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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

The Defence digital strategy

Status: Closed Opened: 14 Oct 2022 Closed: 13 Apr 2023 15 recommendations 8 conclusions 1 report

The nature of modern warfare is changing, with access to and exploitation of information becoming a vital way of securing military advantage. But the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) digital estate includes many aged legacy systems, it is operating with poor data and it faces critical digital skills gaps. To address these challenges the MoD has …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence digital strategy HC 727 3 Feb 2023 23 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
1 Conclusion Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence digit… Acknowledged

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Defence (the Department) about the Defence digital strategy. The rapid advance of technology is changing the character of warfare, introducing a shifting and accelerating landscape of threats. The rapid deployment and …

Government response. The government acknowledges the committee's conclusion regarding the rapid advance of technology and its impact on warfare.
HM Treasury
14 Recommendation Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence digit… Acknowledged

The NAO report identified that Defence Digital’s project delivery has suffered from a lack of...

The NAO report identified that Defence Digital’s project delivery has suffered from a lack of skilled and experienced personnel, immature project controls, and a culture focused on the approvals process rather than outcomes.42 The Department accepted that its performance up to now is worrying and that it needs to up-skill …

Government response. The department already has key actions in place to improve its performance in delivering major digital programmes, including updating programme management policies, upskilling staff, and improving programme governance.
HM Treasury
15 Recommendation Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence digit… Acknowledged

Nonetheless, we challenged the Department on its need to get better at stopping and improving...

Nonetheless, we challenged the Department on its need to get better at stopping and improving failing digital programmes.47 The Department stated it had recently paused its core networks programme to make changes to its design before going out to the market.48 They also paused specific software components of the Morpheus …

Government response. The department already has key actions in place to improve its performance in delivering major digital programmes, including updating programme management policies, upskilling staff, and improving programme governance.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
14 Nov 2022 Charlie Forte · Ministry of Defence, David Williams CB · Ministry of Defence, Laurence Lee CMG · Ministry of Defence, Lieutenant General Tom Copinger-Symes CBE · Ministry of Defence View ↗