Recommendation 22

Digital change requires specific ways of investing, funding and procuring digital services and requires upskilling and capability-building to introduce and adapt new approaches. Processes which work for other programmes are not always well-suited for digital programmes. But government central functions have not made significant progress in understanding what makes digital programmes different from infrastructure or construction programmes or reflecting this in policies and procedures which departments are required to follow.55 We heard that the Infrastructure and Projects Authority now includes a digital expert on review teams and reviews digital projects differently from other types of project.56 Nevertheless, the civil service is still quite generalist.57 All central functions should continue to engage with CDDO to address process challenges and shape the future of digital government.58