Corporate report

BIS's actions in response to the Government Digital Strategy

Updated 16 January 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Action 1: Departmental and transactional agency boards will include an active digital leader

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Board member Stephen Lovegrove is the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) digital leader, and there is an existing network of senior leaders responsible for leading on digital within BIS agencies and arm’s length bodies (ALBs) with a significant digital presence. This will ensure digital leaders are equipped to fulfil the role and will create links and share good practice across the network.

Progress during 2013

BIS has a new digital leader (Ceri Smith) who is responsible for overseeing the delivery of the department’s capability strategy and other change programmes. The digital leader chairs a senior digital network group which has been set up to support implementation of the Digital Strategy and to identify further opportunities for digital transformation.

Planned activities in 2014

All BIS agencies and ALBs with high-volume transactional services have appointed a digital leader who is actively promoting the digital agenda within their organisations. A number have embraced the role and appointed senior leaders to co-ordinate their digital activity.

BIS will continue to work with senior leaders from across the department’s agencies, supporting them to build and strengthen their digital leadership and capability. The BIS digital leader will continue to promote digital by default and ensure the importance of digital is understood by the people who shape the future direction of the department. BIS will also increase the opportunities for networking and knowledge sharing across the senior leadership community through a programme of activities.

Progress during 2014

Chief Digital Officer Tim Knighton and board-level sponsor Howard Orme actively promoted digital within BIS.

Tim presented at the BIS Digital Fortnight, the BIS Senior Civil Servants’ event and at external conferences to ensure the digital by default agenda is better understood within BIS. He actively promoted digital within the digital exemplar partner organisations, and engaged the BIS executive board and other internal boards.

BIS set up a Digital Leaders Forum, drawn from transactional partner organisations. It meets each month to discuss important digital issues, and will oversee the completion of the departmental digital services roadmap.

It also formed a Directors Group for those with digital responsibilities, which meets monthly to share information, priorities and milestones.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will continue to run its monthly Digital Leaders Forum and Directors Group to share best practice, discuss issues and priorities and meet our digital commitments. It will also run joint meetings between our digital and technology leaders to support the implementation of the BIS Government Digital Target Operating Model (GDTOM).

Tim Knighton will ensure digital remains prominent by attending high profile events and conferences.

Action 2: Services handling over 100,000 transactions each year will be redesigned, operated and improved by a suitably skilled, experienced and empowered service manager

Service managers will be in place for new and redesigned transactions from April 2013.

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The Student Loans Company (SLC) has recently appointed an appropriately qualified specialist service manager. It will work with Companies House, the Insolvency Service, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the Land Registry, the National Apprenticeship Service and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) to support service managers where they exist and explore how to fill the role where they do not.

Progress during 2013

All BIS agencies and ALBs with high-volume transactional services (SLC, Companies House, Insolvency Service, IPO, Land Registry and SFA) have a service manager (or equivalent role) in place. These service managers have been empowered to lead continuous service improvement based on their user needs.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will embed the role of service manager (or equivalent) across its agencies and ALBs. and increase understanding of the role and its benefits through networking and sharing ‘day in the life of’ experiences from service managers. BIS will also support learning and development opportunities, such as Government Digital Service’s (GDS) training programme, to ensure people undertaking the role are sufficiently skilled and empowered.

Progress during 2014

BIS supported the GDS service manager community within the department and ensured service managers received digital communications. Service managers attended events such as assisted digital workshops so they can influence wider government policy and strategy. They also received targeted briefings on Digital by Default Service Standard assessment.

Planned activities in 2015

An enhanced central digital team will play a strong role in supporting service managers, especially in partner organisations with services handling more than 100,000 transactions each year. The BIS Digital Leaders Forum will provide support and build capability so all relevant BIS services are digital by 2020.

It will monitor progress through the BIS and partner organisations’ digital services roadmap.

Action 3: All departments will ensure that they have appropriate digital capability in-house, including specialist skills

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

BIS will undertake a full audit of digital demand and capability across BIS and its partner organisations. Based on this analysis it will ensure the right resources are in place to carry out its digital transformation programmes. This is likely to be a mixed model, as demand is significantly different across the many and varied BIS organisations. A central portfolio team is in place to manage implementation of the digital strategy across the department.

