'GDS needs departmental buy-in - but for some its name is still mud', says techUK public services head

Written by Sam Trendall on 2 August 2017 in News
News

Departments urged to reverse habit of working in silos and embrace pan-government tech strategy for the good of citizens

"There is a strong rationale for what GDS is doing, but they need buy-in," according to techUK's Owen Spottiswoode

The public services leader of techUK has said that, to make its vision a reality, the Government Digital Service needs more support from the rest of Whitehall. But “there are some central government departments for whom the GDS name is still mud”, he added.

Owen Spottiswoode, head of programme for public services at the industry body, told PublicTechnology that the complexion and focus of GDS and the wider central government technology strategy have changed a great deal over the years.

“It is horses for courses,” Spottiswoode said. “In the Mike Bracken and Francis Maude era, there was a disruptor attitude. The public sector needed to be shaken up, and I think that was a good call at that point in time.”


Related content


He added: “Now, GDS is coming up against other [departments]. It requires buy-in from the people it is working with and it struggles to get that sometimes. I get the impression that Kevin [Cunnington] has been brought in to be a bit more conciliatory, and a bit less of a disruptor – which is sensible.”

Such propitiation may be necessary, Spottiswoode said, as GDS still faces resistance from departments that have long been used to operating autonomously and in effective isolation.

“Government has been set up to be siloed and, when someone comes in and tells a department what to do, [they do not like it],” he said. “There are some central government departments for whom the GDS name is still mud." 

Spottiswoode added: “But the point of GDS is a sound one. Citizens do not think ‘this is an HMRC service, or a BEIS service’ – they just want a joined-up, seamless experience. So, there is a strong rationale for what GDS is doing – but they need buy in.”

Look out in the coming days for a full write-up of the techUK’s public sector chief’s discussion with PublicTechnology.

About the author

Sam Trendall is editor of PublicTechnology

Share this page

Tags

Categories

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM READERS

Please login to post a comment or register for a free account.

Related Articles

Scottish minister warns on Westminster’s ‘hands-off’ approach to AI and requests urgent UK summit
6 June 2023

Richard Lochhead compares technology to previous industrial revolutions and says government’s job is to minimise harms and spread opportunities

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology made up of 800 DCMS staffers and 935 from BEIS
6 June 2023

Minister reveals that newly created department is still working on employee transfers

DWP, Home Office, MoJ and Defra launch £1bn tender for shared services tech providers
2 June 2023

Departments look to sign joint deal with a software provider and a system integrator

UKCloud collapse caused ‘no unexpected service disruptions or cost to public purse’
30 May 2023

Minister says that all public-sector customers have now moved to alternative provider

Related Sponsored Articles

Proactive defence: A new take on cyber security
16 May 2023

The traditional reactive approach to cybersecurity, which involves responding to attacks after they have occurred, is no longer sufficient. Murielle Gonzalez reports on a webinar looking at...