The phase of digital transformation

The Corporate Management Board of the Civil Service and HM Treasury have asked us to explore the concept further. We’re working with departments to unpick what platforms will have the most impact, both for users and in terms of the cost to the government. In particular, we're looking at;

how we'd start building high-priority platforms
how to speed up the roll out of better technology for civil servants
what platform services could do to improve the way departments and agencies work

Redefining digital government
The new ways of working, the new skills we’re bringing to the government, and the relentless focus on meeting user needs all demand a solid digital infrastructure. There are teams in departments now capable of building world-leading digital services who need core platforms, and robust, secure canonical datasets to build on


Strategy Objectives

The Digital Government Strategy sets out to accomplish three things:

Enable the American people and an increasingly mobile workforce to access high-quality digital government information and services anywhere, anytime, on any device.

Operationalizing an information-centric model, we can architect our systems for interoperability and openness, modernise our content publication model, and deliver better, device-agnostic digital services at a lower cost.

Ensure that as the government adjusts to this new digital world, we seize the opportunity to procure and manage devices, applications, and data in smart, secure and affordable ways.

Learning from the previous transition of moving information and services online, we now have an opportunity to break free from the inefficient, costly, and fragmented practices of the past, build a sound governance structure for digital services, and do mobile “right” from the beginning.

Unlock the power of government data to spur innovation across our Nation and improve the quality of services for the American people.

We must enable the public, entrepreneurs, and our own government programs to better leverage the rich wealth of federal data to pour into applications and services by ensuring that data is open and machine-readable by default.


Before discussing how we will build a 21st-century digital government, we must first establish a conceptual model that acknowledges the three “layers” of digital services (see Figure 1).

The information layer contains digital information. It includes structured information (e.g., the most common concept of "data") such as census and employment data, plus unstructured information (e.g., content), such as fact sheets, press releases, and compliance guidance.14

The platform layer includes all the systems and processes used to manage this information. Examples include systems for content management, processes such as web API (Application Programming Interface)15 and application development, services that support mission-critical IT functions such as human resources or financial management, as well as the hardware used to access information (e.g. mobile devices).

The presentation layer defines the manner in which information is organised and provided to customers. It represents the way the government and private sector deliver government information (e.g., data or content) digitally, whether through websites,16 mobile applications, or other modes of delivery.

These three layers separate information creation from information presentation – allowing us to create content and data once, and then use it in different ways. In effect, this model represents a fundamental shift from the way our government provides digital services today.


To drive this transformation, the strategy is built upon four overarching principles:

An “Information-Centric” approach – Moves us from managing “documents” to managing discrete pieces of open data and content17 which can be tagged, shared, secured, mashed up and presented in the way that is most useful for the consumer of that information.

A “Shared Platform” approach – Helps us work together, both within and across agencies, to reduce costs, streamline development, apply consistent standards, and ensure consistency in how we create and deliver information.

A “Customer-Centric” approach – Influences how we create, manage, and present data through websites, mobile applications, raw data sets, and other modes of delivery, and allows customers to shape, share and consume information, whenever and however they want it.

A platform of “Security and Privacy” – Ensures this innovation happens in a way that ensures the safe and secure delivery and use of digital services to protect information and privacy.