Government Digital Service

Unit of the UK government charged with digital government services

Government Digital Service

Agency overview
Formed| 11 December 2011 (2011-12-11)
Headquarters| 10 Whitechapel High Street, London
Agency executive|

* Christine Bellamy, Chief Executive Officer

Parent department| Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Website| www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-digital-service

The Government Digital Service is a unit of the Government of the United Kingdom's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology,[1] tasked with transforming the provision of online public services.[2]

It was formed in April 2011 by David Cameron's  Conservative government to implement the "Digital by Default" strategy proposed by a report produced for the Cabinet Office in 2010 called Directgov 2010 and beyond: revolution not evolution. It is overseen by the Public Expenditure Executive (Efficiency & Reform). GDS is primarily based in the Whitechapel Building, London.[3] As of July 2024,[update] the interim CEO is Christine Bellamy, who previously led digital transformation and delivery at the BBC and had been managing director at Johnston Media.[4]

Originally part of the Cabinet Office since inception, in July 2024, it was announced by the Starmer ministry that the GDS would be moving to become part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.[5] In January 2025 DSIT announced that a number of organisations, including the GDS, would be merged into one organisation, which would be known as the Government Digital Service.[6][7]

## GOV.UK

[edit]

On 20 July 2010, Directgov, the citizen services website, was moved to the Cabinet Office from the Department for Work and Pensions. From 1 April 2011 Directgov became part of the Government Digital Service, along with the BusinessLink website aimed at business users. On 13 September 2012, through a notice on the Directgov homepage, it was announced that the GOV.UK project, built by the Government Digital Service, would replace Directgov as the primary citizen website of the UK Government on 17 October 2012, after which both Directgov and BusinessLink would close.[8]

## "Digital by Default" strategy

[edit]

The strategy was proposed in a report called "Directgov 2010 and beyond: revolution not evolution" prepared by Martha Lane Fox, the founder of lastminute.com. In an interview, Francis Maude, minister with responsibility for GDS spoke about "powerful oligopolies" and the reliance on a single supplier as a cause of high-profile failures in public sector IT, such as NHS Connecting for Health. GDS is intended to "drive service delivery to digital across government and provide support, advice and technical expertise for departments as they develop new digital delivery models". This strategy is focussed on the application of Agile software development and Lean software development methodologies, supplied primarily via small and medium enterprises rather than large suppliers.[9]

GDS has a Digital Advisory Board consisting of high-profile external experts, which meets bi-annually and advises the GDS on strategy.[10]

As of 2013, less than 2 years after GDS began, GDS had over 200 staff;[11] by 2015 that number had risen to approximately 500.[12]

## Government design principles

[edit]

In 2012, GDS published their Government design principles.[13][14][15] This set of principals was influential both inside of the UK government, but also globally.[16][17]

1. Start with user needs
2. Do less
3. Design with data
4. Do the hard work to make it simple
5. Iterate. Then iterate again
6. This is for everyone
7. Understand context
8. Build digital services, not websites
9. Be consistent, not uniform
10. Make things open: it makes things better

## Government as a platform

[edit]

GDS has since mid 2013 promoted the concept of government as a platform,[18] an idea first set out by Tim O'Reilly in 2009 in an article in Forbes.[19] Government as a Platform introduces "a new vision for digital government; a common core infrastructure of shared digital systems, technology and processes on which it's easy to build brilliant, user-centric government services".[20]

The original Government as a Platform products have been joined by new ones and are collectively known as Digital Service Platforms. These include GOV.UK Pay,[21][22] GOV.UK Notify,[23][24] GOV.UK Forms,[25] the Design System, GOV.UK Frontend and the UK Emergency Alerts system.

## GOV.UK Verify

[edit]

Main article: GOV.UK Verify

In 2011, GDS was given responsibility for setting cross-government standards for identity assurance, with the authority to approve, commission and accredit the identity component of any central government public service. GDS then designed and is building GOV.UK Verify.[26] GOV.UK Verify is intended to act as a single sign on framework for government services like filing taxes or checking driving license information. The system allows the user to choose from a list of companies certified to verify their identity to government. These companies have to meet published standards for identity assurance.[27]

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) conducted a review of Verify in July 2018, and found Whitehall departments were reluctant to continue funding the project. A subsequent report by the IPA recommended that the Gov.uk Verify identity assurance programme should be terminated.[28]

## Legacy

[edit]

The GDS service has influenced similar projects elsewhere in the world, including:

* United States DOGE Service[29]
* 18F[30]
* Canadian Digital Service[31]

[32]

* DigitalService for Germany.[33][34]
* Government Technology Agency of Singapore[35]

They have also influenced local and regional governments, such as:

* Colorado Digital Service[36]
* Ontario Digital Service[37][38]
* Georgia's Office of Digital Services & Solutions[39]

## Parliamentary review

[edit]

In July 2018, the Science and Technology Select Committee announced that it would be carrying out a review into the work of GDS.[40][41] In 2021, some of the functions of GDS were moved to the Central Digital and Data Office, both sit under Cabinet Office.[42] In 2023, there was a major review of government efficacy, overseen by Francis Maude, that recommended re-uniting the two departments.[43]

In 2024, the Labour government, announced that both GDS and CDDO were moved to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.[44][45] In January 2025 the GDS, CDDO, Incubator for Artificial Intelligence, Geospatial Commission and parts of the Responsible Tech Adoption Unit would be merged into a new organisation, which would still be known as GDS.[7]

## See also

[edit]

* Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency
* Office of the e-Envoy
* E-Government Unit
* Mike Bracken
* Transformational Government
* United States Digital Service, US equivalent

