Credit: GDS

The annual perm secs round-up [1] published by PublicTechnology sister publication Civil Service World sees Whitehall's senior leaders open up on their biggest challenges and opportunities - as well as their plans for Christmas. Here Kevin Cunnington, director general of the Government Digital Service, shares his thoughts. 

What are you most proud of achieving in 2017?
I’m very proud of the work we have done to make Government Digital Service a more diverse organisation and more representative of the society as a whole. All interview panels at GDS now have a Black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) representative and BAME recruits represent 20% of people currently joining GDS.

What was your most difficult decision in 2017?
After five years it was hard to up sticks and leave our old home in Aviation House where we’d helped lead the early digitisation of government.  

What are your department’s top priorities in the year ahead?
Our key priorities include delivering on the Government Transformation Strategy, supporting departments to ensure a successful exit from the EU, strengthening digital data and technology capabilities across government and the continued rollout of GOV.UK Verify.

For you, no Christmas holiday is complete without…
The festive season would not be complete for me without a Christmas swim in the Tooting Lido.