Corporate report

MOD'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)

The Director, Transformation (shortly to become Director, Defence Strategy) was appointed as digital leader on May 2012 with access to board members, to ensure that digital enjoys a high profile within the department as part of the transformation programme.

Progress during 2013

Director, Defence Strategy, the departmental digital leader, has successfully raised the profile of digital across the department. This is reflected in the chief information officer’s ICT transformation plan, which was presented to the department’s new information board.

Planned activities in 2014

The departmental digital leader will establish and chair a Digital Champions group to support implementation of Digital in Defence. He plans to submit a report on progress to defence board members on the first anniversary of the Digital in Defence publication.

Progress during 2014

Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) digital leader is represented on MOD’s 4 star (permanent secretary level) information board. The digital leader worked with MOD’s chief information officer (CIO) to ensure MOD’s future technology roadmap included collaborative tools such as enterprise social media.

The digital leader led by example by writing a popular internal blog, actively participating in social channels (eg Yammer) and taking part in technology pilots.

MOD now have a Digital Transformation team. They began a new stakeholder engagement programme, designed to raise awareness and knowledge of digital across the wider defence organisation.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will refresh the digital roadmap that determines future digital activities.

It will establish an initial ‘Digital Operating Model’ for defence.

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)

MOD is in the process of recruiting a service manager who is suitably skilled and experienced to take forward and implement the redesign of services handling over 100,000 transactions.

Progress during 2013

A new Digital Transformation team, reporting to Director, Defence Strategy, is being recruited to form part of the Defence Reform Unit.

Planned activities in 2014

The Digital Transformation team will lead implementation of Digital in Defence. This includes providing digital services to the public and stating the user requirements for providing digital internally and externally. This will be undertaken by a virtual team that encompasses staff from the CIO, Information Systems and Services, Directorate of Media and Communications (DMC) and contractors as necessary.

The Director of Defence Strategy will work closely with the new director general-level CIO to carry out the digital transformation plan.

Progress during 2014

MOD conducted a survey on transactional services. This identified a number of MOD services potentially suitable for redesign.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will confirm a set of services for redesign, informed by using the results of the survey on transactional services. It will discuss how this will happen with Government Digital Service (GDS) and service owners.

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

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The DMC will create and empower a central hub of excellence for ‘super users’ with advanced digital skills and knowledge, The DMC will do so by merging the Defence Online Engagement and Web Governance groups to establish the digital hub for all defence directorates and sub-organisations.

MOD is working with Human Resources Directorate to plan and develop new digital skills training, work-based learning opportunities and a mentoring programme for senior civil servants. It’s also reviewing the programme of training and education of all defence staff to include cyber skills, information security handling and acceptable and responsible use of social media.

Progress during 2013

The Defence Web and Online Engagement group has been established. This new centre of best practice brings together digital and social media expertise around defence organisations and meets on a quarterly basis.

Work is also underway with human resources to determine digital skills training, with a review of training on personal use of social media.

Planned activities in 2014

MOD will run social media and digital literacy training across the entire Defence Communications Directorate to address the shortfall in digital capability among communications staff at all grades. This will run as a pilot study in concert with the new Digital Transformation team.

Progress during 2014

MOD’s first digital head of profession was appointed in May. MOD completed early scoping work on establishing digital as a profession in defence.

The Director of Defence Communication established a digital skills training programme. The programme is for all civilian and military communications personnel and is part of a digital first reorganisation of defence communications.

MOD conducted a survey of the department’s digital skills capability and requirement. The survey showed that MOD’s digital skills gap has increased. The gap could be explained by a sharper focus on what constitutes digital skills and a better evidence base.

MOD developed and advertised a Digital Skills and Literacy resource in September, aimed at improving the basic digital skills of all MOD staff and developing digital professionalism in MOD. Using this in an internal blog post they challenged MOD staff to analyse their own digital skills. Defence Equipment and Support has started a digital buddies scheme, which aims to improve digital literacy among staff.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will use flexible collaboration tools to improve the way defence staff work.

MOD will establish a digital professionalism programme for all defence staff. The programme will include job codes, career pathways and self-assessment tools

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

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Not applicable but will form part of the work to support Government Digital Strategy action 3.

Progress during 2013

MOD has supported the work by Cabinet Office to raise digital capability across departments.

Planned activities in 2014

MOD will continue to support the work by Cabinet Office to raise digital capability across departments.

Progress during 2014

MOD provided placements for Digital and Technology Fast Stream civil servants within the department.

MOD has advertised cross-government digital courses to its staff.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will continue to work closely with GDS to build staff skills and capabilities.

