CINXE.COM

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" xml:lang="en-US" > <title type="text">Government Digital Service</title> <subtitle type="text">We are the digital centre of government. We serve the public, central government departments and the wider public sector.</subtitle> <updated>2025-02-14T17:00:26Z</updated> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/feed/</id> <link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/feed/" /> <entry> <author> <name>Idris Abdirizak - Junior Software Developer, Government Digital Service</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[How to become a software developer apprentice: Idris's story]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/14/how-to-become-a-software-developer-apprentice-idriss-story/" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/?p=88854</id> <updated>2025-02-14T17:00:26Z</updated> <published>2025-02-14T16:59:27Z</published> <category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="People and skills" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[Idris Abdirizak joined GDS through our apprenticeship scheme for developers. In this blog post he talks about his experience.]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/14/how-to-become-a-software-developer-apprentice-idriss-story/"><![CDATA[ <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="620" height="413" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/idris_cropped_image-1-620x413.jpg" alt="Headshot of Idris Abdirizak, software developer" class="wp-image-89001" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/idris_cropped_image-1-620x413.jpg 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/idris_cropped_image-1-310x207.jpg 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/idris_cropped_image-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/idris_cropped_image-1.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Starting from zero</h2> I started work at GDS in February 2022, joining the GOV.UK Pay team. I initially came in and met the team for a week and then I went away to Makers Academy. There I learned to code from zero; from the ground up. It was a very intensive experience. Before that I did a lot of different things, like biomedical science. After that I worked for a bit in a lab but I didn't really like it. And then lockdown happened. That's when I really started getting interested in coding. At first I was considering a bootcamp, but then a friend of mine told me about Civil Service Jobs. I came across the GDS apprenticeship, which offered much better opportunities for me than anything else I could have done. For the first 2 months I was just doing specific things that were earmarked for me. After that I needed to take on a project. It was creating a task list for onboarding with one of our payment providers. The team came together and thought, "this would be something good for you to work on", to enable me to get the experience I needed. Before that I'd been doing a mix of front-end and back-end work, but mainly front-end. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Time for learning</h2> I had every Friday for my own independent learning, supported by my line manager who knew exactly what I needed to help me. He gave me a few independent tasks, so that I could do work on something I was struggling with, for example Cypress testing. I then used Mountebank, which we use in combination with Cypress. I'd been struggling with those 2 technologies and he got me to make 2 applications; microservices that talk together. Then I was able to work on the task list properly. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Apprenticeship project</h2> I carried on with my apprenticeship, doing some complex infrastructure work. Then I started working on an apprenticeship project. As part of a GDS apprenticeship you get to work on a project that has a business need — something that the team is going to use. And one thing we needed was a button in an internal tool we use called Toolbox that would allow us to reverse refunds. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Challenge and progress</h2> Later a position came up in GDS for a junior developer role, which I applied and successfully interviewed for. The experience has been really, really good. It was very challenging to begin with because I came from a non-coding background. But I had a lot of support. I was quite lucky with the team I was placed in as they helped me a lot and made it a very good experience: challenging but definitely enjoyable. <div class="highlight"> <a href="https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?pageaction=searchbyquick&storesearchcontext=1&nghr_emp_type=167697&utm_source=civil-service-careers.gov.uk">Find a Civil Service apprenticeship</a> or sign up to be alerted when new apprenticeships are advertised that match your skills and experience. </div>]]></content> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/14/how-to-become-a-software-developer-apprentice-idriss-story/#comments" thr:count="0" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/14/how-to-become-a-software-developer-apprentice-idriss-story/feed/" thr:count="0" /> <thr:total>0</thr:total> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>Radha Kotyankar - Site Reliability Engineer, Government Digital Service</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[Joining GDS as a Junior Site Reliability Engineer: Radha's story]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/14/joining-gds-as-a-junior-site-reliability-engineer-radhas-story/" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/?p=88842</id> <updated>2025-02-14T15:27:05Z</updated> <published>2025-02-14T14:45:53Z</published> <category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="People and skills" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[Radha joined as a Junior Site Reliability Engineer on GOV.UK Pay, later moving to GOV.UK Forms. She talks about her experience of what it was like joining GDS.]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/14/joining-gds-as-a-junior-site-reliability-engineer-radhas-story/"><![CDATA[ <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="620" height="827" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/IMG_20241228_161810-1-1-620x827.jpg" alt="Headshot of Radha Kotyankar, Site Reliability Engineer" class="wp-image-88903" style="aspect-ratio:3/2;object-fit:cover" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/IMG_20241228_161810-1-1-620x827.jpg 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/IMG_20241228_161810-1-1-310x413.jpg 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/IMG_20241228_161810-1-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/IMG_20241228_161810-1-1-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/IMG_20241228_161810-1-1-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Life before GDS</h2> I started my career in teaching and moved gradually into the corporate world.  I had worked as a software tester but when I came to the UK I had to give up my job for family reasons. I was a stay-at-home mum for quite some time before I joined the workforce again. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">DevOps bootcamp</h2> I realised when I got back into software testing that things had changed quite a lot since I first worked in the field. So I thought it would be good to try something different. That's why I joined the <a href="https://ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk/role/development-operations-devops-engineer">DevOps</a> bootcamp in July 2022, where I achieved AWS cloud practitioner certifications over 12 weeks. Following this, I applied for a role at GDS  as a Junior Site Reliability Engineer on GOV.UK Pay. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Gradual learning</h2> At the beginning everything was new including writing git commands. I completed a lot of self-learning using training videos, and the support of my team. It would have been impossible to be where I am today without them! In the early days I mostly worked on package updates but in the background I was learning basic but essential skills: using git, how to push code to github, how to use the command line interface - it seems simple now! Gradually I  took on more challenging work including creating dashboards for metrics in the Prometheus tool. The team has always asked, "what would you like to do next?" and "how much more would you like to try?" encouraging me to push myself and giving me the support that I need to succeed. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Moving to a more senior role</h2> As part of the rotation for my programme, I then moved to GOV.UK Forms. Moving to a more senior role wasn't straightforward as I had to develop a set of skills to be able to develop into a mid-level role, but the team’s work always gave me scope to learn something different. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The future</h2> In future I'd like to get involved in more challenging projects to develop my skills and opportunities further. At the moment I'm also doing the senior leadership apprenticeship so I am practicing those skills in my current role. It’s a really broad programme covering finance, change management, and leadership over a 2-year period. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Challenge and progress</h2> I think GDS is one of the best places I've ever worked. Although I found things challenging when I first arrived, my team were brilliant. Their help and patience was so important in helping me to settle in. I would recommend anybody who is thinking of a career in the UK government or GDS to apply. <div class="highlight"> You can find available junior engineering and development roles on <a href="https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi">civil service jobs</a>. </div> ]]></content> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/14/joining-gds-as-a-junior-site-reliability-engineer-radhas-story/#comments" thr:count="0" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/14/joining-gds-as-a-junior-site-reliability-engineer-radhas-story/feed/" thr:count="0" /> <thr:total>0</thr:total> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>Tommaso Spinelli, Senior Artificial Intelligence Change Manager, GDS</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[Launching the Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/10/launching-the-artificial-intelligence-playbook-for-the-uk-government/" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/?p=83416</id> <updated>2025-02-10T14:18:08Z</updated> <published>2025-02-10T14:17:03Z</published> <category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="AI" /><category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="Digital Centre" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[AI is at the heart of the UK Government's strategy to drive economic growth and enhance public service delivery. Read more about GDS's AI Playbook to provide the public sector with accessible technical guidance on the safe and effective use of AI.]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/10/launching-the-artificial-intelligence-playbook-for-the-uk-government/"><![CDATA[ <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" width="960" height="640" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/GDS-ai-playbook.png" alt="Graphic with the following text 'Introducing the AI Playbook'" class="wp-image-86347" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/GDS-ai-playbook.png 960w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/GDS-ai-playbook-310x207.png 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/GDS-ai-playbook-620x413.png 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/GDS-ai-playbook-768x512.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /></figure> Today, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has launched the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-playbook-for-the-uk-government" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Artificial Intelligence (AI) Playbook for the UK Government</a> to provide departments and public sector organisations with accessible technical guidance on the safe and effective use of AI.  AI is at the heart of the UK Government's strategy to drive economic growth and enhance public service delivery - it offers significant opportunities to reduce costs and enhance public service delivery across government, as highlighted in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-digital-government-review/state-of-digital-government-review#data-and-ai" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">State of Digital Government Review 2025</a>. However, we must remain mindful of both the technology's constraints and potential risks. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Who the playbook and learning resources are for </h3> It is crucial for civil servants to gain an understanding of what AI can and cannot do, how it can help, and the potential ethical, legal, privacy, sustainability and security risks it poses. The AI Playbook can be freely accessed by everyone on <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-playbook-for-the-uk-government" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GOV.UK</a> and it is designed to support government departments, arm’s length bodies and public sector organisations. Different chapters cater for the needs of civil servants working both within and outside the digital and data space and with varying levels of digital knowledge. The AI Playbook updates and expands on old guidance to offer help on a wider range of AI technologies in addition to generative AI, including machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision, speech recognition and more.  The guidance contained in the Playbook is complemented by a new series of <a href="https://cddo.blog.gov.uk/2024/12/19/artificial-intelligence-must-have-skills-for-the-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AI courses on Civil Service Learning</a> and <a href="https://prospectus.governmentcampus.co.uk/04-artificial-intelligence/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">off-the-shelf training on Government Campus</a>. These resources were made available in collaboration with several <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/whitehall-set-to-bring-in-ai-and-data-experts-under-plans-to-turbocharge-productivity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">leading tech firms</a> and the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-skills" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Government Skills</a> unit. The AI Playbook is an important element of the government's bigger goal of putting AI to good use - making things run better, encouraging fresh thinking, reducing the time spent on repetitive tasks, and giving the economy a boost. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">What the playbook includes</h3> To meet the needs of a wide and diverse audience, the AI Playbook includes accessible explanations on AI technologies, sample use cases, and corporate guidance for policy professionals and decision makers, as well as technical advice on how to buy, implement and use AI solutions for digital and data professionals.  The playbook is organised in five parts: <ol start="1" class="wp-block-list"> <li>10 principles: this section summarises the key principles that all civil servants should follow when using AI in government.</li> <li>Introducing AI: this introductory section explains the foundations of AI (including generative AI), its applications, capabilities and limitations to all civil servants.</li> <li>Building AI: this section is designed for a variety of roles working on AI projects and contains both corporate and technological guidance. It offers advice on topics such as how to understand if AI is the right tool for the job, what use cases should be avoided in government, how to conduct user research on AI, how to build an AI team and acquire the necessary skills, and how to buy, procure and implement AI products. </li> <li>Using AI safely and responsibly: this section focuses on a wide range of legal, ethical, security and governance aspects of AI projects that team leaders and senior decision makers should consider when working on AI, discussing topics such as bias, privacy, copyright, data protection, and cybersecurity.</li> <li>Appendix with AI use cases in the public sector: the appendix collects a series of case studies on the development of several AI and generative AI solutions across the public sector written by the teams who developed these products.</li> </ol> Each section contains a checklist with practical recommendations to consider and actions to take when developing AI projects. More technical aspects of AI are discussed in our new series of<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-insights" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> AI Insights articles</a>. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">How we developed the playbook</h3> The creation of the AI Playbook was a collaborative effort involving over 50 experts from GDS and the wider <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-science-innovation-and-technology" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT)</a>, contributions from over 20 government departments and public sector organisations, as well as insights and peer-review from industry and academic advisors.  <h3 class="wp-block-heading">What’s next</h3> AI is a broad and fast-paced field and we’ll update the AI Playbook regularly. We’re also launching a series of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-insights" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AI Insights publications</a> to cover more specific aspects of AI whose in-depth discussion was not possible in the playbook.  Join the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/communities/artificial-intelligence-community" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Artificial Intelligence community of practice</a> to connect with people interested in AI across government, attend the monthly meet-ups and receive newsletters with all the latest AI news from across government.  