- The UK’s National Audit Office says the government’s approach to technology providers requires centralized reform
- The current strategy is costing taxpayers billions and leaving Britain’s infrastructure obsolete for three decades.
- The Public Accounts Committee has also spoken out, saying government departments are not “smart customers”.
In alarming but unsurprising news given its attitude towards artificial intelligence, the UK government has been accused of mismanaging its technology procurement processes by failing to assess technical risks, which which has led to overinflated budgets that impact taxpayers and delays in implementation.
This is what the latest report reveals (PDF, via The register) of the National Audit Office, the United Kingdom’s “independent watchdog for public spending”.
Monitoring a range of projects, including the National Law Enforcement Data Service and the Universal Credit benefits system, the NAO now estimates that the cumulative cost of the projects has increased to more than £3 billion, and that the UK has lost at least 29 years of modernization.
UK government technology spending strategy
The NAO estimates that the pipeline from project proposals to contract award “[does] does not work well for digital programmes,” citing the fact that “departments can submit investment cases without a detailed assessment of technical feasibility,” as well as a lack of guidance from central government to address the issue.
“This results in limited technical assessment of contracts, with technical risks minimized,” the report continues. “Complexities that arise after contracts are signed may be too fundamental to be addressed by a change control process. A poorly defined requirement and excessive emphasis on acquisition. the minimum requirement or the cheapest resource.
The NAO also criticized the lack of appreciation of the “complexities posed by the existing environment” and the fact that pressure to deliver projects rushes the award of contracts.
Unsurprisingly, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Parliament’s spending watchdog, agreed that the system needed to change.
“Digital business skills are in short supply,” he said, “and the government is not making the most of the limited expertise it has. The government has mismanaged digital providers and central government has failed to provide guidance to help departments become smart customers. “.
Clifton-Brown also echoed the NAO’s call for a unified strategy for approaching suppliers. “Without a more strategic approach to the center and a procurement strategy fit for the digital age, the government risks wasting even more money and wasting the opportunity to modernize the public sector.”
