it on top of something first).
Encouraging transparency and cultural change around public sector worker empowerment
One of the best ways we can learn from each other is talking openly about the work and challenges we have. The wider advantages of this approach is people feel like they own their work if they can talk about it. Teams invested in their work and high autonomy perform better and feel better, and I think that’s something valuable and humane to invest in.
GDS’s as a magnetic catalyst across gov
I loved the line “it will be magnetic”. At the moment it doesn’t feel that way. To achieve the blueprints goals we must work together, and find opportunities to join up what matters most to our users. Having a mandate to attract and catalyse these collaborations is essential.
But what’s missing, or vague about the blueprint
Not much to be honest, and for that reason it was a really refreshing read. That said, I’d have (selfishly) loved to see a Chief Design Officer (CDO) or equivalent to join the cadre of C-suite roles at the top - the report talks a good talk on how we want services to feel and act for users, how we want to be inclusive, and how we want to deliver change that meets peoples expectations - but to walk that walk you need roles that are responsible and accountable for understanding the needs of people. Data, tech and product C-suite roles aren’t on the hook for that, and they have their own area of expertise to focus on.
Furthermore, the scope of the report is absolutely huge, bigger than huge - it’s enormous. It’s mind-bogglingly ambitious in it’s reach and goals. Every time I think my mind has comprehended where all the pieces and the edges are I lose hold of it again, it’s just that big. I hope we’re not heading towards “boiling the ocean” as a result, because that will be an ever present risk.
It was also a bit unclear on if GDS’s role will change related to service teams and exactly what that model looks like, and how we’re playing more of a connecting role. I think that needs thinking through to ensure we’re not giving up our ability to set standards and maintain consistency from the centre. The wording on that part felt contradictory to “joining everything up”.
Summary
The ambition is admirable and thrilling. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m looking forward to the next few years to see it play out and play my part. I’m really interested in other peoples analysis of the report too, get in touch if you fancy a chat about it! Read the full report here.