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Government’s digital approach has lost momentum - News from Parliament - UK Parliament

Science and Technology Select Committee report on “Digital Government" 10th July

 

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"Rt Hon Norman Lamb MP, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, said:

‘The potential that digital Government can bring is huge: transforming the relationship between the citizen and the State, saving money and making public services more efficient and agile. However, it is clear that the current digital service offered by the Government has lost momentum and is not transforming the citizen-State relationship as it could.

‘Single unique identifiers can transform the efficiency and transparency of Government services. The Government should ensure there is a national debate on single unique identifiers for citizens to use when accessing public services along with the right of the citizen to know exactly what the Government is doing with their data. In the UK, we have no idea when and how Government departments are accessing and using our data. We could learn from the very different relationship between citizen and the state in Estonia.

‘As well as a lack of leadership, we also heard of skill shortages and legacy systems, which increase the risk of cyber security attacks. But addressing these challenges requires money and the Government must be willing to invest to save in the future.

‘The Government must re-address its approach to digitisation quickly if it wants to retain public trust and its envied position on the world stage.’"

From "Government’s digital approach has lost momentum - News from Parliament - UK Parliament".

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