Written evidence submitted by Professor Tony Wall (DCG0014)

Inquiry: digital centre of government

Question: “What lessons are there for DSIT as it establishes the digital centre?”
 

Expertise

1. I, Tony Wall, am a Professor at Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University in the UK and a Distinguished Professor in Viet Nam. I am the Principal Investigator for a national-scale digital transformation capability development programme which is delivered in partnership between the UK and Viet Nam (named Đigi:Đổi Consortium, where Đổi means transformation in Vietnamese). This programme has been extended into two further International Science Partnership Funding projects involving experts in the UK, Viet Nam and Australia. I provide lessons from the collective programme of activity.

Introduction

2. According to the Network Readiness Index 2024[1], the UK is ranked 7th globally for the ‘people’ pillar but is ranked number 49th for the ‘individuals’ sub-pillar (which includes mobile broadband internet traffic, ICT skills in education, use of social networks etc at the individual level rather than businesses). Viet Nam, in comparison, is ranked 12th globally in the same subset. Viet Nam is also ranked 3rd globally for optical fibre internet subscriptions (ahead of the UK at 34th), 7th for mobile app development (ahead of the UK at 25th), and 13th globally for Government promotion of investment in emerging technologies (the UK is 7th).
3. Although Viet Nam is a lower-middle income country, it has experienced rapid economic growth and Government has prioritised significant investment in digital transformation[2]. This means the context of this evidence is similar to the UK in that there is policy flux and development.
4. This evidence relates specifically to the question: What lessons are there for DSIT as it establishes the digital centre? It draws specifically on the projects (indicated above) which have created national-scale impacts across Viet Nam, and which is underpinned in part by the UK’s digital agency for higher education and research infrastructure[3].

Lessons for the development of the digital centre

5. Taking an ecosystem perspective of digital transformation and policy formation[4]. To realise the ambitions of the digital centre, it will be important to consider the wider system in which it sits, notably, the wider digital cultures of the organisations with which the digital centre will interact. Public service organisations are currently facing significant financial challenges and whilst digital transformation can support this transition, it should be noted that interacting organisations will have highly variable skills and digital cultures. Experience from Viet Nam confirms a high variability of digital cultures, and so action plans need to flex to the broad range of needs during transition.
6. Functional utility of national as well as local-organisational champions with credibility and power to influence[5]. To facilitate the digital cultures required above, it is important that the digital centre has the power to enforce change at the local level of the interacting organisations, but that this needs to be balanced with the specific needs of those interacting organisations. An effective way of enabling this balance is through locally-based champions who can sponsor, champion, support and coordinate change related to digital transformation. Experience from Viet Nam confirms the strength of driving national-level change with a legitimate lead (who may not be a digital specialist) to encourage engagement alongside local-level digital specialists.
7. Co-design to ensure a development programme at scale[6]. A central aspect of encouraging buy in to policies and development programmes is co-design, bringing multiple stakeholders together. Experience from Viet Nam demonstrates that this is crucial in representing the diversity of organisations involved in the digital transformation eco-system. This included low-resource organisations in rural environments and high-resource organisations often seen as leading digital transformation nationally. It also included tech companies designing and developing systems on the open market, and in some cases, providing no-charge services as part of their commitment to social and economic development (above profit).
8. Distributed network of group mentoring opportunities reflecting local digital transformation needs. Evidence[7] highlights the high variability of organisational and geographic resources and experiences at the local level, which in turn means that organisational needs are highly varied. Evidence from Viet Nam highlights that group mentoring opportunities have been found to provide significant and sustainable support at the local level, enabling interacting organisations to develop their digital culture from their current level of maturity[8]. Individual mentoring may also provide an additional layer of support, but experience from Viet Nam suggests that group mentoring provides a greater sense of digital community.
9. Connecting agendas alongside recognition and reward systems to reflect the national value placed on individuals and leaders[9]. Beyond the digital centre, it is important to provide clear recognition and reward systems with/within interacting organisations, as this can underpin ongoing and longer term commitments to the development of digital cultures. Experience from Viet Nam suggests that without this, other agendas can be prioritised over the digital culture agenda, without a clear strategic linkage.

Recommendation

10. As the digital centre is established and then develops, it is recommended that the key lessons identified here are considered in relation to the wider ecosystem beyond the digital centre itself. This should be implemented through establishing organisational and national scale learning mechanisms to adapt to needs as technologies shape the digital ecosystem landscape.

01 March 2025