UK Government IT Delivery - The Changing Environment

Transformational Government
During 2005 the then Prime Minister asked for a strategy on how technology could transform government services. The CIO Council and the Service Transformation Board responded, and Transformational Government, Enabled by Technology  was launched by the Government in November 2005.  This strategy set out a vision for 21st century government, requiring three key changes: citizen-centric and shared services, supported by a broadening and deepening of government professionalism.

Drivers
Whilst Transformational Government is the main driver for reform, there are a number of other significant catalysts: Sir David Varney’s 2006 Pre-Budget Report identified further major opportunities to strengthen public service delivery, whilst the Comprehensive Spending Review 07 programme aims to sustain the momentum of public service improvement and release the resources needed to meet new priorities and challenges in the decade ahead.

The IT Industry
The IT Industry is changing too: the imperative to deliver further efficiencies within government, whilst improving services to the citizen requires a fundamental change in the relationship between industry and government.

Responding to the Challenges

The challenges, for both government and industry, are immense. Collaboration  across and between government and industry will be the lynch-pin of success.

The CIO Council
The CIO Council was established in January 2005 to enable and influence Transformational Government. The Council recognised the need for a significant shift in the way government manages its IT suppliers in order to improve supplier delivery and to make government a world-class enterprise IT customer. The Supply Management Initiative, launched in October 2005, led by Joe Harley, the DWP IT Director General and CIO,  for the CIO Council, has the overall objective of enabling government to become a world class IT purchaser. It consists of a number of linked strands:

• A regular look at demand and supply to ensure capacity and competition in the market;
• Active management of strategic IT supplier intelligence, relationships and performance across government – with an agreed performance plan for each major supplier;
• Consistent strategic supplier performance information across government via a Common Assessment Framework;
• Joint work between government and industry to bring about a step-change in government IT delivery; 

Each strand, which is being taken forward by the OGC on behalf of the CIO Council, is dependant on the participation of both government and its strategic IT suppliers.

Collaboration to Realise a Joint Strategy

• A challenging performance improvement agenda for government IT delivery
• Aspirational targets to give strategic impetus to supply chain improvement
• Joint government / industry commitment
• Jointly chaired by Joe Harley (DWP IT DG and CIO), and Tim Smart (President, BT Global Services UK)

• Improve the overall quality and reliability of the delivery of critical government IT programmes;
• Deliver improved services and systems that offer better value for money for the UK citizen;
• Deliver an improved acquisition process that reduces time, costs and exploits standardisation

Senior leaders in Government and Industry are committed to a unified approach to delivering the Strategic Supply Board’s objectives and in developing a new partnership based on openness and trust.

The Intellect Public Sector Council has determined its own work programme for 2007. Aspects of the work programme which need to be jointly taken forward by industry and government are fed into the Strategic Supply Board work programme.

Delivering the Strategic Supply Board's Agenda

During 2006, The Strategic Supply Board commissioned three joint government and industry expert teams to develop challenging but achievable aspirational targets to enable the Board to realise its strategic objectives by the end of the CSR07 period (March 2011).

The Board signed up to the teams’ propositions during July 2006:

• All Departments to meet best in Government standards for Project and programme delivery by 2010/11, raising the bar to + 90% delivery by 2010; 
• Achieve a 20% overall cost reduction in government IT, and 40% in the total cost of government desktop;
• Increase the number of procurements that follow agreed SSB best practice by 25% year

These targets are recognised by both Government and Industry as challenging but realistic.  The pressure on government to deliver improved services at less cost to the tax-payer makes this activity non-optional for either Government or its IT Supply Community.

Improved processes, more focussed IT Service requirements and a new relationship will produce a more beneficial environment for all.

“These bold aspirations will require a radical re-appraisal of the way we do things in government – and will require a willingness on the part of both Government and Industry to transform the way we operate, considering new approaches to delivery.”
Joe Harley Department for Work and Pensions IT Director General and Chief Information Officer

The Supply Transformation Programme

The Supply Transformation Programme (STP) brings together all of the activities needed to deliver the Strategic Supply Board’s objectives into a coherent Programme. It is  managed by the OGC, with support from other government departments and Intellect, to set the enabling framework for delivering against these targets.

Improving Project and Programme Delivery (lead John Taylor, Director General, Information, MoD)

Failure to focus on key business outcomes is a common cause of project failure.  The Team have developed best practice to address this. The focus is on the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)  and Senior Responsible Industry Executive (SRIE) developing a common understanding of business outcomes and the consequence of failure at the outset of a project or programme, leading to  improved delivery  of business objectives, through a “Joint Statement of Intent”:

• a vehicle for early and focussed dialogue and agreement leading to a well-defined common purpose
• a means to communicate and confirm project objectives with all stakeholders
• a mechanism for assessing change based on business  impacts

Achieving IT Cost Reductions (lead Andrew Stott  Deputy CIO and head of Service Transformation, Cabinet Office)

This team has marshalled leading practice within industry and government, to enable government CIOs to work with their incumbent suppliers to develop robust cost reduction plans. A substantial programme of work is underway, majoring on:

• Individual CIO led cost reduction plans for desk-top;
• Developing a strategic vision and plan for Voice and Data for CIO Council ratification during January ’08;
• Developing a strategic proposition for Data-centre services for discussion at a joint government/industry Summit in November 2007;
• Developing tool-kits to enable Departments to self-assess against best practice in Applications Development.

Improving Procurement outcomes and timelines (lead Peter Lowe CIO and Director for Information Work Place Services, Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform)

This strand, which has close links with the OGC Transforming Government Procurement work-stream, is focussing on a number of key areas:

• Developing a qualification tool which will help to produce well formed OJEU procurements during the pre-competition phase. Initial work indicates major procurements are currently taking on average 69 weeks to award. It is anticipated that this work will reduce timescales substantially, with a commensurate reduction in cost for government and industry. This work also supports the “Improving Project and Programme Delivery” stream;
• Developing standard Pre Qualifying Questions to prevent unnecessary and costly duplication when bidding for government business, generating substantial savings if universally adopted;
• Supporting the work of the OGC and Intellect in developing Standard Contracts, specifically addressing industry issues;

More information on the work of these teams can be obtained from Richard.grey@ogc.gsi.gov.uk or Malcolm.davies@ogc.gsi.gov.uk

The Future

So, much has been achieved over recent months in creating the platform for transforming ICT delivery in Government. Two years ago there was only the beginning of collaboration across Government, and the concept of true collaboration in the IT industry was unformed. Now, with the STP programme and its component projects initiated, and the joint Government and Industry governance in place, there is a real prospect of achieving successful and sustained change.

However, making a difference will draw upon the efforts, behaviours and ideas of all parties – within the CIO community and their commands, within the business of Government, and across IT suppliers through Intellect. In other words, it will require your support and openness to doing things differently in pursuit of efficiency, economy and excellence of IT services provision. Examples are:

• Seeking to adopt solutions that have already been developed for Government – reusing the IPR from existing investments, and adopting good practice from wherever it can be found.
• Making best use of existing assets, even where they are “owned” or shared by other parts of Government; playing to the commonalities across the business of Government rather than the differences.
• Seeking out and using benchmarks, and adopting the learnings that they provide, whether these apply to cost-effectiveness or quality of service
• Maintaining focus on the outcomes to be achieved, in meeting policy and efficiency objectives, rather than pursuing process for its own sake
• And finally, providing real support in making the SRO/SRIE relationship between Government and its strategic suppliers really effective throughout the whole delivery lifecycle.

We can all make a difference if we take trouble to work together.