GDS has blogged about the new strategy for GOV.UKand it has certainly got some tongues wagging. It has identified nine areas of focus for the next couple of years and at least two or three of them were inevitably going to controversial with the wider digital gov community here in the UK - especially the more...veteran...amongst us.

I'm not actually going to pick at the right and wrong of those nine priorities but I am going to ponder a bit on the way they were communicated and the consequences of them far beyond GDS.

The reality is that GOV.UK is the centre of digital universe here - it is the flagship service and starting point most user interactions. It is the brand. Significant changes to the approach and principles there effects digital teams everywhere in Government. I doubt there is a single product person in public service who hasn't had to work hard to hold the line against an ill-advised app ask over the years and that has just beome infinitely more difficult. Now I'm not saying an app is not the right move for GOV.UK - Tom wrote that 'not 'appy' blogpost a decade ago and a lot has changed - but what I am saying is making such a fundamental change needs more context than 'growth'.

This feels like such an opportunity to actually embrace 'make things open, it makes things better'. I absolutely trust there is work and evidence behind each of the nine items on the list. I'm not saying I'll agree with it but I am sure the teams involved could show their workings....and this would have made such a differnce. Why does GOV.UK specifically need an app? What has led the team to that decision. Or Video. Or emerging technology (just say AI ;) ).

Each item in the list of nine should link to a post of its own providing the why. What is the problem they are solving? Why this, why now? I suspect this exists internally. Make it open. Also publishing the blogpost without having the updated roadmap ready to go live at the same time was a bit of a stumble.

Honestly it has been 10 years, things do change and maybe it is time. Is it unfair to place an additional burden on GOV.UK to explain more than falls on other teams - maybe? But that is the price for being at the centre of everything.

There is no doubt that every DDaT team in Government is going to be having some different conversations with stakeholders as this strategy circulates and at present I'm not sure how prepared people are going to be for that.

Anyway.

Onwards.