Behind the centuries-old buildings, ceremony and tradition, our Parliament is a modern workplace. In recent years our work to transform digital and data in Parliament has propelled us forward in this respect. And, of course, we’re still going. In 2020 we laid the foundations for digital transformation by establishing the Transforming Digital Programme and developing a new digital and data operating model, which articulates how Parliament manages digital and data. This includes making sure that Parliament has the digital and data skills to meet its needs, now and in the future. And that involves supporting better technology management; focusing on the needs of users; and having the right relationships and culture in place (and much more!).
In this blog post, we want to update you on what we’ve achieved and where we’re headed.
A programme ending
First, we’ll start with an ending: the conclusion of our Transforming Digital Programme. This programme delivered significant change and lots of lessons for Parliament. It brought together colleagues across the Parliamentary Digital Service and the wider Parliamentary community to create a new and more sustainable approach to digital and data. It helped create a more mature digital ecosystem across Parliament, including increasing digital awareness and fluency amongst our leaders. Digital steering groups are now commonplace throughout Parliament and many teams are adopting user-centric approaches as standard. And it set in motion ongoing transformation capability to ensure that Parliament’s approach to digital and data remains fit for purpose, both now and in the future.
Over the course of the Programme, we participated in the Gateway Review process. This is administered by the Government’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority and involves a series of independent external reviews, which also act as health checks or control points, at different stages of a project or programme. We recently received the highest rating of ‘green’ for our Gate 5 Review, the final stage, which looks at whether the intended benefits of a programme are being achieved. This was very welcome external confirmation of the Programme delivering value for Parliament and meeting its intended objectives.
A new directorate
Digital transformation is not a checklist of things to be delivered and then filed away. It is not something that can ever be ‘finished’. Instead, it is a journey. While the Transforming Digital Programme got us so far on the journey, we knew we needed a different long-term approach. So, in April 2024, as the Programme concluded, we established the ongoing Transforming Digital Directorate within the Parliamentary Digital Service (but working on behalf of all of Parliament). This recognises the importance of continuing to drive forward the investment and learnings from the Programme and gives us a sustainable long-term framework to achieve this.
Our new mission
The mission of our new Transforming Digital Directorate is to enable innovation and transformational change to get the most from digital, data and information for Parliament.
The purpose of the Directorate is to:
- Demonstrate, drive, improve, and measure the digital and data operating model’s value for Parliament;
- Create and sustain conditions for transformational change in Parliament;
- Provide leadership and insight on the opportunities for digital strategic change;
- Understand user needs to make digital better for Parliament’s communities;
- Mature and embed digital talent, skills, and capabilities in the Parliamentary Digital Service and both Houses of Parliament; and
- Seek out and apply best practice from comparable organisations and industry.
Our approach
As a team, we are taking an agile—meaning we can move quickly and flexibly—and iterative—meaning we work in a continuous cycle of change, testing, learning and refining—approach to digital transformation. We encourage a growth mindset and a culture of openness and collaboration; within the team, the wider Parliamentary Digital Service, and with the different business areas we work with across Parliament. We gather and use insights from across Parliament, and we also look at industry best practice to guide our work.
What are we working on?
Here is a taster of some of the things we are doing to drive value from the digital and data operating model and to sustain digital, data and information transformation.
Skills and capabilities
We’ve been developing, and have recently launched, a Digital and Data Skills Centre of Excellence. This involves supporting training and other initiatives to give everyone in Parliament the digital knowledge and skills needed in a modern work environment.
AI
We want to embrace emerging technologies and new ways of working—appropriately and responsibly— so, working closely with the Chief Technology Officer and his team, we are exploring use of artificial intelligence (AI) within Parliament. This includes: establishing an AI Working Group representing the administrations of both Houses of Parliament to coordinate AI-related work; preparing and adopting AI guidance for staff; rolling out AI skills training; starting up a Parliamentary Digital Innovation Lab; and identifying opportunities to trial the use of AI in support of teams across Parliament.
Building our maturity
We completed the first round of a new annual digital and data maturity assessment process. Through this we are identifying initiatives to continue to build digital maturity across Parliament and making sure that we have the right relationships and culture in place to use digital and data effectively.
Understanding the digital and data operating model
We’re developing a series of bite-size training sessions and resources to build understanding of the digital and data operating model across Parliament.
We’ve created a digital and data operating model playbook, which explains the model in a way that everyone across Parliament can understand it, and how it applies to each of our roles. We’ll also continue to evolve this. For example, we’re adding a directory of all the digital services and a catalogue of the digital tools available to all users across Parliament.
Maintaining a focus on user need by:
- We’ll continue to develop Parliament’s user-centred toolkit. This brings together tools and guidance to support staff across Parliament to understand user-centred approaches to digital design and services. We’ll continue to promote this and to provide training to upskill colleagues across Parliament in this area;
- We’ll also build a user-centred strategic roadmap for digital services so that Parliament is aligned with the needs of its users.
Collaboration and delivery
We’ll adopt a strategic approach to partnership and we’ll explore other delivery models for delivering digital services. This could include partnering with different business areas within Parliament or with third parties.
Communications
We’ll improve the use of digital technology in internal communications. We’ll also explore how we can better communicate with teams across Parliament about digital tools, approaches, and opportunities that might help them in their work.
More coming soon
We are excited about continuing Parliament’s digital transformation journey and looking forward to learning and iterating as we go, while always keeping user needs at the heart of things. And we’re looking forward to sharing more about this work with you over the coming months. Look out for our next blog post on our Digital and Data Skills Centre of Excellence.
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