PublicTechnology.net

The Government Digital Service has published six new user research methods guides in its Service Manual.

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee is to investigate the use of algorithms in decision-making, an inquiry chosen as part of the committee’s crowd-sourcing project. Stephanie Mathisen, campaigns and policy officer at Sense about Science, who pitched the idea to the MPs, explains why the field needs more scrutiny.

The government has been urged to focus on speeding up move to digital healthcare records amid accusations that the NHS covered up the loss of more than half a million pieces of confidential patient data over five years.

The government’s long-awaited Digital Strategy is expected to include £17m for artificial intelligence, a review of AI technologies and support for smart devices, cyber security and autonomous vehicles.

The government’s latest digital procurement framework has attracted 60% more suppliers than the previous iteration of the platform.

The government chief people officer Rupert McNeil has said that the civil service is using recruitment technology that is “40 or 50 years out of date” as the civil service announces plans to trial a cloud-based recruitment platform in efforts to tackle bias.

Countries that want to use digital tools to increase public engagement with the democratic process must gain cross-party support for the intervention and be honest about what it will and will not do, a report has said.

The UK’s model of governance seems impervious to radical technological change, but elsewhere in the world, countries are getting digital democracy right, says Theo Bass, a researcher at innovation foundation Nesta and author of a report looking at the tools governments have at their fingertips.

The Ministry of Justice’s commitment to code in the open by default has helped the department “hire great people”, the department’s head of technology has said.

The chief executive of the civil service has said that the now scrapped NHS patient data-sharing programme Care.data was a “misstep” that put efforts to increase government data sharing back.

Global leaders have been urged to ensure that data protection and cyber security measures still encourage innovation in the tech sector, ahead of this year’s G20 summit.

There were 7.4 million people using a digital personal tax account by the end of 2016 – 400,000 more than its initial target – according to HMRC’s quarterly performance figures.

Suppliers offering IT systems for personalised healthcare need to gain approval from NHS England, as the body aims to ensure healthcare providers are using high quality solutions that offer good value for money.

The government’s Common Technology Services team is pitching itself as a central support and advice service for departments exiting both large and small IT contracts.

HMRC has said that it is "committed to Verify as the single identification service for individuals" after it emerged that the department is developing a separate identity assurance programme to the government's flagship GOV.UK Verify platform.

The Government Digital Service has said it will use “more robust metrics” for GOV.UK as its 2017-18 roadmap reveals plans to improve email subscription, content search and user journeys.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has revealed how it built its new IT systems using an agile approach, saying that waterfall “was never going to bring this job in on time”.

HMRC has said that it will develop its identity assurance solution to replace Government Gateway when it ends in March 2018 – rather than using the government’s flagship GOV.UK Verify.

The Ministry of Justice is pushing ahead with plans that will allow people to plead guilty online and immediately pay a standard fine for certain offences.

The government transformation strategy provides a good rationale for the next stage of work, but more it needs vocal backing from senior politicians, experts have said.

The government has achieved “just about everything” that was in its first digital strategy and now needs a different approach to make bigger savings, the director general of the Government Digital Service has said.