Recent Blog Posts

The government recently announced plans that – despite facing delays and setbacks – a new Emergency Services Network (ESN) will be phased in from the beginning of 2019. It will replace the legacy ...

Despite senior government and public sector officials often banging on about the importance of transparency and openness, in reality, it’s almost a cultural taboo for civil servants or anyone else ...

Dominic Raab, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, has been in hot water for his late-dawning admission of the importance of the Dover-Calais route to the UK’s trade in goods. Raab was ...

Gone, or so it seems, are the days when Computer Weekly laments after every Budget statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer that tech has been overlooked. There is little doubt that ...

Australian government report finds that there is a better technology than blockchain for every use considered in its report

Depending on your perspective, Gov.uk Verify is now either secure in its future at the heart of the UK’s emerging digital identity ecosystem, or it has one foot in the grave and is on the way to ...

Blockchain answer to Irish border question, but what about Facebook?

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has been conducting a review of digital identity since taking over policy responsibility from the Government Digital Service (GDS) in ...

The government’s flagship digital identity system Gov.uk Verify has become a car crash in motion, accelerating towards its demise. The Cabinet Office’s project watchdog has condemned Verify by ...

Will Liam Maxwell’s departure be the straw that broke the camel’s back when it comes to government’s progress on digital?

When Theresa May’s unstoppable reshuffle tour eventually reached as far as grinning app namesake Matt Hancock, he found himself thrust from his role as secretary of state for digital, culture, ...

The new DCMS secretary of state may not have much experience when it comes to digital, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give him a chance. One thing's for sure though: Whether you want to call it ...

Slowly, slowly, the UK government is getting better at big IT projects. Thanks to Whitehall watchdog, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), we’re able to track the improvements in major ...

Gavin Williamson unwittingly summoning Siri on his iPhone whilst updating Parliament on the fight against Daesh has marked him as national security’s weak link, which couldn’t really be any less ...

Matt Hancock, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS), is not everyone’s cup of tea – especially when that cup is Matt Hancock branded. But regardless of whether you’re ...

The government announced this month a brand new method for submitting divorce applications: it can now all be done online! The digital route is intended as a less stressful option than the fusty ...

Last week, the Government Digital Service (GDS) dedicated a whole day to talking about what it’s up to, at its first Sprint event in two years. About time too, many observers said, since GDS seemed ...

There’s rather a lot going on in government IT at the moment. Last year’s ambitious transformation strategy set challenging aims of overhauling back-office systems across Whitehall, building an ...

The Windrush scandal has revealed many disturbing things about government policy that have nothing to do with IT. But the issues raised amply demonstrate the importance of technology considerations ...

On April 6th at the launch of the Apprenticeships Anthology Sir Gerry Berragan, the Chief Executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships outlined progress over the past year and updated his 10 ...

I met Mike Bracken, the first leader of the Government Digital Service (GDS), in 2011, not long after he had started the job, for an off-the-record briefing about his ambitious plans to overhaul IT ...

There is no shortage of talent, only of employers who train that talent. Thirty years ago it took around 18 months turn a University Graduate into a competent analyst programmer. During that second ...

Yesterday, the government reluctantly agreed to share with the public a series of documents on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) controversial Universal Credit programme. I say ...

The details in the Prime Minister's speech, including that dismissed as Geekspeak in the mass media, helps explain what is really at stake in the negotiations and why the BBC and the Online ...

If you happen to be an ardent Brexiteer, a true believer in the UK government’s desire for “innovative solutions” to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland, we have good news for you. The ...

You wouldn’t exactly classify the leaders of the UK tech sector as a bunch of liberal lefties. For all the stereotypes of bearded Shoreditch sandal-wearers that surround much of the nascent startup ...

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been consistently criticised for its lack of transparency since the controversial Universal Credit programme was launched nearly eight years ago. The ...

There’s a growing body of opinion that the government’s flagship digital identity system, Gov.uk Verify, has now become a major hindrance to the development of the UK’s digital identity ...

It’s nice that we have a prime minister that chooses to use one of her most high-profile speeches of the year to talk about technology. It’s equally good that her chancellor similarly discussed the ...

The demise of construction and services giant Carillion has brought fresh scrutiny of outsourcing in government. Frankly, you could find some event almost every year that brings fresh scrutiny of ...