Progress during 2013

BIS completed an audit in June, which confirmed the range of digital demand and capability that exists across the department and its agencies and ALBs to identify areas where organisations were the ‘best in class’. Since publishing the findings, there has been further work with senior leaders across the BIS partner organisations to refine our approach and identify the important priorities to focus on. Further analysis has been supported by the creation of a customer insight and data analytics workshop, hosted by Companies House, and of a leadership event which will be tested with an agency/ALB.

Planned activities in 2014

In 2014, BIS will support collaborative working and skills sharing across BIS agencies and ALBs and senior leaders. This will build on the work it is testing now. It will also encourage cross-government communities and groups that offer additional opportunities to support and build capability across the BIS family.

Progress during 2014

Tim Knighton worked closely with the 5 digital exemplar organisations within BIS and GDS to support growth in digital skills and knowledge and exemplar success.

BIS established the Digital Leaders Forum to build digital skills and knowledge, and to oversee the creation of a digital services roadmap by the end of October. It also established a new network of senior digital advocates to demonstrate senior level support for digital activity.

BIS decided to establish a specialist central Digital and Technology team.

Over 20 teams and more than 100 individuals from across the department have been trained to build understanding of digital engagement activity. BIS ran regular weekly digital surgeries in London and (since October 2014) Sheffield offices. In October around 10% of staff participated in a Digital Fortnight.

A network of digital buddies has been established, allowing digitally active staff to share their skills and expertise: almost 30 staff have signed up to this network.

Planned activities in 2015

During 2015 the Digital and Technology team will support the growth of knowledge and skills within the partner organisations. It will work to implement GDTOM and to expand digital services, aiming to improve efficiency and service outcomes.

Although working initially with third party suppliers, our partner organisations will recruit and develop new in-house digital specialists as part of a ‘grow our own’ strategy, designed to lower costs and increase skills development.

BIS will undertake initiatives to ensure that all staff meet at least level 7 on the digital inclusion scale. These include:

• a Digital Advocates programme aimed at senior civil servants
• another Digital Fortnight
• extension of the digital buddies scheme

It will also run targeted training events aimed at the policy making profession.

Action 4: Cabinet Office will support improved digital capability across departments

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

BIS will identify all service managers, digital leaders, digital specialists and others to undertake digital training. Digital leaders across BIS will actively support capability improvements across their organisations.

Progress during 2013

BIS has been working closely with GDS and BIS agencies and ALBs to redesign digital services, initially through the exemplar digital projects. This will enable the development of core skills and knowledge which can be extended out to other services and used to showcase digital benefits. For example, to support the National Apprenticeship Service exemplar an agile coach was recruited and is now supporting around 30 people across the organisation to carry out service improvements in an agile way. BIS will continue to work with policy teams to embed digital tools and techniques and improve open policy making.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will continue to raise awareness of digital by default to ensure people have, as a minimum, an appreciation of what digital by default means and how services might increasingly be offered through digital channels. As part of taking forward the Civil Service Capability Plan, learning and development will be available in BIS to build digital capability as one of the priority areas.

Progress during 2014

BIS supported the Cabinet Office’s digital awareness campaign in March, through intranet articles and briefing meetings.

During BIS’s Digital Fortnight, it ran presentations by 2 BIS exemplars, the BIS chief digital officer and by GDS on agile methodology. There was also a policy session which focused on digital inclusion and assisted digital.

BIS worked with GDS to recruit a number of senior digital and technology roles across partner organisations. GDS actively supported BIS exemplars through skills transfer.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will continue to promote digital in the department itself and to improve awareness within partner organisations.

The department will also focus on increasing capability within 5 exemplar organisations, and wider work with other BIS partner organisations.

It will produce case studies to be shared across the department to highlight this work. A mentoring programme will identify policy mentors to offer one-to-one help and advice for anyone new to open policy making.

