Digital Leaders’ Download: Ex-HMPPS leader Farrar on how technology was crucial in helping prisons’ pandemic response
In the first of a series of interviews with government’s biggest figures, PublicTechnology and CDDO caught up with Jo Farrar to discuss exploring virtual reality and AI, and why it’s time for civil servants to stop accepting outdated IT
Interview: CDDO chief Lee Devlin on the ‘move from being disruptive to collaborative’
In the first of a series of exclusive interviews, the head of government’s ‘Digital HQ’...
CCS defends Digital Marketplace closure and pledges to ‘reinstate transparency’
Suppliers and former officials have lamented the decision but procurement agency claims outgoing...
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Virtual voting, remote working and fake news – the tech legacy of coronavirus
Experts discuss what the lasting impact of the pandemic might be for government and the public sector
What next for GOV.UK Verify?
The identity-assurance tool is being used more than ever just as its future grows more uncertain. PublicTechnology examines what might happen to the service in the longer term
How Barnsley Council is building its own IT services and sharing them ‘for the greater good’
The authority’s IT manager Richard Kingston explains why local government needs to collaborate for the benefit of citizens
‘We hope more people will ask for help’ – how an NHS trust is using virtual reality to treat phobias
Patients in the East of England can now use immersive technology to help overcome mental health conditions. Gill Hitchcock finds out more.
How Denmark aims to ‘create trust’ in contact-tracing tech
The CEO of Danish tech firm NetCompany tells PublicTechnology why the country’s existing digital infrastructure could help encourage adoption of its soon-to-launch coronavirus response app
One in six government service assessments ends in failure
PublicTechnology research finds that failing to consider user needs is the most common stumbling block, with a lack of simplicity and intuitiveness also a frequent failing
DVSA uses AI and agile to support ‘a lifetime of driving’
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has already done a great deal of work implementing technology across its operations. But digital chief Alex Fiddes tells PublicTechnology it has even bigger ambitions.
Analysis: A few pioneers, but councils and NHS still show limited uptake of digital outcomes
After four years, usage of the government’s flagship vehicle for agile service design support is still predominantly used by Whitehall. PublicTechnology research assesses uptake so far among local government and NHS trusts – and which local public sector entities are leading the way
Interview: BJSS public sector head on government tech trends
BJSS is a technology consultancy with nearly ten years experience helping the public sector deliver a range of projects. Head of public sector Susheel Dodeja sits down with Geoffrey Lyons to discuss some of the work to date and the digital trends that will define the coming years
‘The stakes feel higher but, with good practice, it need not be scary’ – NHS.UK design lead on responding to coronavirus
The current crisis has placed an unexpected – and perhaps unwelcome – weight of responsibility on service designers. The NHS website’s lead designer Dean Vipond discusses how to cope with the fear and stay focused on users and outcomes
GDS chief on why the agency needs to lead from the front on service design
Director general Alison Pritchard tells PublicTechnology that the organisation still has a key role to play in building services
Analysis: which departments are seeking digital outcomes?
The Digital Marketplace, and the frameworks it supports, are designed to help Whitehall procure in an agile way. But PublicTechnology finds the frequency and type of usage varies significantly across departments
Coronavirus: can we keep track of our sensitive data?
The current crisis has prompted an openness to sharing information and a willingness to forego some of the usual restrictions on doing so – even with commercial entities. PublicTechnology examines the current climate, including two major public-private collaborations, and what it means for personal data, now and in the future
How one London borough is defending against the dark web
Faced with threats from the dark web, Bexley ramped up its cybersecurity with a managed service. Gill Hitchcock finds out more.
NHSX chief: This is not about tech, or data – it’s about patients
A year after NHSX was founded, the healthtech organisation’s head Matthew Gould discusses AI, data sharing and privacy in this exclusive interview
Can the Government Transformation Strategy be judged a success?
The Government Transformation Strategy set out an array of ambitions for a three-year timeframe that has now reached its end. A range of expert commentators discuss whether its aims have been achieved.
Will the UK government use phone tracking to fight pandemic?
Various other countries are using voluntary or mandatory tracking to follow spread of pandemic, as PM says tech will ‘help us see the disease as it is transmitted’
Interview: GDS head Alison Pritchard on ministerial change, the spending review and the benefits of comedy
The Government Digital Service was created to be a radical agent of reform. Director general Alison Pritchard tells PublicTechnology that, while it now prefers to work more collaboratively, it still has the stomach for a scrap.
Carry on campus – how ONS data science is supporting Brexit negotiations and coronavirus response
Since its launch in 2017, the ONS Data Science Campus has delivered many innovative projects to support the government’s work in areas ranging from Brexit negotiations to the early stages of the coronavirus response. We talk to managing director Tom Smith to find out more
All-lane smart motorways show boost in average speeds
Data suggests that the removal of a hard shoulder brings a higher miles per hour rate, but concerns over safety remain
Digitising the Natural History Museum and boosting HMRC IT – fourteen tech takeaways from the Budget
Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a range of funding and new programmes dedicated to digital, data and technology