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Last updated: 24 November 2008
Supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet
You can already tax your car in seconds online – although the choice is still there to complete the transaction face-to-face or over the phone.
This is just one example of transformational government [External website], which is about using technology to make services simpler, faster and more convenient for users. It is also about giving people real choice; centred around what customers want.
Over the next three years, the Cabinet Office will drive forward an ambitious programme of public service reform. This will require a highly skilled IT workforce, capable of developing innovative solutions. The scale of the challenge they face is immense: the UK government runs many of the world's largest computer systems and spends some £12 billion a year across the public sector, and also operates in over 140 countries.
The next generation of IT leaders in the public sector will benefit from the new Technology in Business Fast Stream [External website]. Starting in 2007, this Cabinet Office-led graduate entry scheme, hand picks participants for their potential to plan, deliver and manage technology-based change centred around the needs of UK citizens.
Nicola Joiner was one of six people selected from 350 applicants for the inaugural year of the programme. With her fellow recruits she follows a four year programme of specialist training and managed placements. She is currently based at the Department for International Development (DfID) [External website].
“I'm working on an improved search facility for DfID staff, which has the potential to be used on other departmental systems,”
says Nicola.
“Most of DfID's work involves helping people in developing countries; I've already been to Delhi to recruit additional staff, increasing the capacity of our helpdesk function to support offices in South East Asia and parts of Africa. I found that hugely rewarding and, again, will be able to use the skills I've developed in other contexts.”
Recommendations from the varney review include:
Working in partnership to deliver public services, genuinely supported and enabled by information technology, was also the theme of Tower 08 – Moving Forward. Organised in March by the Cabinet Office and Intellect, the UK technology industry trade association, it brought together public sector officials from across Britain and around the world. Contributors included Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell; Cabinet Office Minister for Transformational Government Tom Watson; and Sir David Varney, the Prime Minister's Adviser on Public Service Transformation.
Sir David Varney's service transformation review [External website], published in December 2006, spells out the challenges faced by public services in the future. His recommendations are being implemented across government following the publication of the Service Transformation Agreement (STA), and alongside the pre-Budget Report in October 2007.
For more on transformational government, visit www.cio.gov.uk [External website].