Investment in modern tools key enabler of digital innovation in government
Investment in modern tools and platforms and associated training are considered critical to enabling governments to capitalise on digital and data for innovation, according to civil servants surveyed by Global Government Forum.
The findings are from GGF research based on presentations and discussions at its Innovation 2025 conference held in London in March, as well as a survey of over 300 UK delegates – drawn from more than 3,500 event registrants.
The vast majority (87%) of respondents cited investment in modern tools and platforms and training on how to use these tools effectively as essential or very important to making the most of digital and data to drive innovation.
Some stressed the need for better tool suitability. One said it is “extremely important to ensure that the current digital tools we are using are fit for purpose and work,” while another argued that “government should be willing to build systems from scratch… if bespoke systems are required, they should be built”.
Ensuring data security and privacy compliance is also seen as critical, with 52% ranking it as essential.
One respondent noted: “We still seem to be too nervous about data security to use it proactively in support of problem solving and whether we use the right data in the first place is another issue.” Another suggested a path forward: “By the time we are talking about data sharing between departments we are potentially already failing to recognise small adaptive changes at team and function level. Start small, share models across departments.”
Breaking down data silos between departments is another high priority, with almost half of participants deeming it essential. Leadership prioritising digital transformation is similarly regarded as vital, with four in ten viewing it as essential for fostering innovation.
While clear data-sharing policies and guidelines are important, they are seen as slightly less critical, with 39% marking them as essential. Access to shared data across departments and open data initiatives for external collaboration are considered important, though less critical.
There was some concern that digital is often seen as the default solution, while deeper issues – such as poor collaboration, limited training and underused existing tools – go overlooked. As one put it: “The potential risk is that every problem is seen to need a digital solution.” Another noted: “Typically we only use a small proportion of the functionality of any tool… Being trained to exploit what we have would be eye-opening.”
Read more: Research identifies top skills that support innovation in government
What’s slowing down digital
Sarah Munby, permanent secretary at the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said there are strong foundations in the UK government but a state of digital review in January revealed “really concerning” findings such as under-digitisation and falling public satisfaction.
She identified three root causes: talent, system fragmentation, and processes.
The review found that many public organisations are building their own digital solutions for common needs, which wastes money, complicates services for citizens and stifles innovation. “We’ve begun working really, really closely with the commercial function… but we need to go much further,” Munby said, urging collaboration across silos to meet government missions.
Read more: Leadership ranked as the most critical factor for government innovation
She stressed that transformation requires leaders to be followers too: “Sometimes it is about finding the places where we can operate together and being prepared to do things one way, consistently designed around the citizen.”
Finally, Munby highlighted how traditional models that favour short-term upfront financing over long-term investment in systems that can evolve over time result in outdated legacy technology. The government is introducing more agile, staged funding for digital and AI projects.
She warned too that there can be too much focus on “novelty” and getting funding for the next new programme: “I want us to ask ourselves, collectively: where are we simplifying the castle as well as building new turrets upon it?”
Insights from government digital leaders
In a panel session on making innovation happen, Richard Puttick, chief information officer for Defence Support in the UK Ministry of Defence, emphasised that successful innovation often comes from those closest to the problems, not top-down directives, and that leadership’s role is to provide the right tools and support.
He gave one example where a senior Royal Navy engineer took the lead in rolling out a complex data mining tool, sponsoring hundreds of staff through a boot camp. While only a few fully adopted the tool, those who did produced highly valuable insights. He said this illustrates that enabling and upskilling internal staff is key and that “you can’t predict where innovation is going to happen; you’ve just got to lay the groundwork so that people can realise it themselves”.
The second example involved a small team that provide innovation services across a wide range of units in defence. They started with robotic process automation and evolved into AI and process engineering. This highlighted the benefit of collaborating across departments and sharing resources.
Puttick said: “They had a central grouping of skills – a small team, but a knowledgeable team – dedicated towards innovation. And instead of me spinning off a separate group of people to do innovation in my part of the forest and similarly, other people doing innovation in their part, we’ve actually focused on using resources elsewhere in the department effectively.”
“Don’t fragment and build the skills” was his advice.
Read more: Global Government Forum research reveals the top factors that enable civil service innovation
Transformation not technology
John Laverick, chief digital and information officer at the UK’s HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), reflected on an eight-year transformation journey at HMCTS away from being a paper-based organisation using technologies such as AI and robotic process automation, as well as low code development.
However, he warned against conflating technology and transformation.
“One of the real mistakes we made in our reform programme was treating it as a technology programme – it was a business transformation programme,” he said.
He urged against approaching new technologies like AI with the mindset of chasing “shiny” new trends and instead stressed the importance of addressing business problems first.
Leanne Cummings, director, products and services, UK Government Digital Service, highlighted the GOV.UK Chat tool which allows citizens to ask complex questions and receive answers in their own language. This innovation was built upon prior work involving data science and large language models.
The tool’s success was made possible by cross-departmental cooperation, with agencies like HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Business and Trade all contributing.
“Innovation is not an event; it’s a thing that we do,” she said.
Download the report for the full survey results and a summary of examples showcased throughout the event.
About Sarah Wray
Sarah has over 15 years’ experience as a journalist with a specialism in the public sector and topics such as digitalisation and climate action. Sarah was formerly the editor of Cities Today and Smart Cities World, as well as a specialist video-based publication in the aerospace sector. She has also written for publications including Smart Cities Dive, Mobile Europe, Mobile World Live and Computer Weekly.
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