Enrol in our <a href="https://learn.civilservice.gov.uk/courses/3TI2CaGVQ8y8Gx06k-0Qsg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">free e-learning courses on Civil Service Learning</a> to learn how to implement and use AI solutions safely and effectively. ]]></content> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/10/launching-the-artificial-intelligence-playbook-for-the-uk-government/#comments" thr:count="2" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/10/launching-the-artificial-intelligence-playbook-for-the-uk-government/feed/" thr:count="2" /> <thr:total>2</thr:total> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>Paul Willmott, Co-Chair of the advisory board for the digital centre of government design, Non-Executive Director at the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, and Chief Digital Advisor at KIRKBI</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[Shaping the new digital centre of government for success]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/07/shaping-the-new-digital-centre-of-government-for-success/" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/?p=80102</id> <updated>2025-02-06T16:59:30Z</updated> <published>2025-02-07T10:15:00Z</published> <category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="Digital Centre" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[Insights into the work of the expert panel advising on the design of the new digital centre that will lead the way in building a modern digital government. ]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/07/shaping-the-new-digital-centre-of-government-for-success/"><![CDATA[ Technology has profoundly changed the way we live our lives and continues to do so. We expect to be able to do almost anything through our phones or laptops. So digital transformation is far from unique to the public sector. Every organisation needs to consider how to respond to this change. What is unique about government is the scale of the public sector and the scale of the impact on every person in the country.  So how do we respond to that challenge? Fundamentally, a lot of the answer to this does not change. It’s about building digital and data skills, within the profession and, crucially, among leadership at the highest levels. It’s about improving the experience of people who use services. It’s about automation, so that colleagues can spend time on higher value tasks such as solving problems, and about using data more effectively. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Seizing the opportunities</h3> What does change - and fast - is the technology itself. With evolving technology like AI, we have a unique opportunity to enable delivery of faster yet more efficient services. In turn this will improve accessibility and transparency for citizens, and boost economic growth by removing bottlenecks for business. There are huge opportunities and we need system-wide reform in order to fully embrace them. That’s why I am delighted to be working with the exceptional, multidisciplinary group on the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tech-experts-to-shape-government-digital-vision-to-drive-innovation-and-boost-public-services" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">advisory board for the new digital centre of government</a>. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Strong foundations</h3> My part in these conversations combines experience in both the private sector and in the centre of government. I have been involved in conversations about the digital transformation of the public sector for some time, most recently in my role as Chair of the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO). A lot of great work has been done to date and we’ve drawn on <a href="https://digitalpeople.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/13/shaping-a-new-digital-centre-of-government-how-were-listening/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the collective understanding and experience of experts across government </a>and beyond to shape the direction of the new digital centre. We will retain what worked about the previous roadmap for digital and data, such as: a model of close collaboration across departments; and dual-focus on improving citizens’ and businesses’ experience of services. We’ll also continue the focus on driving change at the highest levels of decision making to enable a truly modern digital government. But this time around we’ve invested more time in developing an ambitious vision for the citizen experience, and have delved deeper into the opportunity for AI, which has progressed a long way since 2022.  <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1366" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/54281048756_ca969e76b5_k.jpg" alt="Photo from Digital Centre launch event showing DSIT's Secretary of State, Peter Kyle on stage presenting the new GOV.UK chatbot to audience." class="wp-image-80111" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/54281048756_ca969e76b5_k.jpg 2048w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/54281048756_ca969e76b5_k-310x207.jpg 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/54281048756_ca969e76b5_k-620x414.jpg 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/54281048756_ca969e76b5_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/02/54281048756_ca969e76b5_k-1536x1025.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Secretary of State Peter Kyle at the launch event for the new digital centre in January 2025</figcaption></figure> That vision is set out in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-blueprint-for-modern-digital-government">the blueprint for modern digital government</a> published last month. What will be critical to its success will be active sponsorship from business leaders across the public sector. Digital transformation can’t be separated from business transformation, and we need business leaders to push through the organisational barriers that impede progress and slow us down.  <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Diverse perspectives</h3> To build a vision that business leaders will be able to get behind, the team gathered a wide range of views from across government and beyond. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the diversity of perspectives we’ve brought together on the civil service team and on the advisory panel. That has led to some pointed conversations, but also to better solutions.  We’ve had a good discussion on how to balance the opportunities and risks of AI. Sarah Hunter (Technology Policy Advisor and Board member at ARIA) has helped us think about careful piloting with deep user research, but also about how to scale up rapidly so that proven models deliver outsized benefits. Talented experts in digital and data will drive the transformation that’s needed for the public sector to keep pace with changes in technology, to meet the expectations of people using services, and to do this in a way that’s far more efficient. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Building skills for success</h3> And it’s not just about new talent, keeping pace with technology is also about building skills among existing talent. From securing the backing of leaders, to delivering great public services on the front line, investing in digital and data skills at all levels is crucial for making the most of the opportunities offered by technology.  While technical skills like software engineering and data science are essential for the journey ahead, there are many other skills that will be equally important. These include process reengineering, organisation design, change management and management of digital projects. And as technologies evolve, there will be a need for skills that we can’t even describe today. For example ‘Prompt Engineer’ is a role and set of skills that didn’t exist a couple of years ago.  Every colleague has some role to play in delivering our vision of a modern digital public sector. Those who invest in upskilling themselves will be in greatest demand.  Which new digital skills would you like the opportunity to learn? ]]></content> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/07/shaping-the-new-digital-centre-of-government-for-success/#comments" thr:count="0" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/07/shaping-the-new-digital-centre-of-government-for-success/feed/" thr:count="0" /> <thr:total>0</thr:total> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>Joanna Davinson, Government Chief Digital Officer</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[Same name, new ambitions]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/27/same-name-new-ambitions/" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/?p=50289</id> <updated>2025-01-27T12:27:18Z</updated> <published>2025-01-27T10:39:29Z</published> <category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="Digital Centre" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[A new chapter begins. We unveil the name and vision for the new digital centre for government.]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/27/same-name-new-ambitions/"><![CDATA[ <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="620" height="413" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/Blog-images-2-1-620x413.jpg" alt="Government Digital Service. The digital centre of government." class="wp-image-51990" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/Blog-images-2-1-620x413.jpg 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/Blog-images-2-1-310x207.jpg 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/Blog-images-2-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/Blog-images-2-1.