Action 5: For transactional departments, 3 exemplar services will be selected

Redesign starting April 2013, implemented by March 2015 (to be included in relevant business plans). Following this, departments will redesign all services handling over 100,000 transactions each year

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

All BIS partner organisations responsible for services over 100,000 transactions a year are currently redesigning, or are planning to redesign services as digital by default. The BIS exemplar services are:

• Insolvency Service redundancy payments
• IPO patent applications and renewals
• Land Registry digital services
• the National Apprenticeship Service

Progress during 2013

The 4 exemplar projects started in April 2013 with a discovery phase to define the user need and scope of the service changes:

• National Apprenticeship Service has completed its discovery stage
• Insolvency Service has progressed to an alpha stage, where it will develop and test prototypes for its service
• Land Registry has completed its alpha stage and is currently working closely with GDS, to review the scope of its exemplar
• IPO has progressed to a beta stage with its online Patent Renewals service

All remain on track to go-live with exemplar services by March 2015. In addition, the Student Loans Company has continued to make service improvements launching its 24+ Advanced Learning Loans and an online application process for part-time students.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will continue to work with its exemplars, supporting them in making their new services live and also in developing further transformation plans to redesign other services. Companies House will also continue to work with GDS to offer access to filing and search services through a single, combined interface, expected to go-live in spring 2014.

Progress during 2014

Two exemplars are now live: IPO’s Renew a patent and the part-time student loan application component of SLC’s Student finance exemplar. SFA’s Find an apprenticeship will be in public beta by the end of the year. The Insolvency Service’s Redundancy payments exemplar and the Land Registry project are currently in alpha.

BIS and its partner organisations have developed other digital services. For example IPO went live with Orphan Works digital service. This enables users to request to use a copyrighted image where the original rights holder cannot be located.

Planned activities in 2015

All BIS exemplar projects will be available for public use by March 2015. BIS’s 5 exemplar organisations will continue to create and deliver new digital services, using learning from the digital exemplar projects. It will monitor progress through the BIS and partner organisations’ digital services roadmap.

BIS will continue to encourage digital by default approaches across its other partner organisations, ensuring they have relevant strategies and plans in place.

BIS will continue to support the development of digital capability across BIS organisations. The strengthened Digital and Technology team, which will be in place in early 2015, will lead on this.

Action 6: From April 2014, all new or redesigned transactional services will meet the Digital by Default Service Standard

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

As part of the implementation of the digital strategy BIS will establish a team to ensure all digital projects meet the Digital by Default Service Standard. It will engage early with teams across the department, agencies and ALBs to provide constructive input at the right time and quality assure before launch.

Progress during 2013

BIS has established a team to support projects across the department and its agencies and ALBs to develop sound digital propositions which clearly identify the user need, demonstrate value for money and meet Cabinet Office digital spend control requirements. This function will be extended to support and embed assessments for the Digital by Default Service Standard. Assessments have already been completed by IPO, Land Registry and SLC, providing early insight and assurance.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will promote the Digital by Default Service Standard through ongoing communications and engagement. It will identify areas for improvement through the spend control process to ensure its agencies and ALBs develop and maintain digital services in line with the standard. Common themes, good practice and lessons learned will be shared across BIS partner organisations from 2014 to help achieve and maintain the standard and encourage a knowledge-sharing culture .

Progress during 2014

BIS promoted the Digital by Default Service Standard across its partner organisations, through newsletters and at the BIS Digital Leaders Forum. All its larger services have been subject to the GDS central assessment process.

BIS put its own Service Assessment Panel in place, with a pool of trained assessors, and conducted 3 service assessments in 2014. It shared good practice with other government departments and intends to continuously improve the process through user feedback. It embedded the process within spend approval conditions.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will continue to support larger services through the Digital by Default Service Standard assessments run by GDS.

Smaller BIS services will continue to be assessed by the BIS departmental panel. Over time, BIS aims to increase the number of services that pass the first time, demonstrating a growth of awareness and capability around the Digital by Default Service Standard assessments.

The department will continue to support BIS assessors, strengthening the community they have built, sharing information with them and continuously improving the process based on their feedback.

Action 7: Corporate publishing activities of all 24 central government departments will move onto GOV.UK by March 2013, with agency and ALBs’ online publishing to follow by July 2014

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The BIS website went live on GOV.UK in December 2012. It will work with BIS partner organisations to plan the migration of their websites where exemptions have not been granted. BIS will help partners build the capability and resource needed for transition. BIS partners will themselves fund and manage the necessary editorial work.

