A Digital Strategy for Parliament

Rob Greig Director of the Digital Service   

We will see further exponential change between now and 2020

Digital technology will cease to be a separate and distinct domain“We won’t think about going online or looking on the internet for something - we’ll just be online, and just look”.Joe Touch , director - USC Information Sciences Institute

There will be an exponential growth in BIG dataFree access to ‘open data’ will increase

“This will change how we think about people, how we establish trust, how we negotiate change, failure and success”.Judith Donath, fellow at Harvard University

Technology will provide new ways to harness the crowd

“This will change a lot of social practices such as dating , job hunting and professional networking and gaming as well as policing and espionage”.Daren C. Brabham, a professor at the Annenburg School for communication and journalism USC

We will be using devices that don’t even exist today

“The most significant impact of the Internet is getting us to imagine different paths that the future may take. These paths help us to be better prepared for the long-term contingencies; flexible enough to accommodate change”.Sonigitu Asibong Ekpe, Agecare Foundation

Everything will be connected to the Internet

“We are truly going through a paradigm shift. The greatest impact of the Internet is what we are already witnessing, but it is going to accelerate”.Nishant Shah, professor, Centre for Digital Culture at Leuphana University, Germany

Linear TV will not exist like it does today

“We’ll free them (the YouTube generation) from the conventional commissioning process and encourage them to experiment and make original online content so they can inform, educate and entertain each other”.Tony Hall, Director General BBC

”The internet has fundamentally changed the structure of all organisations and industries” Mike Bracken

[T]echnology in itself is not a panacea and it will not effectively correct poor existing practices…we need to look beyond new digital tools to existing processes that do and do not work, and then critically explore how technology can help us to make democracy work better.”

The Democratic Society

As a member I want a digital strategy so that  I have a clear sense of how digital technology can help me to be more effective in my role

As a member of administrative staff I want a digital strategy so that it can support my decision making and help me meet my objectives

As a member of the Digital Service I want a digital strategy so that I know what my priorities are and how can help meet the strategic objectives of both Houses

As a member of the public I want a digital strategy so that I can see how Parliament plans to take advantage of digital technology and have confidence that tax payers money is being spent effectively

3 Things to remember

1. This is a digital strategy for Parliament

3. The strategy is about change and will change

2. The strategy must deliver

Excellent digital services

for a modern Parliament

Aspirations1. Secure technology that works2. Good customer service3. Digital capability4. Transparent, open and inclusive5. Effective 6. Efficient, reducing cost7. Business enabling8. Digital by default

Principles1. Start with user needs 2. Focus on our core work 3. Be where people are 4. Continuous iteration 5. Simplicity6. Unity without uniformity 7. Collaboration culture8. Open9. Experts in what we do