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> Last week we shared some news! The digital centre of government we've been talking about will be called the Government Digital Service. We have published its high level plans for the future:<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-blueprint-for-modern-digital-government"> A blueprint for modern digital government</a>. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The 'digital centre' is now the Government Digital Service (GDS)</h2> We considered lots of ideas for new names, but in the end settled on using the name we already have. The "GDS" name is extremely well known, both nationally and internationally and it has an excellent reputation we can build upon.  Although the name is familiar, the organisation will change. Teams from GDS, the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), the Incubator for AI (i.AI) and colleagues from the Geospatial data team and the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit have merged together to come together as the Government Digital Service.  <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Wholesale reshaping of the public sector</h2> A changed organisation brings changed plans and ambitions. They are much wider in scope, setting out an intention for comprehensive, compelling change across the public sector, not just central government.  The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-blueprint-for-modern-digital-government">blueprint for modern digital government</a> sets out all those ambitions in some detail. We encourage you to read it in full. There's a lot to take in, not just in what we want to achieve, but in how we intend to achieve it. In his foreword to the Blueprint, our Secretary of State Peter Kyle describes it as "a wholesale reshaping for the public sector." The Blueprint was informed by <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-digital-government-review">the State of Digital Government Review</a>, which highlighted some lasting, deep rooted systemic problems faced by digital public services. For example, we continue to struggle with recruiting and retaining the right skills and expertise in our digital teams. And sometimes organisations structures perpetuates the fragmented services people are expected to make sense of. These are just a few of the problems we need to work towards resolving in the newly formed Government Digital Service. The Blueprint sets out the future we'd like to see. Modern digital government should still do all the things we've been doing for years: meeting user needs, iterative user-centred delivery, and digital services so good that people prefer to use them.  But it should also go much, much further than this. Government services should do more of the hard work on people’s behalf: they should interconnect and link up and they should move at the same pace as people's daily lives. People shouldn't have to work out which benefits it’s worth them applying for; or remember the steps they're supposed to follow when they want to start a new business. We should take a responsible, ambitious stance on using AI to help deliver public services: understanding its potential, and using it where it makes sense to do so.  In the Blueprint you'll see details of the future we're striving for: a six-point plan for helping to bring it about, and a set of next steps. We've been working on some very early concepts to visualise and articulate that future and we'll share some of that work soon. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Starting points</h2> To succeed, the new GDS will need to expand its remit, acquire new mandates for reform, and gradually expand its scope over time into targeted support for local government and the NHS, for example.  We will introduce new products, including <a href="http://gov.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GOV.UK</a> Wallet and <a href="http://gov.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GOV.UK</a> App, and new digital public infrastructure including a National Data Library. We will double down on some existing work, such as One Login, and work to build digital and data capability across government.  We will renew our efforts to reform how AI and digital services are funded, assured and procured.  We will need to develop a roadmap for the next few years alongside the second phase of the Spending Review, and collaborate with digital leaders and teams across the public sector to make sure it works for everyone. What do you want to see from the reinvigorated GDS? We’d love to hear your ideas for modernising digital government.  ]]></content> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/27/same-name-new-ambitions/#comments" thr:count="12" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/27/same-name-new-ambitions/feed/" thr:count="12" /> <thr:total>12</thr:total> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>Jennifer Marks, Head of Digital Sustainability, GDS</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[GOV.UK One Login: Advancing digital sustainability in government]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/08/gov-uk-one-login-advancing-digital-sustainability-in-government/" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/?p=36236</id> <updated>2025-01-08T14:26:48Z</updated> <published>2025-01-08T14:26:48Z</published> <category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="GOV.UK One Login" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[Find out how GOV.UK One Login is leading the way in reducing emissions while supporting greener government operations. ]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/08/gov-uk-one-login-advancing-digital-sustainability-in-government/"><![CDATA[ <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="620" height="349" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/GOV.UK-One-Login-sustainability-graphic-1-1-620x349.png" alt="" class="wp-image-36239" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/GOV.UK-One-Login-sustainability-graphic-1-1-620x349.png 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/GOV.UK-One-Login-sustainability-graphic-1-1-310x174.png 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/GOV.UK-One-Login-sustainability-graphic-1-1-768x432.png 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/GOV.UK-One-Login-sustainability-graphic-1-1-1536x864.png 1536w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/GOV.UK-One-Login-sustainability-graphic-1-1.png 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> In our last <a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2023/08/22/gov-uk-one-login-building-a-green-digital-service/">digital sustainability post,</a> we wrote about our ambition to make GOV.UK One Login one of the most sustainable government digital services in operation. We discussed how we had begun this journey into digital sustainability; defining a digital service and the challenge of calculating our emissions. It took us nearly four months to develop a baseline and since then, things have moved very quickly. The response to the last blog post was incredible — it was inspiring to receive so many messages of interest, support and encouragement from so many across private and public sectors. If you reached out, thank you. If it spurred you on to address the emissions in your digital services — amazing! Keep going! (And please do share your experience.) Speeding up of another kind has also been happening, with the news coming out of COP29 that the irreversible tipping point of 1.5C has been passed. That means we’ve now reached the level of global warming at which Earth systems are at risk of entering a dangerous zone. This will trigger critical changes with cascading consequences for economies and societies including intensifying wildfires, droughts, floods, invasive species, vector-borne diseases, crop failure, economic hardship and more. It makes for intensely sombre reading. It emphasises how important the work we’re doing is right now and how important it is to keep going. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">So what have we been doing?</h2> After we measured the <a href="http://gov.uk">baseline of GOV.UK One Login</a> we knew we had to start considering how to reduce the emissions — after all what good is the baseline if we are not going to do something about it? We took the time to research and identify the actions we could take to actively reduce One Login’s carbon emissions, but we needed to understand and work out if these actions would keep emissions down, especially as the system continued to develop and onboard more and more government services (<a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/12/gov-uk-one-login-celebrating-50-services/">now exceeding 50!