Progress during 2013

BIS is continuing to work with its agencies and ALBs to migrate their websites to GOV.UK or to ensure the appropriate exemptions are agreed by the cross-government network of digital leaders. As part of this migration activity, BIS has been working with GDS to build capability on user needs and data analysis across BIS and its agencies and ALBs.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will complete the transition of websites for its agency and ALBs to GOV.UK in 2014 and support GDS in making further design and content improvements to ensure user needs (business, students and learners, employees and consumers) are fully met through GOV.UK. BIS will continue to work with GDS to improve business content to ensure small and medium-sized enterprises are able to easily access the information, guidance and schemes needed to support the government’s objectives for economic growth.

Progress during 2014

Core content from all the department’s ALB and agency websites was moved to GOV.UK by the end of the year.

BIS conducted a joint evidence and expert content review exercise with GDS to agree an evidence base and opportunities for content developments on GOV.UK. An action plan was agreed and will be implemented in 2015.

A postcode filter was added to the Business Finance and Support Finder tool in October 2014 to make it easier for businesses to find relevant schemes. The number of schemes presented was reduced by 21% (through consolidation and by removing duplication).

Planned activities in 2015

In 2015 BIS will work with GDS to review campaign websites. It will continue to work with partners to develop their digital publishing capabilities.

It will continue to work with policy colleagues within the department and GDS to develop GOV.UK content as new policies are made and developed.

Action 8: Departments will raise awareness of their digital services so that more people know about them and use them

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

BIS will improve the usability of existing digital services to improve customer satisfaction (programmes are underway in the SLC and Companies House). It will also provide digital services where they do not currently exist (eg for many Insolvency Service and IPO transactions) as well as promoting digital channels to customers and stakeholders.

Progress during 2013

The exemplar services offer a range of opportunities to expand the usability and profile of digital services. In addition there has been work across BIS agencies and ALBs to improve services and increase digital take up. For example, Companies House is planning to reach 100% digital service enablement and the Research Councils are developing a common web platform to make it easier for users to access their services.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will continue to work with GDS and the exemplar services as they progress through their alpha and beta stages into live running. The department will use these to inform the development and enhancement of digital services across BIS and its agencies and ALBs. BIS will support a network of service managers and senior leaders to raise awareness and share digital knowledge and skills. This will help drive an ambitious programme for digital transformation within the context of wider strategic challenges for BIS and its agencies and ALBs.

Progress during 2014

BIS worked with GDS in its 5 exemplar organisations to ensure the shift to digital services was in line with government strategy and policy.

BIS ensured its network of partner organisations also had access to the latest policy positions and thinking. This included channel shift through consultation and using the BIS Digital Leaders Forum.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will form a clearer view of potential benefits arising from a shift to digital services. It will work with colleagues across Finance and Commercial Group, including the BIS Major Portfolio Assurance team, to validate these savings. It will use the digital roadmap to achieve this across BIS organisations.

Action 9: We will take a cross-government approach to assisted digital

This means that people who have rarely or never been online will be able to access services offline, and we will provide additional ways for them to use the digital services.

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

BIS will identify what assisted digital provision users need in each digital by default project, starting with the 4 exemplar projects identified in its strategy. It will then determine the right alternative channel for assisted digital delivery. It will reuse existing contracts for external assisted digital provision where appropriate. The department will encourage government to use existing assets for assisted digital including Post Offices, Citizens Advice and UK Online Centres.

Progress during 2013

The BIS exemplar services are working closely with GDS to further develop assisted digital, identifying requirements and the potential demand to develop schemes. The Insolvency Service exemplar is currently developing a user journey for its assisted digital customers. SLC has been exploring options with the Post Office, libraries and Citizens Advice to extend their assisted support beyond universities and colleges. More broadly, the Post Office supports the assisted digital agenda across government in many ways, from its support of Go ON UK to the work it does with other government departments.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will continue to work with the exemplars to ensure that all assisted digital requirements are met. BIS will ensure that the expertise and support offered by the expanded Assisted Digital team in GDS is made full use of in 2014. It will continue to contribute to the cross-government Assisted Digital Programme Board to work collaboratively and share knowledge on this agenda.

Progress during 2014

BIS and some of its exemplars participated in cross-government assisted digital workshops, helping to shape cross-government policy and strategy.

Information on assisted digital was shared with the BIS Service Assessors Group, across BIS via internal communications and through the Digital Leaders Forum.

