Government delays digital strategy until EU referendum

The government is postponing the release of its digital strategy until after the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU).

Speaking in a select committee hearing, culture secretary and digital economy minister Ed Vaizey said the digital strategy was ready to be published – but will have to wait until after the referendum and local elections are held.

Download this free guide

UK IT Priorities 2018 survey results

Download this e-guide to discover the results of our 2018 UK IT Priorities survey, where IT leaders shared with us what they are going to be investing in over the coming 12 months.

Start Download

• Corporate E-mail Address:

  You forgot to provide an Email Address.

  This email address doesn’t appear to be valid.

  This email address is already registered. Please login.

  You have exceeded the maximum character limit.

  Please provide a Corporate E-mail Address.

• • I agree to TechTarget’s Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and the transfer of my information to the United States for processing to provide me with relevant information as described in our Privacy Policy.

  Please check the box if you want to proceed.

• • I agree to my information being processed by TechTarget and its Partners to contact me via phone, email, or other means regarding information relevant to my professional interests. I may unsubscribe at any time.

  Please check the box if you want to proceed.

By submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent.

“The digital strategy has been drafted and is ready to go, but we’re looking for a slot from Downing Street,” Vaizey said.

“We are obviously affected by purdah, local elections and the EU referendum. I imagine it’ll probably be published after the referendum when the decks have been cleared and we can move forward.”

Vaizey added that the strategy “will give a good overview of what the government is doing in terms of digital”.

He also announced that the government is working to establish a digital engagement council, “which covers all the issues to do with digital inlusion, from older people through to people who are socially excluded” and added that the government also needs to work on having a more holistic view on digital technology.

“Government isn’t co-ordinated enough when it comes to digital. We need to pause over the summer and have a good look at how we engage digitally,” he said.