Government turns to Instagram to seek policy guidance from teenagers
New initiative will seek to gain views of people aged 13 to 25
Contact-tracing success rate drops
Data shows declines in the proportion of both confirmed cases and their contacts being reached...
Hancock says coronavirus app will rely on self-declaration
Health secretary refuses to provide estimate for launch date of new technology
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Making waves: How Greenwich council is embracing innovative technologies
The Royal Borough of Greenwich is best known for its nautical history, but the council’s digital team is now setting its course for super-fast connectivity and cutting-edge technologies. Gill Hitchcock reports.
GDS: Civil servants ‘wasting time’ producing content that users can’t find
Three-quarters of GOV.UK content is looked at by less than 10 people a month, according to figures from the Government Digital Service.
Surrey council extends communications network contract with BT
The contract for BT’s network for integrated voice and data communications across Surrey and Berkshire has been extended until 2021, as Surrey County Council claims it is on track to save £3.5m.
Changing the culture: What government must do to make the most of AI
Artificial intelligence could transform the public sector, but adoption has been slow. As the Government Office for Science publishes its report into the subject, Richard Sargent, director of ASI and former performance lead at the Government Digital Service, says leadership and culture will be crucial for success.
GOV.UK accessibility survey identifies problems with PDFs and search
The Government Digital Service has started addressing accessibility issues with PDFs on GOV.UK following a survey of assistive technology users.
Socitm reveals services for review in 2017 Better Connected survey
Soctim, the body that represents public service ICT professionals, has announced which digital services it will review in the next round of its survey of councils’ online performance.
Public authorities 'must consider trade-offs' before setting Internet of Things regulation
The government must proceed with caution when considering regulation of the Internet of Things and realise a one-size-fits-all approach may not be appropriate, an academic from a leading IoT research group has said.
Lessons from Seoul: How eGovernment can drive citizen engagement
Scott Moore, business analyst for the Scottish Improvement Service, won a Socitm scholarship to research digital public service trend in Seoul during the summer. Here he looks back on he learnt during his summer investigating the city’s digital transformation.
Digital needs to come off the sidelines, Solace conference told
Local government needs to move away from piloting digital services on the periphery of their work and focus on building digital in from the start, a conference has heard.
EXCLUSIVE: Rotherham council merges ICT and customer access in £7m digital strategy
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council has set out plans to bring all digital activity under one roof in a new digital strategy.
Scottish government offers £92,500 for CDO to oversee benefits devolution
The Scottish government is advertising for a chief digital officer for social security for the second time this year as it gains control of benefit systems.
UK lagging behind European peers on digital government, says Capgemini
The slow roll-out of the government’s identity assurance programme Verify is holding the UK’s progress towards e-government back, according to Cagemini.
Tax authority cuts call-handling times by reducing staff click-rate
HMRC has cut down call-handling times by two minutes by automating manual processes, as tax authority announces plans for an Automated Delivery Centre to build robotics.
Government payment systems 'frustrating' digital suppliers, says GDS
Digital suppliers are struggling with the process for invoicing government departments and risk losing out on payment due to the length of time it takes to get a purchase order for the work, research has shown.
Surrey NHS trust launches Internet of Things trial for improving dementia care
Surrey and Borders Partners NHS Trust has launched a £5m trial of Internet of Things technologies to improve healthcare for people with dementia.
GDS takes on snail mail
The Government Digital Service is beta testing ways to improve how government sends out letters, saying that automation could cut the cost of sending a letter from £3 to 29p.
Treasury launches pensions dashboard pilot
The government has said it intends to have a prototype pensions dashboard by March 2017, and that it will consider regulating companies if they don’t volunteer to participate.
NHS to invest in digital skills as Wachter review recommends phased digitisation
The Department of Health has announced an academy to train NHS staff in digital skills along with a suite of new digital services for patients in an effort to fast-track the NHS’ move to digitisation.
Local authorities need to improve website readability, study says
The majority of local authorities assessed by a content management company are failing to write online content that would be easily understood by 13- to 15-year-olds.
Expert verdict: Corbyn helps put digital on the map but manifesto lacks ambition
The digital democracy manifesto launched by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn earlier this week has failed to gain the approval of those working in public sector technology.
The Pokemon Go effect: How councils are tapping into augmented and virtual reality
Sooraj Shah looks at the benefits of AR and VR, and asks whether councils should be spending taxpayers’ money on the emerging technologies so soon.