PublicTechnology.net

Two sides to the BitCoin? Conservative peer Chris Holmes talks to Rebecca Hill about being positive about blockchain’s potential for public services without seeing it as a ‘wonder drug’.

The creation of the Crown Commercial Service was poorly executed and slow take up of centralised purchasing by departments means it only manages one-fifth of the spending it was expected to, a review by MPs has found.

At the start of the year, Cornwall Council’s cabinet approved an £18m digital improvement plan that aims to fix years of IT underinvestment. Gill Hitchcock reports.

The Scottish government will implement a “tough” assurance process for digital projects, mandate the use of common technologies and offer training to make sure civil servants “get digital”.

Survey shows lack of preparedness as data protection watchdog slaps £60,000 fine on Norfolk County Council

A survey has revealed that the British public can see robots speeding up some public services – but that they doubt robots will be better decision-makers than humans.

NHS Digital is to run 20 local projects funding to help people improve their digital health skills as part of its widening digital participation scheme.

Councils should be in the “driving seat” of technological change, but need to rethink the role they play in their locality and invest in long-term planning, a report has said.

Lords Economics Affairs Committee says estimates of savings ‘little more than guesswork’

The Government Digital Service is recruiting for a new service manager for its identity assurance programme Verify as as part of the push to increase users of the service by more than 20 million.

After a tumultuous first six months as director general of the Government Digital Service, Kevin Cunnington has finally got the long-awaited Transformation Strategy off his desk and is looking forward to an office move. He tells Rebecca Hill about Whitehall “self-help groups”, reforms to spend controls and cold water swimming.

The Ministry of Justice has become the latest department to transfer its employee data onto the government’s shared back-office IT system.

DfE IT leader Dave Rutt has called on digital teams to let users test their tech – and raised concerns that tax reforms are driving contractors out of the public sector.

GP practices may be inadvertently breaking data protection rules due to a record-sharing feature in a widely-used IT system, it has been reported.

Police forces across the UK are struggling to cope with technologically advanced crimes and are failing to exploit digital investigative techniques, a report has said.

Luton Borough Council chose to renew its IT contract rather than go with a new provider. The council’s technology lead tells Gill Hitchcock how it shifted to an outcomes-based approach – and why a flexible 10-year contract can still be a good deal.

MPs have urged the government to take a “concrete step” to greater transparency by creating a searchable database of meetings with businesses that extends to include senior civil servants.

Individual councils could save up to £80m on IT spend alone over the next decade by adopting common platforms like GOV.UK Verify, according to government estimates. 

Experts say HMRC's online tool to help contractors calculate tax status is 'not fit for purpose' as effects of IR35 reforms start to bite

Microsoft Surface has helped Cheshire Police reduce paperwork and free up time

A lack of benchmarking data on digital transformation programmes in government makes it hard to evaluate success at a time when it has ever been more important, says Jane Roberts, strategy director at TopLevel.