An estimated £46bn is to be spent on digital projects across public sector this year. To ensure taxpayer money is best used and investment supports the Levelling Up agenda, the Government have published a new playbook to help public sector organisations - including NHS and healthcare organisations.
Bringing together expertise from across government and industry, the Digital, Data and Technology Playbook provides an 11-point guide to delivering cost-effective, impactful digital services.
The digital overhaul is also aimed at supporting job growth across the UK.
As our society becomes increasingly digitally-driven and connected, the ability to deliver high quality public services in the online world is increasingly important. This includes a need to deliver health and social care services digitally.
However, this must be achieved in a way which also prioritises value for money, as public sector budgets become increasingly complex - and as the introduction of statutory ICSs comes closer, there will be increased responsibility for this across the health and public sector space.
A number of methods are touched on in the report to support digital teams to improve efficiencies and cut costs rather than quality, such as improving supplier relationships and reducing legacy IT issues.
Interoperability is another key hallmark flagged, with all new digital products bought by government needing to be able to work with existing systems, enabling the effective sharing of data across suppliers and departments in reusable and open formats.
The new government playbook also seeks to break down barriers for small and medium-sized (SME) businesses, urging teams delivering government-ran digital services to focus on ways SMEs can be involved in the project.
Often, due to their nature, SMEs are able to provide agile and innovative digital solutions to particular challenges.
One of the goals of this Government’s digital approach is to make it easier for public sector organisations to work with SMEs, as well as helping those smaller businesses to take advantage of tender opportunities and drive job growth across the country.
Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “This Playbook will draw on the wealth of digital expertise at our disposal to produce better services at lower cost.
“This will go hand-in-hand with a new procurement regime that takes advantage of our position outside the European Union, offering more opportunities for small businesses to bid for government contracts, encouraging greater innovation in public services and ultimately delivering better value for taxpayers.”
Learn more about improving digital services. Download the Digital, Data and Technology Playbook here.
