public sector
RIP DSIT: Digital transformation duties shuffle off to reborn DCMS, with GDS along for the ride
The UK government is scrapping the department charged with leading digital and tech change across the public sector.The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) – created by former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – will see its responsibilities split among other departments after Science Secretary Liz Kendall was axed by new Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is set to become the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and reports suggest it will take over responsibility for digital transformation in government from the disbanded DSIT.
After the Labour government took office in 2024, it moved the Government Digital Service (GDS) and the Central Digital and Data Office from the Cabinet Office to DSIT. They now appear likely to find a new home in DCMS.
The new round of musical chairs may be an unwelcome distraction for the team. GDS is responsible for setting the digital strategy and managing digital performance for government. For example, 18 months after it moved to DSIT, GDS launched a "roadmap for modern digital government."It promised to harness AI for the public good and to strengthen digital public infrastructure. It also said it would redesign digital public services for people and businesses "by setting high standards and working together as one public sector."However, a recent select committee report noted that although the government set out its intention to make the UK "a truly digital state," it had not "set out what this means in detail or in practice and there is no clear plan to translate this vision into a reality."