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "DSIT bolstered to better serve the British public through science and technology". GOV.UK. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
2. ^ Digital Advisory Board to support Government Digital Service Archived 10 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine wired Magazine. Retrieved 25 April 2012
3. ^ New minister pays a visit to GDS's new HQ GOV.UK Retrieved 28 June 2017
4. ^ "Christine Bellamy". gov.uk. 9 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
5. ^ "DSIT bolstered to better serve the British public through science and technology". gov.uk. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
6. ^ Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. "A blueprint for modern digital government" (PDF). GOV.UK. His Majesty's Stationery Office. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
7. ^ a b Dunton, Jim (22 January 2025). "DSIT blueprint unpacks vision for 'new' Government Digital Service". Civil Service World. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
8. ^ Executive Director of Digital in the Cabinet Office Mike Bracken. Retrieved 20 May 2011
9. ^ Maude sets out 'digital by default', single-platform vision for UK government Computing Incisive Media UK Retrieved 12 June 2012
10. ^ The U.K.'s Digital Plan to Innovate Government The Wall Street Journal Retrieved 19 September 2012, 5:41 pm. ET
11. ^ Saul Klein. "Government Digital Service: the best startup in Europe we can't invest in". 15 November 2013.
12. ^ "GDS mission – the next phase | Government Digital Service". 17 August 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
13. ^ "Government design principles". Gov.UK. 3 April 2012. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017.
14. ^ Alderson, Rob (17 April 2012). "An interview with Ben Terrett about the Government's digital design principles". It's Nice That.
15. ^ Hill, Rebecca (27 July 2016). "New digital service GOV.UK Notify moves into public beta phase".
16. ^ "Redefining government services: Five minutes with Quebec's digital communications director". Global Government Forum.
17. ^ "What exactly is the US Government's Digital Services Playbook?". World Bank Blogs. Archived from the original on 13 July 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
18. ^ "alphagov/government-service-design-manual". GitHub. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
19. ^ "Gov 2.0: The Promise Of Innovation". Forbes. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
20. ^ "Government as a Platform: the next phase of digital transformation - Government Digital Service". gds.blog.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
21. ^ Hall, Ian (14 August 2023). "UK Government Digital Service to explore adding open banking to Gov.UK Pay". www.globalgovernmentfintech.com. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
22. ^ Hall, Ian (21 September 2024). "Government Digital Service engages with open banking suppliers". www.globalgovernmentfintech.com. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
23. ^ "New digital service GOV.UK Notify moves into public beta phase". Civil Service World. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
24. ^ "GOV.UK Notify: GDS seeks suppliers to support sending of four billion SMS messages per year". PublicTechnology. 9 September 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
25. ^ "Government to roll out Gov.uk Forms across its websites | Computer Weekly". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
26. ^ "GOV.UK Verify". GOV.UK. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
27. ^ "Identity proofing and authentication". GOV.UK. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
28. ^ "Government projects watchdog recommends terminating Gov.uk Verify identity project". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
29. ^ "Our mission". United States Digital Service. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
30. ^ "18F: Digital service delivery | About 18F". 18f.gsa.gov. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
31. ^ Canada, Employment and Social Development. "About - Canadian Digital Service". digital.canada.ca. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
32. ^ Benjamin, Katherine; Potts, Henry WW (2018). "Digital transformation in government: Lessons for digital health?" (PDF). Digital Health. 4: 205520761875916. doi:10.1177/2055207618759168. PMC 6005404. PMID 29942624.
33. ^ "Entwickeln für den Staat". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). Retrieved 11 October 2021.
34. ^ "Startseite". DigitalService (in German). Retrieved 31 December 2024.
35. ^ "Our Role". www.tech.gov.sg. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
36. ^ "About Us | Office of Information Technology". oit.colorado.gov. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
37. ^ "Ontario Digital Service | ontario.ca". www.ontario.ca. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
38. ^ "The End of the Ontario Digital Service and What it Means". Retrieved 31 December 2024.
39. ^ "About Us | Digital Services & Solutions". digital.georgia.gov. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
40. ^ "Digital Government inquiry launched - News from Parliament". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
41. ^ "'GDS's future mission needs clarifying'". PublicTechnology.net. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
42. ^ "All change for digital government?". Civil Service World. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
43. ^ "Maude report calls for GDS and CDDO to be reunited – but incumbent minister rules out 'significant restructure'". PublicTechnology. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
44. ^ "UPDATED: GDS and CDDO to move from Cabinet Office to DSIT". PublicTechnology. 9 July 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
45. ^ "Government digital functions move to DSIT". UKAuthority. Retrieved 31 December 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Government Digital Service blog
* GitHub Repository
* Commons Select Committee review

* v
* t
* e

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Headquarters: 100 Parliament Street

Ministers|

* Secretary of State: Peter Kyle MP
* Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation: Lord Vallance of Balham
* Minister of State for Data Protection and Telecoms: Sir Chris Bryant MP
* Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government: Feryal Clark MP
* Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Future Digital Economy and Online Safety: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch

Civil Service|

* Permanent Secretary: Sarah Munby
* Government Chief Scientific Adviser: Dame Angela McLean
* National Technology Advisor: Dr Dave Smith

Executive agencies|

* Building Digital UK
* Intellectual Property Office
* Met Office
* UK Space Agency

Non-departmental
public bodies

| Executive|

* Advanced Research and Invention Agency
* Information Commissioner's Office
* UK Research and Innovation
* Arts and Humanities Research Council
* Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
* Economic and Social Research Council
* Innovate UK
* Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
* Medical Research Council
* Natural Environment Research Council
* Research England
* Science and Technology Facilities Council

|

Tribunal|

* Copyright Tribunal

Public corporations|

* National Physical Laboratory
* Ordnance Survey

Other|

* British Technology Investments
* Government Digital Service
* Government Office for Science
* Ofcom
* Regulatory Horizons Council
* UK Shared Business Services

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