20 January 2010
Rt Hon Jim Knight MP
Future of Government in the Digital Space
DotGov Live conference
Wednesday 20 January 2010
[Check against delivery]
Science fiction is often exactly that – fiction – predictions made by programmes like Tomorrow’s World have not all come true. We do not have house cleaning robots, and sadly we still cannot teleport or travel through time.
However, technology has revolutionised our lives – but more so in terms of the way we communicate with each other rather than in household chores or transport.
The rise of social networking has been astonishing. Facebook only started six years ago, back when Twitter was just a noise that birds made when people rarely boasted they had 500 friends and when talking about your followers would write you off as a delusional religious nut. Now – there are 23.1 million people in the UK on Facebook – about a third of the population. Around 10 percent of the 55 million people on Twitter are based in the UK.
Some politicians, including myself, have taken the plunge and are avid social networkers. For me the really great thing about it is that it brings people and politicians closer together – people can directly message me about the things that are important to them – good and bad – and I by and large – am able to respond. It’s a whole new level of engagement.
Even Jobcentres are Tweeting:
- UK Jobs North East – http://twitter.com/UKJobsNorthEast (Twitter)
Another great example of this is the Fix My Street website:
- Fix My Street – many of you already know it
On it people can register anything from pot holes to broken street lights, anti-social behaviour to issues with parking. The site then sends their complaint straight to the relevant local authority and updates the page when it has been repaired.
For some at the council this might be a pain and more work but for most it will be great to get that information for nothing, direct from the people and allow them as public servants to better serve the public.
I’m really enthusiastic about the possibilities this new technology creates. It can be scary stuff for politicians; we are more accountable than ever before – but that’s one of the great things about it, that direct contact with people.
I want to talk to you today about some of the lessons we have learned from sites like Facebook and Twitter, how we are looking to develop these ideas through the three main government websites and the vision for the future of public services online.
The Prime Minister recently asked me to be the Ministerial lead for Government on meeting the target to get virtually all public services online by March 2014, following the publication last month of the Smarter Government White Paper. It’s a task I am delighted to have, for me this is more than just making sure people can book an appointment with their doctor on NHS Choices, apply for a new driving licence on Directgov or pay corporation tax through the Business Link site.
It is also not just more efficient service delivery – that is crucial allowing us to divert resources to the frontline – but it is not the most important element.
For me, putting public services online is about putting the customer first, it’s about providing a service that is responsive to need, delivered at the citizen’s convenience – not ours – and it’s about developing services in conversation with the people that use them.
There are already some great examples of how Government is taking the best from the private sector and developing good quality, multi-channel platforms that are really making people’s lives easier.
The three supersites – Directgov for citizens, Business Link for business, and NHS choices for health services – are at the centre of the Government’s shift online.
But it is simply not good enough to put the same old content onto these sites – we have to rethink not just content but the whole provision of public services. We have to look at services from the users’ point of view, understand the possibilities technology offers and in many cases completely redesign the way we work.
This is already happening in some areas. Let me show you some of the most recent developments.
I used to be Schools Minister and one of the great things we developed at DCSF in conjunction with Directgov was the 14-19 online prospectus – helping young adults and parents navigate through their options including information on apprenticeships, NVQs and diplomas:
- 14–19 prospectus (Directgov)
We could easily take this idea to other platforms, mobile phones, iPhone applications, even games consoles.
Let me show you what we are developing for Jobcentre Plus:
- Jobcentre Plus slides (338KB)
Hope to launch this shortly.
The NHS has already developed an iPhone Application – the drinks tracker, which allows people to monitor their alcohol intake.
- Drinks tracker (NHS)
- NHS drinks tracker slides (88KB)
NHS Choices has developed a tool that allows you to input your supermarket shop and it will suggest healthier alternatives:
Again, this is a great tool that could easily be expanded so you could for example export your online shopping list to the NHS – and automatically swap items or get suggestions direct to your mobile whilst you are actually in the supermarket.
The Business Link site estimates it has saved firms around £2 million a year by developing a Trade Tariff tool which allows companies to classify goods and work out export and import fees online. The tool generates 25,000 visits a month and has reduced HMRC’s costs as it no longer has to produce a paper booklet of all the classifications.
- UK Trade Tariff (Business Link)
The Tell Us Once scheme will also make a real difference to people’s lives. Registering a birth, death or marriage is still an archaic process requiring visits to a local office and endless paper work. Although there are currently some really good step by step guides on Directgov that take people through this process what we actually want to deliver is a simple, convenient service. Tell Us Once means just that – register online just one time and then we will share that information securely between Government departments, allowing people to focus on what’s happening in their lives, not the admin.
This is good stuff but I want us to go further, be bolder. Personalisation is key. In the future we could have a single log on for the Directgov site, allowing you to simply sign in, update your personal details and do a whole range of activities like look for work, pay car tax, or renew your passport.
The technology has to be smart – so for example, think of something like Amazon’s recommendations – similarly renewing your passport could prompt the system to offer advice for people travelling abroad, and then link back through to NHS Choices for vaccination advice, and through that link to their GP’s appointment system and book in right there and then.
The more you used the site the better it would be. So, if you were looking for a job, you could also get benefits advice, information about training courses and notifications of jobs that match your skills. It could look something like this…
- Directgov jobs page slide (130KB)
Who knows what the future could hold?
What I do know is that we need to pick up the pace so we can match the speed of change. Smarter Government is exactly what it should be. We can’t just be catching up with existing technology we have to be thinking about future technology too.
For example, why couldn’t we have Tell Us Once for births somewhere convenient like in maternity wards, allowing new parents to register the birth of their babies, apply for Child Benefit, find out about local parent and baby groups, and maybe even enquire about nursery or school registration – the full range of services at their finger tips.
Of course increased personalisation raises some important issues, not least the enormous amount of data sharing that needs to happen between departments to make this a reality. The more data we have and the more data we share the more we have to make sure that data is secure. A huge data loss story like those we saw just over a year ago could really jeopardise this work – that responsibility sits with all of us.
And if we are going to have all these fantastic new tools that make life easier for people and put them in control of the services they receive, then we need to make sure these services are available to all people.
I want to speed up the digital inclusion programme. One of the things I am proudest of from my time as schools minister is the introduction of the Home Access scheme – which provides lap tops for children in low income families. Just last week the Prime Minister announced this would be rolled out across the UK, providing equipment to 270,000 families who would not have been able to afford it by themselves.
I read some press comment that failed to understand that technology is no longer a luxury – it is essential. Home access to a computer with broadband now adds as much as two grades on to GCSE results.
Working with Martha Lane Fox and the recently established Digital Inclusion Task Force I want to speed up the Government’s plans to ensure everyone has access to the internet – that everyone can access public services online.
To this end we will publish an interim plan at the end of February setting out how we plan to accelerate the Digital Britain plan.
I’d like you to leave this conference as enthusiastic about these possibilities as I am.
Change is never easy, and this is a big shift. It will require investment, commitment from Government and a real change in culture. As I said earlier, this is not just about getting services online but opening up Government, and letting the public drive the way we do things.
For me, this seminar is less about the Future of Government in the Digital Space and more about the future of the public in the digital space – we just have to keep up.
