The Commons Science and Technology Committee has today
launched a new inquiry: Digital Government.
The Government Digital Service (GDS) was set up in 2011 to help
deliver the then Government’s policy of ‘Digital by default’ in
the provision of public services. It has supported 25 ‘exemplar’
service-delivery projects, including registering to vote,
Land Registry, Carers Allowance applications, tax self-assessment
and passport renewal.
The Government published its ‘Digital Transformation
Strategy’ in February 2017, focusing on how digital
technology can improve and redesign services as well as the
internal workings of departments. It is working towards 25
million people having a GOV.UKVerify account
by 2020 and 90% of passport applications being made online by
2020.
The previous Committee’s 2016 ‘Big Data Dilemma’
Report looked at the Government’s progress on ‘open data’
data-sharing initiatives and concluded that “there is more to do
to breakdown departmental data silos, to bring data together in
order to further improve public services”.
A June 2017 Report from the Institute for
Government, Improving the management
of digital government, stated that “the spread of new
digital services for the public has been slower than planned” and
that a cyber-attack that hit the NHS showed “the fragility of
some of the systems being used in the public sector”.
In March 2018, the Prime Minister announced that
the data policy and governance functions of the Government
Digital Service (GDS) would transfer from the Cabinet Office to
the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS),
effective from 1 April.
Terms of reference
The Committee is undertaking an inquiry into Digital Government,
and would welcome written evidence by Friday 28
September that addresses the following issues:
- The progress of Government
digital services, the areas where further development is
particularly needed, and how well the UK compares with other
countries.
- How well Government digital
services are protected from cyber attacks.
- How well the Government
Digital Service (GDS) has helped spread the use of digital
services across Government, including promoting the use of new
technologies and uses of data.
- The digital skills capacity
in Government departments and agencies, to be able to deliver
effective digital services to the public and businesses.
- How well the Government and
its agencies deploy their datasets to maximise their value for
money, effectiveness and delivery of digital services.
- The extent to which
Government datasets are made available to private-sector and
academic service developers, and how well its ‘open data’
arrangements are operating.
- The implications and
opportunities for GDS arising from Brexit, including areas where
the nature of digital services may have to change.
- The implications for GDS
following the move of its data policy and governance
functions from the Cabinet Office to theDepartment for
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Submitting written evidence
Submit written evidence
via our inquiry page.
Each submission should:
a) be in Word format with as little use of logos as possible.
b) have numbered paragraphs.
c) include a declaration of interests.
Please note that:
- Material already
published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission,
but may be referred to within a proposed memorandum.
- Memoranda submitted
must be kept confidential until published by the Committee,
unless publication by the person or organisation submitting it is
specifically authorised.
- Once submitted,
evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee
normally, though not always, chooses to make public the written
evidence it receives, by publishing it on the internet (where it
will be searchable), by printing it or by making it available
through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information
you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and
explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure.
The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to
publish or further disclose the evidence.
- Select Committees are
unable to investigate individual cases.
Submissions need not address every aspect of the terms of
reference and should be no longer than 3,000 words.
The Committee values diversity and seeks to ensure this where
possible. We encourage members of underrepresented groups to
submit written evidence.
More information on
submitting evidence to Select Committees.
Further Information:
www.parliament.uk/science
Follow us on Twitter: @CommonsSTC
Inquiry page: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/science-and-technology-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/digital-government-17-19/
Committee Membership: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/science-and-technology-committee/membership/