</a>) meaning more emissions. We also needed to consider increasing digital emissions against the emissions produced by alternative user journeys like driving to a Post Office. Our goal is to make digital as sustainable as it can be and this involves making sustainable solutions scalable so the emissions savings accumulate. There were some easy wins, including changing processor architecture to get an average 72% reduction in power consumption with our processors. This had some impact but we realised that even implementing these best practice interventions had a limited effect. So we had to go deeper….. Where to look next? We decided to partner with Greenpixie to explore in more detail the connection between FinOps and GreenOps. <a href="https://greenpixie.com/gds-press-release">Greenpixie</a> took our AWS cost and usage data to measure One Login's cloud emissions. From that they were able to provide a comprehensive emissions profile, including energy and water consumption, for every cloud service used. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="620" height="343" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/unnamed-4-620x343.png" alt="One Login cloud emissions reporting dashboard." class="wp-image-36243" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/unnamed-4-620x343.png 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/unnamed-4-310x171.png 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/unnamed-4-768x425.png 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2025/01/unnamed-4.png 1275w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">What did we find?  </h2> We found our emissions had gone up at the beginning of the year as we increased services and therefore more users. However, from February to June the data showed a reduction of cloud emissions by approximately 40 tonnes of CO2e per month — our optimisations were having an impact! These dashboards are now able to monitor changes at a system or team level and really start to zero in on the impact of improvements from the start. It also means that any increase could be identified and addressed early. But crucially the dashboards show us a critical point of view: emissions against cost. We can now prove that making sustainable decisions is not just nice for the planet, but that those decisions will actively reduce cost. So work is now underway with the One Login team to demonstrate this. But these are not small tweaks — this is major improvement work involving the breadth of the One Login team and this takes time to implement and time to measure. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Turn and face the change</h2> As with all our changes, we have a significant responsibility to ensure that any changes we make are both sustainable and practical — that in our efforts to be sustainable we continue to ensure that we strike a fine balance between user needs, performance AND sustainability. Now improvements and dashboards to monitor them are very important. They demonstrate the wealth of opportunities available to reduce our emissions and make One Login more efficient and more sustainable. But if we want to really make One Login a truly sustainable digital service we need to embed sustainability principles and practises throughout the whole team.  Focusing on building digital resiliency would have a greater and longer lasting impact than just efforts to decarbonise. Ultimately, we want digital sustainability to be as important a consideration in building and developing digital services in government as accessibility is. Digital sustainability is still a developing area — people understand the challenge but are unclear how they, as digital professionals, can help, can really make a difference. We developed Digital Sustainability 101 Training and at the time of publishing this has been delivered to over 250 One Login Team members and more. Teams who were always interested in sustainability, but did not necessarily know how to enact change are now informed and empowered to consider sustainability in their decision making. We are now looking to extend and tailor the training so we can support other teams build their own sustainability capability.  Beyond our own teams, we are working with the Home Office and their Law Enforcement Data Service to measure their emissions and offer training and support the building of their own sustainability capability. (I did say we have been very busy!) <h2 class="wp-block-heading">But what now…..? </h2> Well, the rest of GDS services beckon and we will be re-measuring <a href="http://gov.uk/">GOV.UK</a> with an enhanced methodology; as well as measuring Pay, Notify and Forms and our ambition is to embed digital sustainability across all GDS services.  We continue to work closely with the DEFRA led Digital Sustainability X-Government Group to address key issues around policies, standards and frameworks in critical areas including procurement, emissions measurement, learning & development and more. At the start I mentioned the heartwarming response to our last blog post, but seeing government departments unite, collaborate and support each other to develop solutions on this most mammoth of challenges is both enlightening and gives me hope that we can make a difference, that we can address climate change in one of the fastest growing emissions areas — technology! We need to act and we need to act now. We need to speed up the green transition. We need to act and empower change at all levels. Everyone has a role to play and everyone can make a difference. There is lots we can and must do — small changes done by the many can have a big impact . For example, you can make a change right now. Change the digital device you are reading this on to Low Power Mode. Low Power Mode reduces energy use by reducing the amount of power a device uses by among many others; shutting off apps activity not being used and reducing the brightness of the display which is incredibly power consuming. Low Power Mode also helps to preserve a device's battery health by regulating its temperature and preventing it from becoming too hot, and thus can help extend the lifespan of a device. It is a small change that will make a big difference…especially if everyone activates it on all their devices. If you’re out there and you’re reading this and you’ve done work in this area and have tips, tools, how-to-guides or ideas about how to help please do get in touch with the GDS Digital Sustainability Team so we can share ideas and move forwards together.  <div class="highlight"> Please get in touch with <a href="mailto:green@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk">green@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk</a> if you have any digital sustainability ideas or insights. </div> ]]></content> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/08/gov-uk-one-login-advancing-digital-sustainability-in-government/#comments" thr:count="6" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/08/gov-uk-one-login-advancing-digital-sustainability-in-government/feed/" thr:count="6" /> <thr:total>6</thr:total> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>David Biddle - Senior Frontend Developer for GOV.UK Forms, Government Digital Service</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[GOV.UK Forms through the ages]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/12/03/gov-uk-forms-through-the-ages/" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/?p=36206</id> <updated>2024-12-03T14:26:10Z</updated> <published>2024-12-03T12:43:38Z</published> <category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="GOV.UK Forms" /><category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="Forms" /><category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="user experience" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[As GOV.UK Forms moves into public beta, find out what we’ve done so far, what we’re doing next and how you can get involved and start building your own forms on the platform. ]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/12/03/gov-uk-forms-through-the-ages/"><![CDATA[ <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="620" height="414" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.46.53-1-620x414.png" alt="Picture of the GOV.UK Forms team with 8 members standing behind 6 members of the team seated on a blue corner sofa." class="wp-image-36215" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.46.53-1-620x414.png 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.46.53-1-310x207.png 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.46.53-1-768x512.png 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.46.53-1-1536x1025.png 1536w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.46.53-1.png 1712w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Early developments</h2> GOV.UK has thousands of forms which exist as PDFs or other document formats. Users have historically had to download, fill out, and send them back to the department which owns them.  Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic most are now submitted as email attachments. We want to see fewer document-based forms on GOV.UK because we think that <a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2021/11/17/why-we-think-online-html-forms-are-usually-better-than-document-based-forms-in-government/">online HTML forms are better for users</a>. Some of the benefits of online forms include: <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Compatibility with different browsers and assistive technologies, making it easier for users to access and complete forms</li> <li>Validation, helping users spot problems with their answers and saving time filling and processing forms</li> <li>Instant updates, meaning users always have access to the latest version of the form</li> <li>Page-by-page statistics, meaning form creators can see how well their forms are working and fix any issues</li> </ul> In 2017, GDS started looking at this problem with a project called GOV.UK Submit. While this didn’t progress past the alpha stage, it did inspire a number of form-building platforms across government. Then in 2020, <a href="https://xgovformbuilder.github.io/x-gov-form-community/">the cross-government form building community</a> was founded to connect people working on form building solutions. