Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Accepted
Government faces urgent need to develop digital skills for future and address legacy systems
Recommendation
Government faces uncertain but profound technological changes, particularly around artificial intelligence, and recognises that it rapidly needs to develop the skills to deliver the next generation of programmes for digitally enabled change. At the same time, it needs to bring the skills of its people up to an acceptable standard to enable them to successfully deal with historic programmes and challenges from its legacy digital environment. GDS told us that often the challenges relating to legacy systems, and the ability to meet them, were not evenly distributed. It explained that some of the areas with the biggest challenges are often the teams who did not have the scale or skills to address them.24
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, committing to actions by December 2025 to develop digital skills and address capability gaps. These include the DCCoE leading the development of a category-based skills structure, testing a proof of concept, and establishing a Commercial IT Directors Group.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3.1 The government agrees with the committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2025 3.2 The government will progress the following actions which we will be able to update the PAC on in December 2025. 3.3 Following publication of the NAO Report and to support the Committee’s recommendation the following actions are being taken forward to address capability gaps and increase skills across government. • The Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence (DCCoE) will lead the development of a category-based structure to unify digital skills and capabilities to commercial technical skills. • The proof of concept will be tested through the Central Buying project for the delivery of Cloud and End User Devices and iterated to ensure wider adoption can be achieved. • A Commercial IT Directors Group will be set up to ensure that thought leadership, capability, knowledge, and insights can be shared to support the delivery of increased capability, and the targets set out in the Blueprint for a modern digital government. 3.4 GCF Capability, working with DCCoE, have agreed a strategic approach and baselined current capability levels, and identified available current training provision that will raise capability for those GCF individuals who are not currently at the expert level (see response 4.2 below).