In 2015, UK government call centres received hundreds of millions of calls about its 7,000+ government services. One in four of these calls was a request for an update on an application or appointment. This drove up call volumes, increased hold times, and was often a source of negative interaction between the public and the government. Worse, they cost the government millions of pounds.
Could the UK government develop a method to deliver trustworthy, accessible information quickly and securely across fragmented industries? What strategies could they use to create universal adoption? And perhaps most challenging: who would pay for it in a government structured around departmental silos? In this case study, we explore how the UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS) addressed a government-wide challenge by developing a modular digital infrastructure, focusing on how the team evaluated and made key decisions around scaling and financing a cross-government service. In doing so, we highlight the strategic choices and pivotal moments that shaped its success.
An online notebook