Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to expand its role under new government
Will bring in GDS, CDDO and incubator for AI as a central point for public sector innovation
In a statement released today, the The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) announced that it will expand its remit in order to bring together experts in data, digital and AI from Government Digital Service (GDS), the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) and the Incubator for AI (iAI) together all under one roof.
The aim is to improve the government's patchy digitisation efforts, making making them more personalised and convenient for citizens to use. This will include providing an authentication service to enable access to multiple government services with one login. DSIT says it will also help remove roadblocks to sharing data across the public sector.
The statement says the department will also help train civil servants so they are better at using digital and AI in their work, and will "ensure the Government has the right infrastructure and regulation to become more digital".
The new secretary of state for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, said: "Britain will not fully benefit from the social and economic potential of science and technology without government leading by example. So, DSIT is to become the centre for digital expertise and delivery in government, improving how the Government and public services interact with citizens."
Some of of these aims will be familiar. GDS's Verify was an earlier attempt at a single verification portal single which ultimately failed due to technical problems, a poor user experience and major departments, notably HMRC, deciding to go their own way. The previous government also brought in AI practitioners from startups such as Faculty to help drive innovation.
William Perrin, founder of Ofcom and a former advisor to the Blair government, welcomed the decision to consolidate the various digital departments: "Thank the Lord for that – some grip and leadership at last," he said in a post on LinkedIn.
"It's been tragic to watch government digital talent be under-served by a cavalcade of Ministers over the last decade. Hopefully this will lead to consolidation of GDS and the free-floating units scattered across the Cabinet Office etc landscape into a coherent team at DSIT to serve Departments."
Perrin cautioned that the government should avoid large top down digital projects, and ensure the public is onside before proceeding, offering the example of ID cards, which, he said, undermined citizens' trust.