UK Government Unveils Ambitious Roadmap for Modern Digital Government

The UK Government Digital Service (GDS) has launched the Roadmap for Modern Digital Government, described as an ‘action plan’ for the next four years. This includes exploring a single government mailbox for citizens’ correspondence, expanding data-sharing across departments, rolling out a digital government learning offer for all civil servants, and strengthening digital and AI capability among senior civil servants. The roadmap follows the publication last year of the State of Digital Government Review and the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government, which set out an assessment of the existing state of play and a vision for what the future should look like – framed around key outcomes: easier lives, faster growth, firmer foundations, smarter working, and higher productivity and efficiency. Liz Kendall, secretary of state for science, innovation and technology said: “When we came into government, the prime minister made a commitment to the British people that politics should tread lightly on people’s lives. “For the sleep-deprived parent, trying to sort childcare. The homeowner, getting planning permission. The worried patient, booking a doctor’s appointment. Life is busy, and our role as a government should be to carry the burden in these moments, not add to it. Renewing public services means ensuring they’re shaped by, and accountable to, the people who use them. “This plan sets out how we do that: by embracing AI, removing outdated IT, and strengthening our cyber resilience, in the face of new threats.” The roadmap covers progress so far and some of the key products, platforms and transformation initiatives planned for the next four years. It focuses on six key areas: joining up public services; AI; digital and data public infrastructure; talent; funding; and transparency. These closely mirror the findings of Global Government Forum’s Rewiring the State study, which was led by former Cabinet secretary Lord Gus O’Donnell and drew on interviews with 12 permanent secretaries from the major government departments. The study pinpointed focus areas to help the government achieve its goal of “a complete rewiring of the British state” to deliver priorities. These were making digital a core part of government leadership and driving a culture of delivery; building transformational capability at every level; unlocking the full power of data and AI through reuse of proven tools, removing the blockers to data sharing, and smarter procurement; and driving joined-up government through mechanisms that enable coordination and peer learning across departments. Read now: Rewiring the state: Unlocking government transformation, a Global Government Forum study led by former Cabinet secretary Lord Gus O’Donnell and based on interviews with 12 UK permanent secretaries. Progress and next steps Examples of action taken to date highlighted in the government’s new roadmap include the launch of the GOV.UK App, GDS Local, and the AI Exemplars programme. It also cites work to create a single view of government’s entire technology and data estate; expansion of the Digital and Data Capability Framework into the senior civil service; piloting new funding models for digital programmes; and publishing details of algorithmic tools to the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard. As part of the roadmap launch, the government announced a new CustomerFirst unit within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), led by Tristan Thomas, formerly of Monzo, with Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, as first co-chair. The unit will “look to build services that make use of AI and modern solutions to mirror excellent customer services in the best of the private sector – from modern banking and online shopping to utilities”. Emily Middleton, director-general for digital centre design at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said on LinkedIn: “We also hope [the roadmap] will help drive collaboration and experimentation – between different parts of the public sector, and with partners outside government – because it’s now easier to see who’s working on what and what they’re aiming to achieve.” Future plans outlined include exploration of a new ‘government mailbox’ to receive and view all official government documents and correspondence securely in one place. The roadmap details how assessment of all newly appointed directors and director generals will include digital and data skills and behaviours, with digital expectations stated in job descriptions and reflected in performance objectives. The Cabinet Office will also lead AI immersion workshops for the Civil Service Leadership Group, which is made up of 300 senior civil servants, and establish a cross-government leadership development programme including topics such as strategic leadership, commercial acumen and system-level thinking. This emphasis on senior leadership capability reflects one of the central recommendations of Rewiring the State, which argued that digital must be treated as a core leadership responsibility. It called for more cross-government collaboration on AI implementation, and a cross-government community of practice on transformation. In April, GDS will launch an initial cross-government learning offer for all civil servants alongside a plan for a full roll-out. This aims to “give civil servants at every level the tools and knowledge to work in a modern digital government”. The recommendation in Rewiring the State went further, calling for the training to be mandatory and backed by formal assessment. Read more: Innovation 2026 a ‘groundbreaking gathering’, says Cat Little in invite to civil servants Data sharing and real-time reporting The government has pledged to use the Digital Economy Act to expand data sharing, and to publish a strategic roadmap for public sector data in April 2026. Ideas will be tested, for example, for better data sharing to increase accurate voter registration. In early 2026, the government will also share the vision for the National Data Library and kickstarter projects. The push for stronger data-sharing aligns with Rewiring the State, which found that legal barriers were often less of a problem than risk-aversion, weak incentives, and inconsistent data standards across departments. Further, permanent secretaries expressed a strong interest in knowing more about the National Data Library and how they can feed into its development. By the end of the year, an ‘All of Government’ central cloud contract will be agreed. Described as “the first central contract of its kind”, this will create a standardised, marketplace-based framework that aims to maximise government’s purchasing power. By October 2028​, the roadmap says HM Treasury will be able to access and track departments’ finance and performance data in near real-time for the first time. The roadmap also refers to the government digital ID programme as part of efforts to “[make] people’s interactions with government easier and public services work better”. It was announced in September that a digital ID would be “mandatory” for the right to work in the UK but last week this element of the scheme was rolled back. People will still be required to verify their ID digitally but this could involve existing documents such as a passport. The Cabinet Office will launch a consultation to inform the design and deliverty of the digital ID programme shortly. Read more: UK government and Information Commissioner’s Office sign agreement to firm-up data protection Back to school This week, Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, is expected to announce a new “school of government” for senior civil servants to train them in AI and other skills – more than a decade after David Cameron closed a national school for government at Sunningdale. Ahead of the speech, Jones is quoted as saying he is determined to “work with the civil service to change the system, promote innovation and build in-house state capacity to get things done”.