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The ‘Collecting Information from Users’ Discovery</h2> The number of document-based forms continued to increase, so in January 2021 we started looking at this problem again in a new discovery. Our aim was to understand how document-based forms end up being published on GOV.UK, and identify ways to help civil servants make simple and accessible online versions instead. We wanted to find out whether the existing form-building solutions would work for the teams creating these forms, so we assessed the cost and accessibility of existing platforms. We conducted approximately 30 in-depth interviews with people working across local and central government departments to find out more about their needs and the barriers to making online forms. We audited a sample of document-based forms on GOV.UK and found that 68% of them received fewer than 10,000 submissions a year. The teams who manage these forms can’t justify the cost of a multidisciplinary digital team and we found they weren’t being adequately served by existing form building platforms either.  To address this and support teams across government, we decided to build our own self-service form-building platform. We designed it to enable people with little or no digital experience to make their own online forms without needing help from digital teams. We hypothesised that this would allow them to deliver quick improvements for their users, while digital teams continue to focus on converting higher-volume document-based forms. This in turn would enable a wider move to online forms across government.  <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="620" height="413" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.41.05-620x413.png" alt="Sketch showing a proposed journey for a form making its way from a legislation change to being live on GOV.UK." class="wp-image-36209" style="width:630px;height:auto" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.41.05-620x413.png 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.41.05-310x206.png 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.41.05-768x511.png 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.41.05-1536x1023.png 1536w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.41.05.png 1712w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Alpha (July 2021 to March 2022)</h2> Before spending public money on building a new platform, we wanted to validate some of our assumptions, so in our alpha phase we wanted to answer these questions: <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>How cost-effective can we make adopting online forms for teams running services with between 250 and 10,000 transactions per year?</li> <li>Can we make it easy enough for civil servants without digital expertise to create "good enough" online forms?</li> <li>How easy do we need to make it to approve and manage online forms alongside document-based forms?</li> <li>How do we convince decision-makers to adopt our platform?</li> <li>Would usability improve after notifying digital assurance teams and publishers of underperforming forms?</li> </ul> To answer these questions we worked with 50 people across central government, carrying out interviews and experiments with form builders, which gave us confidence that our form building platform was viable. We put together a proposed service journey and a roadmap for private beta and started assembling our team. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Private beta (March 2022 to November 2024)</h2> We moved into private beta and started building the product in March 2022. Our aims in this phase were to deliver enough features to drive adoption, and test the platform with a small number of partner departments to validate our designs. Throughout this phase we tested regularly to make sure our platform worked for everyone. We spoke with civil servants and members of the public, including people with different levels of digital confidence and users with access needs.  We published our first form in September 2022, the Insolvency Service’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/amend-a-redundancy-claim#holiday-pay-accrued">Amend my claim for holiday pay accrued</a> form. Shortly afterwards, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency used our platform for their <a href="https://www.gov.uk/volunteer-as-a-coastguard/how-to-apply">Apply to be a Volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officer</a> form, which has helped to recruit almost 500 volunteer coastguards since it was launched. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="620" height="413" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.47.08-620x413.png" alt="Screenshot of a page in the ‘Amend my claim for holiday pay accrued’ form, showing guidance on how to complete the form’s security questions and amendment section." class="wp-image-36210" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.47.08-620x413.png 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.47.08-310x207.png 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.47.08-768x512.png 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.47.08-1536x1023.png 1536w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-02-at-16.47.08.png 1708w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> To help us scale up <a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2023/11/27/get-involved-with-the-launch-of-early-access-to-gov-uk-forms/">we opened up our platform for early access</a> in November 2023. This is an unusual step, but it meant that while we focused on developing new features and building forms with our partner departments, users from across government could sign up to try our platform. Within two months more than 500 new users had set up accounts. Around the same time we took on a high-profile form - Defra’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-certificate-of-exemption-to-keep-an-xl-bully-dog">Apply for a Certificate of Exemption to keep an XL Bully dog</a>. Our platform enabled Defra to set up this new service quickly and easily, and it received more than 60,000 submissions in 3 months. After receiving feedback from early and prospective users, we made changes to allow departments to assign forms to groups and manage access to those groups, giving departments more control over their ways of working.  Other major features we added during private beta included: <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>allowing users to skip questions based on a response</li> <li>allowing forms to take a payment along with a form submission</li> <li>adding detailed guidance to a question to help end-users answer more complex questions</li> </ul> You can see a <a href="https://www.forms.service.gov.uk/features">full list of features on our product page</a>. At the end of private beta we had 87 published forms from 52 partner organisations. Those forms have received more than 165,000 submissions which we estimate has saved form processors over 3 years’ worth of time. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The future</h2> On 4 November 2024, we moved into public beta. You can read about it in our <a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/04/gov-uk-forms-in-motion/">announcement blog post and watch our animation video</a>. This means that users in most central government departments can start building forms and publish them on GOV.UK. We’ve started work on some new features, including branching and exit pages to enable more complex forms, and select from a long list of answers. You can see our <a href="https://www.forms.service.gov.uk/forthcoming-features">GOV.UK Forms Forthcoming Features page</a> for more details. We're starting our next chapter, and you can be part of it. Visit <a href="https://www.forms.service.gov.uk/">our product page</a> to start building your own accessible online forms and <a href="https://service.us12.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=cb74eb9a6898b0e5870fede0a&id=451fe4c1e1">sign up to stay informed</a> on the latest features and developments. We’re also looking for help testing and improving the platform - if you’re a civil servant and you’d like to help us make the platform work as well as possible for users, you can <a href="https://surveys.publishing.service.gov.uk/s/govuk-forms-research/">sign up to take part in user research</a>. ]]></content> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/12/03/gov-uk-forms-through-the-ages/#comments" thr:count="4" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/12/03/gov-uk-forms-through-the-ages/feed/" thr:count="4" /> <thr:total>4</thr:total> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>Tim Paul - Head of Interaction Design, Government Digital Service</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[How GDS partners with the OECD on Digital Government]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/25/how-gds-partners-with-the-oecd-on-digital-government/" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/?p=36194</id> <updated>2024-11-25T12:50:46Z</updated> <published>2024-11-25T12:50:46Z</published> <category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="Digital, Data and Technology" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[Our new post highlights our work with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), reviewing digital government in the Republic of Korea.]