The UK government has announced plans to create a digital, data and technology sub-board within the Civil Service Board.
Recently, a Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) has been created within the Cabinet Office.
CDDO executive director Joanna Davinson has referred to the plan for the sub-board and stated that it will work with the CDDO to enhance the efforts made by the central government to bring data, policy and operations together.
The Civil Service Board works for the strategic leadership of the Civil Service.
Davinson said: “We are establishing new sub-board for the Civil Service Board, the DDaT sub-board which will be chaired by Paul (Willmott, chair of the CDDO) and Jim Harra, permanent secretary at HMRC.
“It will be a perm sec level board, the pinnacle of our governance, and it’s really important that we use it to get the message through about the need to get policy, ops and tech together.”
The priorities of the CDDO are to manage a series of issues in digital government that include improvements in interaction with government online; upgrading technology infrastructure with a focus on hybrid cloud, modular architectures and reducing the legacy debt.
It also includes making data more accessible and sharable; aligning project delivery, funding and sourcing strategies; and supporting the build-out of digital talent in the x`government.
CDDO chairman Paul Willmott said: “So we are stepping up engagement across the Civil Service and government more broadly.
“We’re reaching out one-to-one basis to relevant civil servants and discussing if we can introduce new training programmes in digital and data, recognising that this will be part of the way government operates in the future.”
