Senior officials indicate that the incoming digital roadmap will be released in 2025 with a range of detailed plans and ‘alongside a series of other key digital and data announcements’

Government’s pending ‘roadmap’ for implementing digital plans across Whitehall will be released this month “alongside a series of other key digital and data announcements” and featuring “fully costed, feasible and funded deliverables”, according to senior officials.

The plan will also serve as a starting point for delivery, but will remain open to updates and tweaks over the coming months and years to better reflect changes in government’s technology or policy priorities.

Following the broad strategic vision outlined at the start of 2025 in the Blueprint for modern digital government, the implementation roadmap is intended to provide detail of specific projects and actions to be undertaken to fulfil government’s tech and data ambitions.

The roadmap was originally due to be released sometime in the autumn but has been postponed in order to better ensure the plan takes into account the developments of the recent Budget as well as the reflecting the priorities of a new technology secretary of state – Liz Kendall, who replaced Peter Kyle in the role in September.

In a recent letter to the Public Accounts Committee, the permanent secretary of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Emran Mian, advised MPs that the roadmap will be published sometime “in December 2025”.

He added that, in addition to providing detailed programmatic information, the soon-to-be-published delivery plan will be merely be one element of a major salvo of digital initiatives launched by government simultaneously.

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“[The delay in publication] allows the inclusion of fully costed, feasible and funded deliverables, aligning the roadmap directly with the outcomes of the Spending Review and departments’ business planning,” he wrote. “Additionally, the roadmap will now launch alongside a series of other key digital and data announcements, presenting a more coherent and impactful narrative for the government’s digital agenda.”

Mian – whose role now, effectively, encompasses the duties of government chief digital officer – also indicated that the roadmap will not be a static document, but will be evolved and amended over the coming months and years in response to changes in the tech landscape and government’s response to them.

“The Roadmap for Modern Digital Government will set out priority reforms to accelerate digital transformation across government,” he said. “Designed as an iterative plan, it will be regularly updated to reflect shifting priorities while maintaining transparency and momentum. Each project within the roadmap will have a clear vision, defined milestones, and measurable progress indicators to ensure delivery remains aligned with the overall strategic vision.”

One topic that will be covered in the document is the use of data across government. In this area, DSIT will outline its plans to “remove barriers to data sharing, strengthen cross-government data management practices, and improve data quality”.

The roadmap will also provide “commitments on the next steps for the National Data Library” – the creation of which was one of the Labour party’s key manifesto pledges for the use of technology by government. Mian reiterated the vision that, once it is up and running, the data facility “will enable businesses, researchers and public servants to deliver better services, drive economic growth and support innovation”.