Directgov was launched in April 2004 to allow people to access public services and government information in a single place. We know that people care little about the structures of government and do not want to go searching around the internet so the original aim of Directgov was to join up services online.
The website is organised around groups of audiences (e.g. parents) and themes (e.g. travel and transport).
In this way, Directgov provides a cross-government digital service for departments.
Research we have carried out with customers shows that it is trusted by people. This is essential for any government service and we want to build on that trust.
We work collaboratively across government to achieve three key objectives:
- Make accessing government services easier for customers.
- Drive cost efficiencies and help save government money.
- Open up government to the public.
We are regularly ranked as the most visited UK government website and regularly receive over 30 million visits each month.
Times have clearly moved on since Directgov was launched in 2004 and we need to take advantage of recent developments in digital technology. The way that people use the internet has also changed. For example, we know that people are now much more likely to use search engines such as Google to find what they are looking for and we know that more and more people are using the web to access information and services. Directgov is constantly evolving and changing to meet these new needs and we'll be blogging about the work of the team running the site and how that fits with our colleagues across GDS.
3 comments
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Comment by Introducing the beta of GOV.UK | Government Digital Service posted on
[...] and has consistently delivered huge value to its 30m+ visitors each month. However it is now 8 years old – an eternity in web years – and the user experience it offers is showing its [...]
Comment by Petitioning the elephant | Public Strategist posted on
[...] have just stumbled over a small piece of minor irony in the newly integrated Government Digital Service blog: Directgov was launched in April 2004 to [...]