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/25/how-gds-partners-with-the-oecd-on-digital-government/"><![CDATA[ <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="620" height="465" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/OECD-Korea-blog-photo-620x465.jpeg" alt="The OECD peer review team and their hosts from the Korean government." class="wp-image-36200" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/OECD-Korea-blog-photo-620x465.jpeg 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/OECD-Korea-blog-photo-310x233.jpeg 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/OECD-Korea-blog-photo-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/OECD-Korea-blog-photo.jpeg 1164w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> At the Government Digital Service (GDS) our international work includes engagement with multilateral organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The UK’s digital, data and technology expertise is highly sought after by our international peers in other governments and multilateral organisations. Our membership of forums hosted by these bodies plays a role in providing our UK practitioners with unique learning opportunities. With first-hand experience of delivering digital transformation, our GDS senior leadership is at the very core of our engagement, through their participation on international forums such as the OECD’s E-Leaders where they get together with other senior officials from different governments, share lessons learnt and collectively solve common problems, but also help to shape the future of the global digital government landscape. Organisations like the OECD bring together international experts and digital practitioners in their respective specialist subject fields to conduct in-depth analysis and share international insights and best practices with other governments. The end goals all have the same purpose - sharing of information and opinions between country peers and thematic experts to achieve a desired output or common goal. The UK’s engagement with the OECD’s Digital Government and Open Data Unit opens up many opportunities for learning.  GDS digital practitioners have previously supported digital government reviews led by the OECD, in Chile, Slovenia and will be supporting upcoming OECD capacity building workshops in Thailand.  Participating in interviews and discussions with other governments also brings back learnings and insights to help our own work and thinking. Here’s a recent example of a trip that my colleague Tim Paul, our Head of Interaction Design, joined. Over to Tim… <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Peer review trip to the Republic of Korea</h2> Back in June 2024 I was lucky enough to be selected to join a small OECD delegation to the Republic of Korea, to conduct a peer review of their digital public services and infrastructure. The OECD works to help its 38 member countries improve people’s lives with better policies for things like digital government, economic development, education, climate change and corruption. They occasionally visit member countries to conduct a detailed review, and then share what they learn in a report. Typically they invite a few peers from other member countries; experts in a particular field that the country in question is interested in. I was joined by another peer, Laura Sommer, an advisor from the New Zealand equivalent of GDS. We were there to provide expertise on User Centred Design and Service Transformation. Over 5 days we held 19 in-depth interviews with civil servants from 14 different departments. They were held in government offices in Seoul and Sejong, and for each interview we were joined by a translator. The interviews were semi-structured, with some pre-prepared questions, but as peers we were able to improvise a bit. At the end of the week we presented our initial findings back to our hosts. The final report is written by OECD, but Laura and I will review it too. On reflection, it’s been one of the most fascinating and rewarding experiences of my career so far. It felt really good to be supporting the digital transformation of another country. The OECD team was fantastic, and it was great to make connections with a fellow peer. The trip gave me a new appreciation that every nation is on its own journey when it comes to digital transformation. What works in one place may not work elsewhere, so it’s really important to understand a country’s context before you try to replicate their strategies. Also, the food was delicious. <div class="highlight"> See here for more information about the OECD's work on Digital Government: <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/policy-issues/digital-government.html">https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/policy-issues/digital-government.html</a> </div> ]]></content> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>Natalie Jones OBE - Director of Digital Identity, Government Digital Service</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[GOV.UK One Login: celebrating 50 services ]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/12/gov-uk-one-login-celebrating-50-services/" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/?p=36177</id> <updated>2024-11-18T08:51:35Z</updated> <published>2024-11-12T14:51:42Z</published> <category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="GOV.UK One Login" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[50 services are using GOV.UK One Login for authentication and identity verification for millions of users. Natalie Jones OBE, Director of Digital Identity at the Government Digital Service, reflects on this milestone in our latest blog post.]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/12/gov-uk-one-login-celebrating-50-services/"><![CDATA[ <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="620" height="413" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/Blog-post-asset-GOV.UK-One-Login-50-services-960x640px-620x413.png" alt="Text reads: GOV.UK One Login 50 services. There are black, white, blue and green icons in the background of the asset." class="wp-image-36176" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/Blog-post-asset-GOV.UK-One-Login-50-services-960x640px-620x413.png 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/Blog-post-asset-GOV.UK-One-Login-50-services-960x640px-310x207.png 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/Blog-post-asset-GOV.UK-One-Login-50-services-960x640px-768x512.png 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/Blog-post-asset-GOV.UK-One-Login-50-services-960x640px.png 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> As we come to the end of our initial three-year phase, GOV.UK One Login is now fully operational, and I’m delighted to be able to tell you that we’ve passed a golden milestone. As of October 2024, 50 services are using GOV.UK One Login for authentication and identity-proving. This is testimony to the hard work of not just the GDS teams developing the product, but all those in service teams across government who have worked to help us understand what their users need and to onboard to our service. This shows that GOV.UK One Login is fulfilling its purpose, empowering more teams to streamline their processes, and delivering tangible benefits for departments and end-users.  The Department for Education ‘Confirm my Apprenticeship’ is officially our 50th service. With five Apprenticeship services now using GOV.UK One Login, employers, citizens, and apprentices are enjoying an improved user experience and are saving time as they access the services they need. Gary Tucker, Deputy Director, Digital Skills Portfolio from the Department for Education said:  <blockquote> We’ve now integrated five Apprenticeship services with GOV.UK One Login, and it’s been a game-changer for our apprentices, the supporting services and our department. It shouldn’t be difficult for apprentices to create and manage their account, and now with GOV.UK One Login, the end to end process is so much smoother. The fact that employers, citizens and apprentices are all using GOV.UK One Login as well makes the process so much simpler and more joined up. As a department we’re saving time and money, reducing duplication and better serving our citizens. We’re proud to be part of this important milestone. </blockquote> It's exciting to see how GOV.UK One Login’s adoption continues to expand, boosting efficiency and collaboration while validating all the hard work that's gone into its development. A huge thanks to all our services who have onboarded and our colleagues who continue to work hard to achieve our shared objectives. <h1 class="wp-block-heading">A modern digital government </h1> With the recent change of government, GDS - including teams working on GOV.UK One Login -<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dsit-bolstered-to-better-serve-the-british-public-through-science-and-technology"> has moved to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT),</a> alongside the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) and the Incubator for AI (i.AI). This move will drive forward the digital changes needed to overhaul the British public’s experience of interacting with the government, so it becomes personalised, convenient, and timesaving – for example, by providing people with just one way to login and prove who they are so they can quickly access the government services they need. It will also help remove roadblocks to sharing data across the public sector. We have always worked closely with others in DSIT, and this move unites our efforts to create a modern digital government with a strong mandate for change. Our work in GOV.UK One Login will continue to drive forward a modern digital government that gives citizens a better experience, and their time back.  <h1 class="wp-block-heading">A front door open to all users </h1> GOV.UK One Login is providing a secure front door to all government services, and so accessibility is vital. Over the past year we’ve honed in on inclusion, broadening the range of documents and evidence that people can use to prove who they are. We are now at a place where we can verify someone's identity with a range of different documentation, including UK biometric residence permits and knowledge-based verification questions.   Last October, we established our face-to-face route for identity verification meaning people can instead choose to visit their local Post Office to complete this part of the journey. Enabling a face-to-face route is a huge step in enabling access to One Login for people who may not have the confidence to complete things online, or those without a smartphone. At the same time we also opened a contact centre, so that users who were struggling to prove who they are could call us and get support at the time they need it. If you’d like to find out more about the contact centre’s offering, <a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/10/16/ringing-in-success-with-the-gov-uk-one-login-contact-centre/">check out our latest blog post here</a>.  <h1 class="wp-block-heading">Making our service even better for citizens</h1> But 50 is clearly not our end goal, with many more services on our roadmap in the future with HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency soon to come on board. This achievement not only shows the programme's success but also highlights its potential to continue transforming how we work, collaborate, and serve users. <div class="highlight"> GOV.UK One Login numbers show our progress: <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>over 3 million One Login accounts have been created</li> <li>over 6.2 million identities issued</li> <li>over 8.8 million downloads of our ID check app </li> <li>now 50 services and counting onboarded </li> </ul> </div> And throughout, our mission remains clear: save taxpayer money by cutting duplication, and make life easier for people with a simpler, faster login process. We’re opening doors for genuine users while keeping fraudsters at bay. Every step we take gets us closer to that goal and we won’t stop until we truly achieve One Login for all services.  Until next time, Natalie.  <div class="highlight"> For more information about what GOV.UK One Login has been up to recently check out our blog post <a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/09/19/gov-uk-one-login-designing-for-inclusion-at-scale/">GOV.UK One Login: Designing for inclusion at scale</a>. </div> ]]></content> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/12/gov-uk-one-login-celebrating-50-services/#comments" thr:count="2" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/12/gov-uk-one-login-celebrating-50-services/feed/" thr:count="2" /> <thr:total>2</thr:total> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>The GOV.UK Forms Team</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[GOV.UK Forms in motion]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/04/gov-uk-forms-in-motion/" /> <id>https://gds.blog.gov.uk/?p=36163</id> <updated>2024-11-04T14:05:58Z</updated> <published>2024-11-04T09:23:03Z</published> <category scheme="https://gds.blog.gov.uk" term="GOV.UK Forms" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[GOV.UK Forms is now in public beta! Learn how easy it is to get started using the new form builder platform to make better, digital forms, save people time and improve the public’s experience of interacting with government.]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/04/gov-uk-forms-in-motion/"><![CDATA[ <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="620" height="413" src="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/GOVUK-Forms-team-group-photo-960x640px-620x413.png" alt="Picture of the GOV.UK Forms team with 8 members standing behind 6 members of the team seated on a blue corner sofa." class="wp-image-36162" srcset="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/GOVUK-Forms-team-group-photo-960x640px-620x413.png 620w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/GOVUK-Forms-team-group-photo-960x640px-310x207.png 310w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/GOVUK-Forms-team-group-photo-960x640px-768x512.png 768w, https://gds.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2024/11/GOVUK-Forms-team-group-photo-960x640px.png 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></figure> GOV.UK Forms is now in public beta, enabling all teams across central government to use the platform. We’re also expanding our support and service offering. GOV.UK Forms is an easy to use form building platform with accessibility, security and hosting built-in. We do lots of the hard work for teams such as complying with government standards, including on accessibility and cyber security, so they can focus on building forms and using expert knowledge to run public services.  You can see how the platform is enabling teams to save time and money in this short video.  <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="GOV.UK Forms animation" width="620" height="349" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/fc0eTVB4Igk?wmode=transparent&rel=0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div></figure> There are over 10,000 document-based forms published on GOV.UK. GOV.UK Forms is designed to tackle some of the common problems associated with these. Many of these forms tend to be less accessible, difficult for the public to use and take longer to process.  GOV.UK Forms is part of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-digital-service/about">GDS’ commitment</a> to make common components, making it easier for government departments to build better digital forms, save everyone time and improve the public experience of interacting with government.  Teams right across central government can now sign up to quickly create secure and accessible digital forms without needing any technical knowledge. We estimate this has already saved government teams over 2 years in processing time since September 2022. During private beta and early access we saw 87 forms published alongside over 1,200 users creating accounts to test how GOV.UK Forms can help their organisations build better forms. The team have done lots of accessibility research throughout development and Oliver Quinlan, Lead User Researcher at GDS, has previously written about <a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/01/12/how-were-making-it-easier-to-access-government-forms-online/">what we learned from users when testing different form formats and the preference for digital forms</a>. To help organisations use GOV.UK Forms we’ve also included controls such as user management, which enables departments to manage who can publish forms, and <a href="https://www.forms.service.gov.uk/create-good-forms">guidance on how to create good forms</a>. We’ve been working with and learning from teams across government throughout private beta. <a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/12/how-to-get-started-using-gov-uk-forms-experiences-of-the-content-team-at-the-dvsa/">John Ploughman and Thomas Williams from DVSA, recently published a blog post on ‘How to get started using GOV.UK Forms’</a> and what they’ve learned.  We’re continuing to develop and scale the platform and we’re keen to do that in partnership with teams across central government. So if you have <a href="https://forms.service.gov.uk/support">questions, feedback or ideas, please get in touch</a>. <div class="highlight"> To find out more, including how to create an account and start building a digital form, visit <a href="http://gov.uk/forms">GOV.UK Forms</a> and ‘get started’. </div> ]]></content> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/04/gov-uk-forms-in-motion/#comments" thr:count="10" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/04/gov-uk-forms-in-motion/feed/" thr:count="10" /> <thr:total>10</thr:total> </entry> </feed>