Digital transformation conjures up images of efficient workplaces with automated processes and digital self-service, powered by state-of-the-art technology and data-sharing. But in the UK, many public organisations are held back by legacy platforms. These often outdated, interdependent IT systems can have a deeply negative impact.
Large scale digital transformation can often feel like a giant game of Jenga; no one dares touch one element for fear of compromising the critical IT backbone of government services. This fear makes it harder and more expensive to implement new legislation. In the UK, technology debt has stunted innovation. So, how do we start to unravel and overhaul these complex systems?
When it comes to the digitalisation of public services, Denmark has pioneered a joined-up, national digital service infrastructure to offer digital service delivery in areas such as health, tax, justice, and social care. Despite differences in population size, governmental structures, and digital capabilities, the UK can take inspiration from Denmark’s approach.
Combine efforts to digitise citizen experience
Public services are for the people. To offer a superior, digitised service, it’s vital to focus on solutions that will make citizens’ lives easier, and that they can trust. Trust is a vital ingredient in successful digital services; once trust is earned, adoption follows. Citizens need to trust that their data will be taken good care of. They also need to trust that they won’t be excluded if they don’t use digital services – in other words, that there will be digital inclusion. However, legacy platforms make it much harder for digital services to address different users’ needs due to out-of-date protocols, and restraints in technology and data interfaces.
The ideals held by citizens can’t be underestimated in the digitalisation journey. Focusing on what citizens need and value most spurs greater adoption across services. Citizen centricity is at the heart of Denmark’s approach, leading to the delivery of reliable, transparent, secure services with clear benefits for citizens. The Danish government’s citizen portal, borger.dk, brings together public services from local, regional, and central authorities into one place. Time-consuming tasks like paying taxes, registering a change of address, and renewing passports can all be completed in the portal using self-service tools and automated ‘no touch’ services. Citizens can access their own data and monitor how it is shared. By using a joint security solution developed in a public-private partnership with Danish banks, citizens can access all services (GPs, hospitals, primary care services, and more) through a single sign-in via their mobile phone.
Ramp up initiatives to close the digital divide
While 94% of Danish citizens actively use online services, those who don’t or can’t need to have an alternative. Although many services are transitioning to ‘digital by default’, traditional methods of engagement (such as post and telephone calls) are still crucial.
In Denmark, the high degree of digital literacy means that ‘digital by default’ communications make sense. But in the UK, 1.7 million households have no broadband or mobile internet access, and 2.4 million people are still unable to complete a single basic digital task to get online. By developing legislation that supports digital solutions, the UK government can streamline communications with citizens that are currently costly and ineffective, without alienating them with digital-only options. In June 2023, the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee published ‘Digital Exclusion’, a report exploring the economic and social impact of digital exclusion and its relationship with the cost of living. The report stated that the government, having not refreshed its digital inclusion strategy since 2014, has taken its eye off the ball.
Investing in the digitalisation of public services must be supported by a concerted effort to close the digital divide, which is a key aspect of the Danish digital agenda. Driving an uptake in digital services relies on increasing the accessibility of services, improving connectivity, and developing alternative education programmes that harness existing tools like the UK government’s essential digital skills framework.
Incentivise and align sectors
Untangling legacy systems calls for a variety of technical expertise across different technologies – and these skills are scarce. The UK economy loses a whopping £63bn each year due to digital skills shortages. Public sector organisations are most affected by the need to access talent, with 83% citing this as a top driver for outsourcing.
In Denmark, the government both outsources digital public services while investing in its in-house digital capabilities. Denmark’s National Strategy for Digitalisation, ‘A Solid IT Foundation’, better manages outdated IT systems by prioritising critical systems; taking a systematic approach to modernising legacy IT; preventing technical debt; improving governance; allocating sufficient financial resources; and conducting risk and impact assessment. All of this ensures that IT infrastructure is stable, secure, and supports future demand. The Danish government has also partnered with private technology companies, creating a public-private collaboration to support responsible AI adoption. The partnership includes creating a series of best practice examples to show how AI can safely support employees and deliver secure, reliable services.
Here in the UK, there’s an opportunity to harness digitalisation as an economic driver, but it means incentivising sector-wide collaboration across public and private (especially technology) spheres, sharing talent and skills where appropriate through mutually beneficial programmes.
Implement with a marathon mindset
The need to modernise technology isn’t just a problem for today, nor is it unique to the UK. Digitalisation requires a marathon mindset: rather than sustain an injury in the race to the finish line, organisations that focus on incremental changes will build stamina and form.
In Denmark, multi-year modernisation strategies have unlocked cultural and organisational barriers, designing new policy and budgetary models that secure long-term funding for digital projects. The use of commercial off-the-shelf systems has reduced time to market, while creating digital-ready legislation has strengthened alignment. Another important approach has been implementing new operating models between government and private businesses, finding the sweet spot between risk and benefits.
In 2020, Denmark held the presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers, bringing stakeholders together to support and accelerate the use of GovTech in the Nordic-Baltic region. Over six months, PA conducted interviews and workshops with senior stakeholders across countries and sectors, mapping the GovTech landscape and challenges in each country. The findings highlighted the impact of collaboration, new ways of working, organisational capability building, and adopting innovative procurement processes when tackling cross-country challenges, notably including the modernisation of legacy IT.
In the UK, mature, modern, large-scale government departments are scaling Agile approaches through ‘intentional architecture’, in which architecture teams look across people, projects, and programmes while considering future roadmaps, transitions, and dependencies – always with a view on reusability. A core element of modernisation is switching off legacy systems. Often, large change programmes introduce new systems and tech, but ‘turn off’ falls by the wayside, complicating the situation in the medium-term. Switching off old systems must be embedded in the business case to properly manage the transition.
Digitalisation poses a huge whole-society opportunity, from kick-starting economic growth to delivering the best services for citizens. There’s no better time to take stock of strengths and weaknesses, and share inspiration for shared success.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
L-R: PA Consulting experts Emilie Minor Christensen, Paul Heaviside and Ronnie Eriksson