On 10 May GDS will be hosting Sprint 18. This will be an event to celebrate all the great work that has been done so far to transform government – and to look at what we’ll be doing next.
We’re holding the event at London’s Southbank Centre and we’ll be welcoming ministers, colleagues from across government, international visitors, digital and tech suppliers, tech media and national tech correspondents.
Looking back and looking forward
GDS has held a number of Sprint events. The aim of all of them has been to look back on the work we’ve been doing to transform government and to look forward at what we need to do now. Sprint 18 will be no different.
We’ve come a long way since GDS was founded 6 years ago. We are now the number one e-government in the world, according to the United Nations, and the number one publisher of open data, according to the Open Data Barometer.
We have delivered GOV.UK, which has had over 13 billion page views in 5 years of live service. We are building common components like GOV.UK Pay and GOV.UK Notify which are used by more than 175 services across government.
We’re tackling the challenge of identity assurance through GOV.UK Verify, which is being used in a range of services across government. For example, HMRC is using it to help people check their income tax online and HM Land Registry will use it to support the launch of a new digital mortgages service.
And there are now around 17,000 people working in the digital profession across government, delivering transformation.
Earlier this month we marked 1 year since we published the Government Transformation Strategy. The work that we have delivered across government to support the strategy has given us a great platform to build on. We have been helping government work more effectively and deliver user-focused services. And we have been growing skills and capability across departments. So far, more than 7,500 civil servants have gained digital skills and capability by taking courses at the GDS Academy.
So there’s a lot to celebrate. But there’s also a lot to look forward to.
Transformation, innovation, collaboration
We want to look at how we can continue to transform government, by giving people the tools, structures and capabilities they need.
We want to look at how we can bring innovation into government, through projects like the GovTech Catalyst fund, which will see GDS help tech firms deliver innovative responses to public sector challenges.
And we want to look at how we can continue to collaborate across government – how we learn from each other’s skills and experiences, how we can work together to make better user-focused services and how we can transform government together.
I hope to see you at Sprint 18.
If you would like to attend, please register your interest by mailing us.
