On Friday (10th December), the UK Public Accounts Committee (PAC) released a highly critical report concerning technology implementation within government, calling it ‘dysfunctional, damaging and sometimes dangerous.’ The report titled, ‘Challenges in implementing digital change,’ singles out failures – on which the Government estimates it spends around £20bn each year – citing the Home Office’s blunders around the modernisation of core police IT systems, as well as transformation initiatives led by NHS England to transform primary care services.
Responsibility for improving government’s digital performance lies with the Central Digital and newly-created Data Office (CDDO) and the Government Digital Service (GDS). However, PAC believes that a ‘lack of skills and understanding’ and an overreliance on ‘legacy systems’ are hindering digital change. Indeed, there is a failure by government departments to understand the difference between patching up existing systems and true technology-led transformation.
Ash Finnegan, digital transformation officer at Conga, offers the following comments:
“As the PAC report indicates, true digital transformation involves bringing together data, processes and people to establish meaningful change and improve ways of working. Despite the acceleration we have witnessed across the private sector, public sector transformation is seriously lacking – government agencies are far too reliant on legacy systems and technology, and this is impacting vital services. In most cases, it is down to cost cutting initiatives, or budget constraints, but as recent events have shown, legacy IT can be disastrous. Not only do legacy systems pose serious cybersecurity risks, but inefficient processes or poorly executed change programmes can lead to further costs later down the line.
“The National Audit Office (NAO) had implied this earlier this year in a report which suggested there was a ‘consistent pattern of underperformance’ with regards to transformation projects, and a gap between what the government ‘intends’ to achieve and what it actually delivers for its citizens and end users. Sadly, most government leaders approach digital change programmes without necessarily having a clear idea of what technology to implement or how it will improve their overall services. After all, only a small proportion of senior officials in government have first-hand experience of delivering real digital business change.
“Now more than ever, there is a need for higher quality data, improved processes to empower governmental-level decision making. It is vital that we ramp up our digital change efforts to improve service delivery for all citizens. However, as the PAC report suggests, the government must be careful in how it approaches this. Whilst digital transformation offers many advantages, that does not necessarily mean it is easy to define, plan or execute. Digitally ‘maturing’ each government department will no doubt prove a tremendous challenge.
“Agency leads need to reconsider their current operational model and identify where a particular solution would be best suited or where a certain technology may be better placed to improve overall operability. Too many prioritise technology over strategy, and do not have a clear understanding of the outcomes that digital transformation can and should drive. At a basic level, it is all about reconsidering the relationship between people, processes, and data, establishing a pathway that connects all these variables. Each department must address all operational inefficiencies if they have any chance of improving vital public services.”
*https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmpubacc/637/report.html
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