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)

MOD will report against the criteria as set out in the Digital Efficiency Report for those sub-organisations that offer in excess of 100,000 transactions; and implement change to processes that will facilitate the delivery of relevant information.

Progress during 2013

Work has been delayed until appointment of the Digital Transformation team.

Planned activities in 2014

The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency will be reporting against criteria for those transactions in excess of 100,000. A service manager will be appointed to support the redesign of new services for veterans when the Digital Transformation team is established.

Progress during 2014

MOD’s Defence Business Services created HR e-forms and introduced HR self-service for the department. The forms include help prompts and built-in data validation which has reduced errors and helped improve data quality. This project received an internal Digital Innovation award.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will continue to redesign and digitise defence transactions and information.

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)

The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA) will be the trailblazing part of MOD in the redesign and digitisation of services (replacing old services where necessary). It will focus on the needs of our veterans and their families, in keeping with GDS standards and criteria.

Progress during 2013

Work on service transformation has been delayed until appointment of the Digital Transformation team.

Planned activities in 2014

A service manager will be appointed to support the redesign of new services for veterans run by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency when the Digital Transformation team is established.

Progress during 2014

MOD briefed commissioners of transactional services to ensure that new and redesigned transactional services met the service standard wherever appropriate.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will support its services to meet the standard.

MOD will ensure government online services and information fulfil the Armed Forces Covenant.

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

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The DMC will migrate defence corporate content from www.mod.uk to GOV.UK and provide support to sub-organisations in their transition to the same platform. The SPVA will complete the transition of the Veterans-UK information portal to GOV.UK. DMC will facilitate and close outstanding defence websites and migrate to GOV.UK. DMC will establish a new publishing model for future defence communications and exploit the opportunity offered by GOV.UK.

Progress during 2013

MOD has completed the migration of most of the department’s website content to GOV.UK, including management of an intensive exemptions process. This is complete and the MOD website has been closed.

Planned activities in 2014

Further transitions to the GOV.UK platform are now at hand for MOD arm’s length bodies (ALBs). A new Director for Media and Communications has joined MOD to deliver a re-structured directorate that will embed digital and social media in all its communications activities. He has conducted a review of digital capability within the DMC with a view to wholesale root and branch restructuring, placing the soon-to-be-launched Directorate of Defence Communications on a ‘digital first’ footing. He will be rolling out a new technological platform and process to support and deploy the ‘digital first’ policy within the re-structured directorate. This will see digital and social media activities embedded in all defence communications and a new digital measurement framework deployed.

Progress during 2014

By the end of December all MOD’s agency and ALBs will have transitioned to GOV.UK.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will review and improve its content on GOV.UK to continue to ensure it meets user needs.

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)

DMC will conduct a review of offline channels and traditional communications media, with a view to closing 90% of all traditional offline channels and plan for a shift to online or digital services.

Progress during 2013

An internal communications review was conducted with a number of printed magazines now only available online.

Planned activities in 2014

A new programme to develop the digital literacy of both military and civilian staff will be launched. It will draw on a range of training and education products from the Defence Academy, Civil Service Learning and other providers. This will be led by the new Digital Transformation team in conjunction with the Human Resources Directorate to focus on new business processes, in line with the Cabinet Office’s ‘The Way We Work’ programme.

Progress during 2014

MOD held its first ‘Digital Innovation’ awards in London to highlight achievements and defence digital services best practice. Winners included:

• a project which improved MOD’s online HR system (resulting in channel shift and fewer calls to an internal helpline)
• the use of a virtual learning environment to support military personnel through vital professional training

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will encourage service transformation and channel shift by repeating the Digital Innovation awards.

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)

For those defence audiences who are not online, such as some members of the veterans community, the SPVA will provide those unable to access digital with the means to do so with alternative support in collaboration with third sector organizations or other means of communications as an exception.

Progress during 2013

Work on this action has been delayed until the appointment of the Digital Transformation team.

Planned activities in 2014

Once the new Digital Transformation team is in place work will begin on exploring assisted digital options as an integral part of the transformation of services provided by Service Personnel and Veterans Agency.

Progress during 2014

Defence Business Services identified that its Welfare service (which includes a call centre) can provide targeted assisted digital support for veterans.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will plan how its Welfare service will be used to provide assisted digital support for veterans.

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)

MOD’s CIO will work to remove as many ICT barriers as possible, managing and upgrading the obsolete and incompatible technologies that make work in defence difficult and cumbersome. The Chief of Defence Material will stimulate the opportunity to place contracts and work with small to medium-sized enterprises, including the supply of modern digital services.

