Written evidence submitted by Professor Amanda Taylor-Beswick (DCG0002)

Call for evidence: Digital centre of government

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the proposed Digital Centre of Government. I write as an academic and researcher specialising in digital development, professionalism, and transformation in social work and healthcare education and practice. My work embeds digital development into professional education programmes, ensuring that graduates understand the ethical implications of digital transformation and are equipped to procure and deploy technology in ways that enhance the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of health and social care services. I am committed to shaping digital education strategies across health, education, social work, and allied professions, ensuring that technological advancements drive practice innovation and improve outcomes for patients, students, and service users.

My response has a health and social care education and practice focus, and is based on the belief that professional education programmes require support to further modernisation, including regulatory support and oversight, to ensure graduate practice readiness and real-world relevancy of those qualifying into these respective fields is achieved.

The ‘A blueprint for modern digital government’ (2025) and the ‘State of digital government review’ (2025) offer insights that support the contemporisation that I believe is necessary. For example:

• public sector digital teams will have the skills and support they need to build services that better echo people’s lives and real-world experiences: in healthcare; in education; and in national, local and devolved government.
• the need to raise the digital skills baseline for all public servants.
• for people to have the right skills and are enabled to work together across organisational boundaries.
• digital skills being seen as a specialism to an institutional understanding in every area of policy and service delivery.
• greater technological literacy at the top of public sector organisations to ensure that digital is not an add-on but a core skillset across the public sector.

A government digital centre, which includes a focus on professional education, has the potential to: 

• Leverage digital literacy, competency, and confidence among professionals, enhancing service quality and delivery. 
• Promote and upport the types of education programmes that develop practitioners who are equipped to promote equitable access to digital services, particularly for disengaged, vulnerable and marginalised communities. 
• Support the types of education programmes that develop practitioners who have the capabilities to ensure ethical and responsible data usage, and to build public trust in digital government initiatives. 
• Streamline public sector service provision, reducing administrative burdens and costs. 
• Establish a digital competency frameworks for social work, healthcare, and education, extending the DDaT framework. 
• Support the types of education programmes that offer digital knowledge and skills development, aligned to workforce retention and efficiency. 
• Embed digital ethics, data protection, and responsible AI integration in public sector practice. 
• Address the urgent need for digital upskilling in health, social work, and social care to prevent inefficiencies and inequalities, and increase quality.

The establishment of a digital centre is a significant opportunity to enhance public services, but its success hinges on greater engagement with frontline professionals, educators, and service users involvement, to support technology acceptance, adoption and practical alignment. An approach that is underscored by the belief that digital transformation efforts need to be workforce-focused and user-centred. By integrating digital literacy training, ethical data governance, and inclusive design, the government would ensure that digital advancements benefit professionals and citizens alike. It is important to consider the role and expertise of higher education in fulfilling government digital ambitions.

Dr Amanda M.L. Taylor-Beswick

Professor of Digital and Social Sciences,

Institute of Health,

University of Cumbria.

6 February 2025