- The UK National Audit Office believes that the government’s approach to technology suppliers is in need of centralized reform
- The current strategy is costing taxpayers billions and leaving UK infrastructure three decades out of date
- The Public Accounts Committee has also weighed in, claiming government agencies are not ‘smart customers’
In alarming but unsurprising news given its stance on artificial intelligence, the UK government has been accused of mismanaging its technology procurement processes by failing to assess technical risks, leading to bloated budgets affecting taxpayers and delays in implementation .
This is evident from the latest report (PDF, via The register) from the National Audit Office, the UK’s “independent public spending watchdog”.
Overseeing a number of projects including the National Law Enforcement Data Service and the Universal Credit benefits system, the NAO now estimates that the cumulative cost of projects has risen to over £3 billion and the UK has lost out on at least 29 years of modernisation.
The UK Government’s Technology Spending Strategy
The NAO believes that the pipeline of project proposals through to the award of contracts “[does] doesn’t work well for digital programs,” citing the fact “departments can present investment cases without a detailed assessment of technical feasibility,” along with a lack of central government guidance to address the problem.
“This results in limited technical evaluation of contracts with technical risks downplayed,” the report continues. “Complexities that arise after contracts are signed can be too fundamental to be handled through a change control process. An ill-defined requirement and an emphasis on acquiring the minimum requirement or cheapest resource.”
The NAO also criticized a lack of appreciation of the “complexity of the existing environment” and that a pressure to deliver on projects is speeding up the award of contracts.
Unsurprisingly, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Parliament’s own spending watchdog, has agreed that the system needs to change.
“Digital commercial skills are in short supply,” he said, “and the government is not leveraging the limited expertise it has. The government has mismanaged digital suppliers and the center of government has not provided direction to help departments become smart customers.”
Clifton-Brown also echoed the NAO’s call for a unified approach to suppliers. “Without a more strategic approach from the center and a sourcing strategy fit for purpose for the digital age, the government risks wasting more money and missing the opportunity to modernize the public sector.”