Progress during 2013

A new CIO has been appointed. The CIO’s ICT transformation plan was presented to the department’s new information board.

Planned activities in 2014

The CIO will be working closely with the digital leader to help deliver against the Government Digital Strategy. MOD has also:

• trialled cloud-based applications through the modernised staff suggestion scheme
• conducted a trial on the use of social media in the workplace, using the Yammer application
• completed a roll-out of Internet Explorer 8 as its default browser

It’s also close to being able to make Twitter, Yammer and Linkedin available through the Defence Information Infrastructure.

Progress during 2014

The department published revised internal guidance on the use of social media, for the first time explicitly allowing civil servants to use social media for work-related collaboration across organisation boundaries.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will use cloud-based services wherever applicable.

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)

MOD will share and, wherever possible, reuse common technology platforms for service recruit marketing.

Progress during 2013

A senior recruit marketing group has recently formed under the Director of Reserves Forces and Cadets, which will seek to ensure there is sharing of recruit marketing tools and technology where possible. A cross-government task force has been established to boost Public Sector Reserve recruiting. This is based upon the sharing of digital best practice and has been delivered almost entirely within the digital space.

Planned activities in 2014

MOD will continue to develop a tri-service ICT solution for recruiting applications and CRM, based on digital processes, delivered by Capita as a part of the Recruitment Partnering Project. A ‘Tiger Team’ led by the CIO will make recommendations on the future delivery of this, which will be developed throughout 2014.

Progress during 2014

The Defence Gateway achieved MOD accreditation for its secure hosting and cloud-based solutions. The gateway will be used by the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force to provide a range of shared services and solutions for intra-defence business and communication needs.

In July MOD announced a 2-year transformation programme to deliver modern, open and flexible IT support to defence activity. The first phase (to be completed by March 2015) includes better access to the internet, quicker log-on and log-off times, access to social media and more flexible solutions using Wi-Fi.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will develop a digital system for recruitment applications, and it will continue to take advantage of new common platforms.

It will complete the first phase of its transformation programme by March and the second phase by June.

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)

The SPVA and Defence Policy (remuneration policy team) are assessing what legislative barriers need to be removed from pensions and compensation legislation to permit digital by default access to services.

Progress during 2013

Work has been delayed until the appointment of the Digital Transformation team.

Planned activities in 2014

Once the Digital Transformation Team has been appointed MOD will assess any legislative barriers that may need to be removed to allow access to digital by default services.

Progress during 2014

MOD changed its internal IT processes and ways of working to make things more straightforward. This was linked to the new government classification system.

Planned activities in 2015

No requirement for legislative change has yet been identified. If any are identified by the development roadmap, MOD will work with Cabinet Office and interested parties to remove them where it can.

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)

The Finance and Military Capability area will embed the requirement to meet government standards for benchmarking, efficiency, sustainable development targets and business priorities and report on savings within the Defence Plan. They will develop coherence and efficiency in management information delivery to improve evaluation of service performance and costs.

Progress during 2013

Work has been delayed until the appointment of the Digital Transformation team.

Planned activities in 2014

MOD will develop management information to meet defined government standards.

Progress during 2014

MOD reported transaction data from the UK Hydrographic Office and Queen’s Harbour Master via GOV.UK.

Planned activities in 2015

Management information on major MOD services will be reported to the Cabinet Office as redesigned services are implemented.

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

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The DMC will involve a wider base of users more in debate and policymaking through the adoption of social media tools. DMC has developed guidelines and processes on the appropriate use and exploitation of social media, together with a communications campaign to ensure that members of the department do not misuse such media.

Progress during 2013

MOD launched a new internal awareness campaign to create better awareness of responsible use of social media. A Z-card and accompanying leaflet was produced together with the re-launch of the ‘Think Before you Share’ social media campaign.

Planned activities in 2014

MOD will continue to encourage and develop responsible and effective use of social media across the department.

Progress during 2014

MOD developed internal guidance on the use of enterprise social media.

MOD’s Armed Forces Covenant team used Facebook to consult with users and help shape their future service.

Planned activities in 2015

The digital team will continue to improve digital support to its defence policy teams.

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

MOD is investigating whether partner organisations can assist service personnel, families or veterans who do not have the skills or access to use digital services.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will continue to investigate whether partner organisations can assist service personnel, families or veterans who do not have the skills or access to use digital services.

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 departmentsí actions will begin with 2014.

Progress during 2014

MOD was one of the biggest contributors of public data sets on data.gov.uk.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will continue to explore with stakeholders and users ways to get value from defence data.