The Head of Assisted Digital at GDS attended the first BIS Digital Leaders Forum in June to talk about the assisted digital approach. GDS ran a session at the BIS Digital Fortnight on assisted digital and digital inclusion.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will continue to influence and respond to assisted digital strategy and policy. It will implement approaches designed to work well for the customer and wider business.

It will continue to build assisted digital capability within partner organisations so those who need support receive it.

Action 10: Cabinet Office will offer leaner and more lightweight tendering processes, as close to the best practice in industry as our regulatory requirements allow

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

BIS welcomes the support that Cabinet Office and GDS will provide to departments on tendering and procurement. BIS also strongly supports this initiative as it will help support a vibrant information economy, one of the government’s strategic sectors to support our growth agenda.

Progress during 2013

BIS has continued to support GDS in simplifying the tendering process and are keen to make use of the new processes GDS puts in place in order to more easily procure the services needed to support our digital transformation.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will continue to communicate changes and support the sharing of good practice across BIS and its agencies and ALBs.

Progress during 2014

BIS encouraged its partner organisations to use the Digital Marketplace and continued to support services to procure the right provider via the right frameworks.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will continue to encourage use of the Digital Marketplace across BIS organisations. Through its enhanced central team, it will support partner organisations to get the right contracts in place to deliver effective digital services.

Action 11: Cabinet Office will lead in the definition and delivery of a new suite of common technology platforms which will underpin the new generation of digital by default services

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

BIS welcomes the support from Cabinet Office and GDS on common technology platforms. An effective and customer-centric approach to identity assurance for businesses will help with digitisation of business services.

Progress during 2013

BIS has continued to work with GDS in developing a cross-government approach to identity assurance. Companies House, for example, has supported GDS in developing the Identity Assurance Good Practice Guide and is also successfully working with GDS and HMRC on one of the identity assurance alpha projects. SFA is similarly working with GDS to meet their identity assurance requirements for the National Careers Service.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will continue to work with GDS and across other government departments to support development of a government-wide identity assurance solution for both individuals and business, ensuring outcomes are shared across the departments and partner organisations.

Progress during 2014

BIS promoted the identity assurance platform to exemplar and partner organisations represented on the BIS Digital Leaders Forum and discussed this at the September BIS Digital Leaders meeting.

BIS also encouraged partner organisations with larger transactional services to use the Performance Platform, and discussed its use at the July BIS Digital Leaders Forum.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will ensure its larger transactional services are on the Performance Platform.

BIS and partner organisations will have established a detailed technology roadmap to support digital services that allow common platform opportunities to be identified and developed.

Action 12: Cabinet Office will continue to work with departments to remove legislative barriers which unnecessarily prevent the development of straightforward and convenient digital services

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

BIS are aware of few significant legislative barriers to achieving digital by default for our services. It will work with Cabinet Office to identify any legislative barriers, in particular as they rebuild services to be digital by default.

Progress during 2013

BIS has been working with GDS to overcome any legislative barriers to making our services digital by default. For example, SLC is looking at options for the “wet signature” required on the online loan declarations and Land Registry is working with the Law Society to review requirements under the Property Act and Land Registration Act and Rules.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will continue to work with GDS to overcome any legislative barriers which arise.

Progress during 2014

BIS did not have any significant legislative barriers to overcome in 2014.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will work with GDS to remove any legislative barriers to digital delivery.

Action 13: Departments will supply a consistent set of management information (as defined by the Cabinet Office) for their transactional services

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

BIS partner organisations with high-volume transactions have processes in place for gathering management information. BIS will work with GDS to refine the set of management information and extend reporting further where required. The department will ensure all BIS exemplar services, and those subsequently redesigned, include automated management information reporting as part of the project requirements.

Progress during 2013

BIS has worked with GDS and its agencies and ALBs with high-volume transactions to refine the processes for gathering management information. As part of delivering the exemplar services, relevant management information is being identified and gathered in order to assess and improve services. SLC is currently working with the GDS Performance Platform team to ensure its service metrics are readily available and useable to drive service improvements.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will work with its agencies and ALBs to ensure, where appropriate, a consistent set of management information is available, covering rates on:

• user satisfaction
• transaction success
• costs per transaction
• digital take up

BIS will encourage agencies and ALBs to work with GDS on performance dashboards for their transactional services and will build on opportunities available to share usability suites across the BIS network to increase the customer insight and data analytics available.

