UK Civil Service Data Challenge finale to showcase transformation ideas
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The upcoming finale of the UK Civil Service Data Challenge will showcase ideas on how government can use data to deliver better services – and civil servants are now invited to attend.
Rescheduled as a result of the UK general election, this event will see which idea is selected by judges for further investment by partner NTT DATA UK and then, ultimately, implementation.
At the final of the third Civil Service Data Challenge on Tuesday 10 September in London, four teams of civil servants will pitch their ideas to the challenge’s sponsors and judges, who will then select this year’s winner.
Civil service leaders and digital and data professionals across government and the wider public sector are welcome to register for free. For all other enquiries, email us at [email protected].
Shortlisted projects for 2024
The finale of the 2024 Civil Service Data Challenge, which is run in collaboration between the Cabinet Office, Global Government Forum, NTT DATA and the Office for National Statistics, will hear from four projects that are looking at ways to improve how the UK government uses data – including deploying artificial intelligence.
An initial longlist of eight projects was compiled from the 98 submitted ideas in January, and this list was further narrowed to four finalists.
The shortlisted ideas are:
- Policy Summarisation with Gen AI. Submitted by the Home Office, this project proposes the use of generative AI to revolutionise how government departments create policy documents and summaries, enabling efficient roll-out of policy and equipping staff with the right tools.
- NHS Geospatial Planning Tool. Submitted by the Department of Health and Social Care, this idea plans to use open-source software and publicly accessible datasets to support NHS workers in planning visits to patients’ homes, reducing emissions through optimised travel planning and promoting high-quality care.
- Streamlining the NHS-DWP Death Data Exchange. Submitted by the Department for Work and Pensions, this would automate how data is shared between the NHS and DWP to reduce duplication of civil servant workloads and reliance on legacy systems.
- Optimising Prison Space Management. Submitted by the Ministry of Justice, this idea would use algorithms and analytics to create a solution that predicts when and where prison spaces will become available to make better use of the current estate.
The panel of leading judges will then pick the winning project, which will receive £50,000 worth of technical support and the backing of senior leaders, pushing it down the road towards implementation.
The panel of judges is chaired by Vicki Chauhan, the head of public sector at data challenge knowledge partner NTT DATA UK & Ireland, and also includes Sue Bateman, chief data officer, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs; Simon Bourne, chief digital, data and technology officer, Home Office; Gina Gill, chief strategy officer, Central Digital and Data Office; Alison Pritchard, deputy national statistician and director general for data capability, Office for National Statistics; Aydin Sheibani, chief data officer, HM Revenue and Customs; and John Quinn, chief information officer, NHS England.
The challenge is sponsored by Cat Little, chief operating officer of the UK civil service and permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office, and Craig Suckling, the UK government’s chief data officer. Little will attend the finale, with a networking reception following the announcement of the winner.
How previous winners created new government services
Last year’s winner of the challenge, Project Heyrick, is focused on making better use of government information to identify and tackle modern slavery, while the winning project from 2022 made strides to protect the UK’s peatlands using innovative Generative Adversarial Networks.
Chauhan has said that the Civil Service Data Challenge has “achieved some remarkable things to date – tapping into the unrealised potential of the civil service workforce, providing a channel for good ideas to receive the attention and development they deserve”.
Read more: An ideas accelerator: how the UK’s Data Challenge built two new public services
About Richard Johnstone
Richard Johnstone is the executive editor of Global Government Forum, where he helps to produce editorial analysis and insight for the title’s audience of public servants around the world. Before joining GGF, he spent nearly five years at UK-based title Civil Service World, latterly as acting editor, and has worked in public policy journalism throughout his career.
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