The report took all the best parts from the software industry – user-centred designs, agile approaches, use of open source software – and brought them together into an overall approach.
The most ground-breaking thing about the work was that the recommendations were actually acted upon! Similar reports had been produced going back as far as 1999, but little had changed. Moving the government forward turned out to be the proverbial super-tanker turn that only happened when some real heavyweights got their hands on the wheel. This included the author of the report (Baroness Lane-Fox) and the government minister tasked with delivering it (Sir Francis Maude). This kind of buy-in made all the difference.
Fast-forwarding 10 years, the digital revolution is by no means complete, but much progress has been made – with two big surprises standing out.
Firstly, despite strong early successes, the government is far from digitally transformed and the GDS, the organisation created to drive the change, seems to have lost momentum lately. Its purpose has become less clear and despite fairly hefty injections of budget, it has not managed to deliver success in, for example, the field of data. Many expected the organisation to lead the UK forward in a similar way as it did with agile and user-centred design.
And secondly, seldom do we see the best ideas from the public sector adopted into the private sector. It’s all there for the taking!
But what exactly are the lessons to be learnt?
