PD Newsletter #1: Welcome to Public Digital’s newsletter

Welcome to Public Digital’s newsletter. We’re learning as we go, so send ideas or feedback by email or to @egawen on Twitter.

This newsletter, sent fortnightly, will cover technology, politics & regulation, service design, user needs, and anything else we think is worth knowing in digital transformation.

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You can’t outsource risk. TSB’s banking crisis (Wired)

If you’re in the UK you won't have missed this, but TSB, a legacy bank, is in the middle of a nightmare software migration gone wrong. Astonishingly, the Chief Exec said in a BBC interview this week “All I can do is tell customers what my IT providers tell me”. That's not good enough. The technology is the service is the bank.

Peru’s GOB.PE to be rolled out by decree

The Peruvian government recently issued a decree mandating participation on GOB.PE, their single domain (currently in alpha). All public administration entities will have to join, with all new AND existing services provided through GOB.PE as the only channel. Even great delivery needs to be backed up by a mandate so this is a big step forward. (Spanish)

We've been working with the brilliant Peruvian team since 2017. More about that on our blog.

Hillary Hartley reviews a year of delivery in Ontario

Hillary Hartley, Ontario’s first Chief Digital Officer and Deputy Minister Responsible for Digital Government, has written a one year in retrospective. Achievements include publishing a Digital Service Standard, Service Design Playbook and an Action Plan which are all strong foundations, but the really interesting thing is how that has translated to delivery.

Hop to the bottom of her post for the highlights, or take a look at Ontario.ca/health, Ontario Student Assistance Program and Public holiday pay calculator to see the work in action.

Australian Digital Transformation Agency’s design system sets example for accessibility

Radical transparency in public projects through Docs Italia

Docs Italia is a service for public administration to publish technical and administrative documents, and for citizens to read and comment on them.

🤓More interesting than it looks. Many organisations work in closed, risk averse environments on old tools, and that’s why these kind of platforms, built with open methods and tools, can make a real difference. Change the way the organisation works, you change the nature of the services they deliver.

In brief

• Public Digital’s Andrew Greenway and Richard Pope from IF wrote about making public policy in the digital age.
• OECD: Pitch in on the draft ICT procurement playbook created by a group of OECD member countries. Being able to buy the right things and skills is fundamental to digital transformation and a major stumbling block for many.
• EU: Lukas Ilves argues that digital is becoming a normal part of work in the European Commission. About time, and credit due to the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union for championing this agenda last year.
• US: 💪🖥💥When politicians collide with implementation, on the $16billion Department of Veterans affairs project.
• Defining a Minimum Political Product. Relevant for handling any senior stakeholder swoop in.

News from Public Digital