Scott Logic / Altogether Smarter

Podcast · 08 July 2022 · 1 min read

Beyond the Hype - Investing in Innovation and avoiding the Hype in Digital Government

Colin Eberhardt, Jessica McEvoy , Alex Segrove

In this month’s episode, we tackle a wide range of topics relating to the role of technology innovation, and the perils of hyped technology, within Digital Government.

Colin is joined by colleagues Jess McEvoy and Alex Segrove, who have both spent many years working in technology roles in the UK Government. They discuss how citizen-facing services have some challenging technology constraints simply because they must be usable by everyone.

We also touch on the fascinating dynamic that exists between the government and technology vendors and partners. These suppliers have a lot of expertise and IP to offer that can solve some of the gnarly problems that exist on government-scale systems. However, care must be taken to avoid outsourcing your entire technology strategy. It is vital that the government remains an intelligent buyer.

Finally, we consider the sheer scale of government spending, £3.7 billion per annum, and the positive impact this has through stimulating innovation and creating opportunities. This investment has contributed to the UK Government’s success in claiming the number 2 spot in the OECD Digital Government Index.

Links from the podcast:

G-Cloud & DOS Spending Review to December 2021 - Advice Cloud
GOV.UK - The best place to find government services and information
UK claims number 2 spot in OECD digital government rankings - Jess McEvoy

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Beyond the Hype: UK GOV AI – Is innovation guided by principles enough?

In this episode, I'm joined by Jess McEvoy and Peter Chamberlin for a discussion about the UK government’s approach to addressing AI challenges with its pro-innovation mantra, and whether this creates the right environment for success.

Colin Eberhardt · 10^th May · 1 min read

We need bold and better GovTech – not ‘Big IT’

In the past few years, we’ve seen a return to the large-scale technology procurement approach that the Government Digital Service was explicitly set up to tackle. We learned lessons from the past back in 2011 – and if we don't continue to learn from the past, we're doomed to repeat it. As I explain in this blog post, there is a better way forward – one in which we focus on bold and better GovTech, not 'Big IT'.

Steve Foreshew-Cain · 4^th Jun · 5 min read

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Colin Eberhardt

I am CTO at Scott Logic and am a prolific technical author, blogger and speaker on a range of technologies.

My blog includes posts on a wide range of topics, including WebAssembly, HTML5 / JavaScript and data visualisation with D3 and d3fc. You'll also find a whole host of posts about previous technology interests including iOS, Swift, WPF and Silverlight.

I'm board member of FINOS, which is encouraging open source collaboration in the financial sector. I'm also very active on GitHub, contributing to a number of different projects.

Jessica McEvoy

I'm a Principal at Scott Logic. Ex-Senior Civil Servant, formerly of GDS, Cabinet Office.

Alex Segrove

Hi, Im Alex - Delivery Manager based in the London office. I spent the last few years in the Government Digital Service heading up delivery for GOV.UK, Digital Identity and Government Data policy, then worked with governments around the world to help them with their own digital transformation.

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