Today saw the launch of the latest report (Online or in-line: the future of information and communications technology in public services) from the 2020 Public Services Trust, tackling the important topic of the role of information technology in improving the UK’s public services. The key recommendations are well-evidenced and certainly align with many of my own views on what is likely to be needed if public services are to be more citizen-focussed and productive.

The report also highlights a number of case studies from across the realms of community safety, young people, health, and the criminal justice system (including our work in the areas of Witness Appeal Mapping and Victim Case Updates on page 20). It was also great to see the Cardiff (non-reported violent crime) data-sharing example receive the recognition it deserves for demonstrating how informational barriers can be overcome to create new insight and unlock value.

If you’re interested in the future of public services the report deserves reading in full, but some highlights we’d like to pull out include:

• Digital public services become the norm: “Although many services will continue to support citizens in traditional ways, the default assumption must be that personalised, convenient and cost effective public services should – where possible, and as soon as possible – be delivered online.” (p.14)
• Citizens being asked to consent to more data sharing: “The full benefits of open access data can only be enjoyed if at some point the citizens whose use of services is captured in that data allow it to be shared.” (p.25)
• Central government stepping back from manufacturing ‘content’: “In terms of developing and applying the appropriate technology to achieve this, we believe that central government should (unless there is a clear case to the contrary) be limited to delivering what the market will not do. This mitigates the risk of heavy government involvement in online technologies.” (p.32)
• Finishing the job on Ordnance Survey: “Geo-data from maps is crucial to the benefit open data can provide. In 2010 the Government announced its intention to review the Ordnance Survey’s funding model, with a view to allowing it to offer its valuable mapping data freely. This would allow innovators and businesses to innovate and experiment with it (although larger organisations, like utilities, will still have to pay). The economic and social value of freely available mapping data vastly outweighs the financial revenue lost to the Treasury from providing it for free. It is imperative that this commitment is delivered.” (p.35)

The issues and recommendations raised in the report seem to go a long way to addressing the sorts of challenges all three sectors of the economy face when seeking to deliver more productive and responsive public services. The challenge is particularly acute for smaller organisations in the private and third sectors that are working to make a difference, this recent contribution to the discussion sums things up very well, giving examples from fishing licences to benefits calculators.

It is therefore great to see these issues getting the coverage and articulation they desperately need from an organisation such as the 2020 Public Services Trust, and with politicians of all parties (Labour, Conservative, Lib Dems) beginning to recognise the potential and necessary role of online services in helping to meet the challenges of the years ahead, it’s a timely contribution that really must not go un-noticed.