Progress during 2014

BIS consistently provided management information in a timely manner, actively encouraging the activity of partner organisations.

It increased the number of services providing data each quarter over the course of the year and encouraged relevant partner organisations to use the Performance Platform.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will continue to provide management information in a timely and consistent manner. It will encourage partner organisations to provide data in a consistent and timely manner and work with GDS to solve any issues throughout the year.

Action 14: Policy teams will use digital tools and techniques to engage with and consult the public

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

BIS will build on existing successful examples of online, open policy making so all policy teams are able to use digital tools to support their policy work. By 2013 all BIS policy teams are expected to be listening to audiences online and engaging where appropriate. It will publish case studies of good digital tools and techniques being used to improve policy making.

Progress during 2013

BIS has published a number of case studies showing how digital tools and techniques have been used in improving policy making. BIS has also worked with its policy teams to build their skills, enabling them to use a variety of digital tools. There is a dedicated champions’ network of senior leaders who help spread digital good practice. A successful Digital Fortnight was run within the department and brought in experts and practitioners from across government and the private sector to discuss and encourage the adoption of digital services and tools.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will continue to build digital awareness and skills across the department and its partner organisations. With the support of both the BIS digital leader and the policy Head of Profession, the department will:

• continue to embed the use of digital within policy making
• identify further opportunities to improve the end-to-end policy process from inception to implementation
• will continue to hold digital surgeries to support staff in using digital tools across the department

Progress during 2014

BIS has increasingly used digital channels to inform policy, using new tools such as Citizen Space to increase reach and response.

Examples include Consumer Rights Reform, where an extensive stakeholder exercise used digital channels such as a microsite blog to consult on an ambitious reform of consumer law. In October, a consultation on regulations around new laws to protect consumers from rogue traders was launched using Twitter and Flickr. BIS’s ‘tweetreach’ now exceeds 1 million accounts.

Midata Innovation Lab was a short project to create an environment where businesses, regulators, consumer groups and government could collaborate to create apps and services by harnessing personal data. Twenty-six organisations joined the lab, donating their time, effort and expertise in return for the insights it would give them. It ran in an agile way, focusing on joint, speedy decision-making and practical deliverables. Five prototype apps were mocked up using dummy data to illustrate future potential. BIS will explore how the lab could be established on a more permanent basis.

Over 50 staff are now engaging online on a regular basis on Twitter, with many more active on LinkedIn and other social media channels.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will continue to encourage the use of digital in policy making throughout the department. The Digital Communications and Engagement team will continue to provide weekly digital surgeries, and support and promote the work of senior digital advocates across BIS.

Action 15: Collaborate with partners across public, private and voluntary sectors to help people go online

Action 15 was added to the Digital Strategy in December 2013, so reporting on departments’ actions will begin with 2014.

Progress during 2014

BIS is a member of the Digital Inclusion Sub-Group of Digital Leaders and has established a monthly meeting with GDS attended by a range of digital inclusion interests across BIS.

It provided funding of £100,000 in 2013 to 2014 and 2014 to 2015 to support the Digital Inclusion team and its activities. BIS funded 2 basic digital skills programmes in 2014 to 2015. Around £3 million is allocated to provide basic digital skills training in the financial year 2014 to 2015.

BIS and the National Offender Management Service created a virtual campus to help prisoners develop the skills they need to become more employable in an increasingly digital world.

Planned activities in 2015

The enhanced BIS Digital and Technology Transformation Team will support BIS policy colleagues to ensure that digital inclusion is considered as part of all policy making. BIS will also identify a digital inclusion advocate at senior civil servant level to help drive this forward.

Action 16: Help third party organisations create new services and better information access for their own users by opening up government data and transactions

Action 16 was added to the Digital Strategy in December 2013, so reporting on departments’ actions will begin with 2014.

Progress during 2014

BIS promoted this to the 5 exemplar organisations and the wider partner organisations.

The Shareholder Executive started a public engagement exercise to ascertain SME and developer awareness of data held by organisations such as Companies House, the Land Registry, the Met Office and Ordnance Survey. The consultation aimed to identify any issues, and provide information to help establish ways for SMEs and developers to access Public Data Group data more easily.

Planned activities in 2015

BIS will continue to promote this within the department and across BIS organisations.