Government Digital Service invites Socitm input

The invitation was issued by GDS head Mike Bracken, in his session at the Socitm conference on November 30. During his presentation he set out key elements and approaches of the GDS work programme and its central task, the creation of a single web domain for government websites, with a single look and feel for users.

Use of fast and cheap agile methods distinguish the GDS approach from the slow moving programmes associated with the e-government era, he said, quoting the example of the e-petitions service, built by five people working closely together in four weeks and costing less time and money than it would to prepare an old-style IT procurement tender.

Local authority expertise, and specifically the experience of Socitm in measuring the volume and usability of online transactions, needed to be harnessed for the government's programmes to develop a new generation of user-centred online public services, he said. One of the most important metrics to capture, he added, is how often the user fails in their attempts to transact with government.

The latter is information that Socitm's website take-up service already collects: based on returns from around one third of all council websites, 20% of web visits are known to fail completely, with another 20% failing partially.

An interview with Mike Bracken recorded at the conference will be available on this website later this week.