Quote “We’re a digitally dependent nation,” he said, “so what happens if the infrastructure collapses through cyber attack?” David Knott, CTO, UK Government

Although occupying a relatively small proportion of giant exhibition venue ExCeL London, DigiGov Expo 2024 was big in terms of buzz, brimming with stakeholders from across the public sector looking to be inspired by the latest technology insight and solutions to help them work smarter and serve citizens more effectively through digital transformation.

Five theatres, each delivering presentations and panel debates on specific tracks, including Government ICT, Government Technology, Cyber Security, Citizen Experience and Innovation Demonstrations, surrounded a host of technology supplier stands. The open design meant there was a constant hum of activity, with each theatre’s sound system cutting through the noise enabling audiences to hear the insight being delivered.

Across the two days, a clear vision of trending topics emerged delivering a snapshot of a sector in transition driven by a series of key evolving imperatives, including:

Modernising legacy systems

One of the key barriers to digital transformation for government and the wider public sector was unsurprisingly high on the agenda. Delegates were reminded how legacy technologies have become part of the public sector’s DNA. This means successful modernisation strategies must address not only replacement and integration with new technologies, but also education and change management. This demands detailed planning to:

• Fully capture the objectives and required outcomes
• Develop a roadmap for change
• Understand the impact on both processes and services, and…
• Examine the cost implications

Cloud and multi-cloud optimisation

Quote 20% of the public sector have adopted public cloud compared to 78% of private companies.

Widely viewed as the route away from legacy systems, cloud migration was another DigiGov hot topic. Despite driving technology and data value by increasing scalability, cost savings and computing power, cloud adoption faces considerable inertia across the public sector. This was vividly illustrated with statistics revealing that only 20% of the sector had adopted the public cloud compared to 78% of private companies. Delegates discovered factors slowing down the transition include the risk of disruption, cultural resistance to change and rising costs, which were reported to have increased by 87%.

This has given rise in the public sector to two operational frameworks and cultural practices:

• FinOps – to maximise the business value of cloud and enable timely data-driven decision making.
• GreenOps – to optimise the value of cloud provisions for sustainability, reflecting the growing environmental impact of computing power.

Optimising data, integration and secure access

Quote “Common data standards can be achieved by digital and data teams acting as one to drive the necessary collaboration.” Fiona James, Director of Data Growth and Chief Data Officer for the Office for National Statistics

The UK public sector owns one of the biggest data sets in the world, with the potential of delivering huge value in terms of providing insight to drive better decision making and transform the citizen experience. The challenge lies in consolidating data from the various current silos, then integrating and analysing it – and doing this securely.

In one session, Fiona James, Director of Data Growth and Chief Data Officer for the Office for National Statistics, stressed the urgent need for common data standards across the sector. “This can only be achieved by digital and data teams acting as one to drive the necessary collaboration, while recognition is needed of data having a longer lifespan than products and services,” she said.

AI Readiness in the Public Sector

Unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence (AI) was a burning issue at DigiGov Expo 2024. The huge potential the technology presents to the public sector was passionately discussed and debated, from optimising data and driving better decision making with AI analytics, to self-service automation to drive efficiencies and reduce cost. However, it was widely acknowledged that before the full benefits of AI can be realised, a number of barriers need to be removed. These range from a lack of digital skills to bureaucratic tendencies within senior leadership that stymies change.

Three ingredients were identified to enable successful AI adoption across the public sector, including:

• A deep understanding of operations and processes – to ensure AI is used in the most appropriate and effective way
• Technology skills – to devise and implement the necessary solutions
• Senior leadership sponsorship – to support and drive AI projects forward

Putting the citizen experience first

Another key theme at this year’s event was the importance of digital transformation being citizen-centric. There is an increasing realisation that too much of an inward-looking approach to solving process and data issues has resulted in a neglect of the citizen experience, hindering the success of digital solutions. Meanwhile, a focus purely on technology, rather than required outcomes, is reducing the impact of digital projects – taking the ‘eye off the prize’ one could say,

Delegates were told that not enough time is spent talking to the general public about their experiences so that technology solutions can be tailored to address specific citizen needs and challenges. In many cases this is down to a lack of capacity, capability and integration between departments. A sweet spot exists where people, strategy and technology meet.

Fortifying the Public Sector Against the Cyber Threat

Although UK Government CTO David Knott was generally upbeat about accelerating digital transformation for the public sector in his address, he cited nation state-sponsored cyber attacks as one of a trio of potential constraints to success. “We’re a digitally dependent nation,” he said, “so what happens if the infrastructure collapses through cyber attack?”

This concept of digital networks, particularly in the public sector, as critical national infrastructure was discussed in other sessions in the cybersecurity stream, underlining the importance of public sector software development being secure-by-design. Delegates were told that for too long security has been a problem for ‘security’ experts, but that this needs to change, because in reality it’s everyone’s responsibility. This is particularly the case in the new hybrid world where remote working has given rise to the ‘hyber’ (hybrid + cyber) threat, a growing security challenge.

See you next year!

Once again, DigiGov Expo took the temperature of digital transformation across the public sector, bringing organisations and individuals together to learn, debate and network, and no doubt making them better equipped to face the digital challenge. See you at the next event in September 2025!

• Look out for more knowledge and inspiration from DigiGov Expo 2024 in our Insight section…
• Discover Mindera solutions to all of the above challenges…

Key takeaways

• Legacy system modernisation strategies require more than replacement by or integration with new technology. Equally important are education and change management to enable successful transition.
• Public sector cloud inertia is vividly illustrated with statistics revealing that only 20% of the sector had adopted the public cloud compared to 78% of private companies.
• Common data standards can only be achieved by digital and data teams acting as one to drive the necessary collaboration, while recognition being needed of data having a longer lifespan than products and services.
• Before the full benefits of AI can be realised in the public sector, a number of barriers need to be removed, ranging from a lack of digital skills to leadership resistance to change.
• Not enough time is spent talking to citizens about their experiences so that solutions can be planned and built to address their needs. In many cases this is down to a lack of capacity, capability and integration between departments.
• There’s a very real and growing threat of cyber attack, particularly from state-sponsored actors and the emergence of hyber threats (hybrid + cyber) as a result of post-pandemic flexible working practices; digital solutions must be secure-by-design.

About the author

Mindera’s Managing Director, Technology Leader and Advisor, Richard Hilsley specialises in strategy, business development and transformation.