Today (9 February 2017) the Cabinet Office publishes
the Government Transformation
Strategy, setting out how the government will harness digital
technologies, skills and tools to transform public services and
put the citizen first – and redefine the relationship between the
citizen and the state.
Delivering the keynote speech at the Reform think tank’s annual
conference in central London, MP, Minister for the Cabinet
Office, outlined the government’s commitment to build on
the Digital by Default
services developed under the previous digital
transformation strategy, which helped to establish the UK as a
global leader in digital government.
Central to this commitment is identity assurance – establishing
that the user is who they say they are. GOV.UK Verify, the
government’s online identity verification service which went live
in May 2016, enables individuals to prove their identity online
and to access government services securely and safely in minutes.
To achieve this, the Cabinet Office is today announcing that the
Government Digital Service will accelerate the roll-out of GOV.UK
Verify, aiming to have 25 million Verify users by the end of
2020. We are already planning Verify pilots with local
authorities, banks and the commercial sector.
, Minister for the Cabinet Office
and Paymaster General, said:
I want to see a revolution in the way we deliver public
services – so that people up and down our country feel that
government is at their service at every single stage in the
journey.
That is why we are today publishing our Government
Transformation Strategy, outlining our commitment to reshape
government by ensuring millions of people are able to access
online the services they need, whenever they need. We will
deliver these changes while driving efficiencies wherever
possible, making considerable savings for the taxpayer.
Only by transforming the relationship between the citizen and
the state – so that the latter serves the former – will we
deliver the Prime Minister’s commitment to build a country that
works for everyone.
The strategy also unveils several ambitious new goals for the end
of 2020, with the Government Digital Service working with
departments to achieve them:
- the appointment of a new Chief Data Officer and a new Data
Advisory Board to align efforts to use data across government
better and more efficiently
- the new GDS Digital
Academy will provide skills training right across
government, training 3,000 a year from 2017 – creating the most
digitally skilled Civil Service in the world
- a fully digital real-time tax system, ending the monotony of
the annual tax return
- making 90% of passport
applications online by the end of 2020
- bringing the 2021 National Census online, aiming for 75%
online response (up from 16.7% currently)
