Written evidence submitted by AtkinsRealis (DCG0022)

AtkinsRealis are a global engineering company with a single purpose which is to ‘Engineer a better future for our planet and its people’. Here in the UK our Technology division works alongside our Infrastructure and Major Programme divisions to deliver engineering, technology and transformational consultancy solutions to our public and private sector clients. Typically we work in secure and highly regulated environments and across a broad range of services and with a breadth of partners and our supply chain. In this Call for Evidence, we refer to projects (such as the National Underground Asset Register) that we have worked on and where we have seen positive collaboration between Government and Industry in usage of digital technologies. We are submitting evidence against this requirement because we have insight into the work of DSIT from several of our consulting assignments and we are keen to support the Digital Centre in achieving its aims from the outset. We have tried to keep our response brief but if DSIT would like any further information on anything then please feel free to contact us.

Call For Evidence Questions

1. What benefits will a digital centre offer citizens?

• What benefits will a digital centre deliver to the UK economy?

AtkinsRéalis response: Government departments are each grappling with the concept of ‘digital’ and are attempting to define their own strategies for the introduction of new systems, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning. As a result there are limited opportunities for development of best practice, lessons learnt and collaboration around procurement. Potential benefits of an integrated digital centre which is set up to guide, govern and train departments in the rollout of digital technologies across Whitehall would be;

• Cost avoidance of each department taking its own steps to identify opportunities for and to deliver digital transformation.
• Decrease in overspend and waste from failed initiatives
• Increased visibility of how investments are being used which can drive improved prioritisation.
• Decreased costs due to single commercial arrangements with large tech suppliers rather than multiple small arrangements.

The UK public are seeing messaging around both the opportunities and threats around digital technologies, but it is not always clear that there is a joined-up approach to manage the threats and exploit the opportunities. A consistent approach to public engagement such as the one introduced by the NCSC and NPSA for cyber security would;

• increase trust across the public that the adoption of digital approaches is controlled.
• increase investor confidence that the UK is taking a robust approach.

• How effectively has the vision for a digital centre been communicated?
• AtkinsRéalis response: It is unclear what the overall reach and remit of the digital centre will be and whether it is primarily an oversight function or whether it will drive the delivery and adoption of digital technology. We feel that the centre will need to put significant effort into cross Whitehall and devolved authority and local government engagement.

2. What should be the priorities for the digital centre of government?

• Are there any areas of the public sector that are particularly suited to or in need of digital transformation?

AtkinsRéalis response:

• NHS trusts, local governments and police forces all share common challenges in managing budgets and resources which a standardised adoption of digital tools could support.
• Local Authority access to consistent data and information to support the planning process led by MHCLG for England and the Scottish and Welsh Governments
• National Resilience and emergency planning, from the Situation Centre to local resilience forums need up-to-date data on the natural and built environment including underground assets from NUAR.
• Has DSIT identified the right areas of public services with its initial five ‘kickstarter’ tests and products?
• AtkinsRéalis response: The kick-starters appear to be driven by high profile issues for which a digital solution appears to be the answer. Whilst there is nothing wrong with any of the proposals we would advocate taking a right to left view of the overall end goal that the Digital Centre is trying to reach, specifying the outcomes which are required to support that end goal and then mapping activities and initiatives which support the delivery of those outcomes. The disadvantage of the current projects is that they appear to be isolated initiatives which aim to address a particular issue – e.g. the scale of the welfare bill, the rise in fraud and drive to adopt Artificial Intelligence toolsets and may not add up to a coherent mandate or make it easy to quantify benefits or progress towards a desired end state.
• How should DSIT measure and evaluate the success of the digital centre?
• AtkinsRéalis response: As above. DSIT should identify its desired end goal(s) and what would need to be true for those goals to have been met (outcomes). This is fundamental to shaping a mandate for the Digital Centre which will then drive the Stakeholder Engagement. Then they need to identify the measures which could be used to determine that those outcomes have been achieved and take a baseline. Next, they should set targets for how much they need to influence those measures to meet the goals and establish those as the required benefits of the Digital Centre. After that the targets can be monitored via governance and reporting and success tracked accordingly. Utilising the best of agile approaches would allow the programmes to be structured in a way that allows for benefit delivery early and often.

3. What lessons are there for DSIT as it establishes the digital centre?

• Are there any case studies that the committee should consider as part of its inquiry?

AtkinsRéalis response:

• The National Underground Asset Register, The Greater London Authority London Data Hub, Data Map Wales
• The Centre should also integrate the learnings from the Centre of Digital Built Britian and incorporate the National Digital Twin Programme from DBT.
• The Centre should work closely with the emerging NISTA to align with the Construction Playbook, BIM mandate and Information Management Framework.
• The National Cyber Security Centres approach to public engagement.
• What lessons do previous and contemporary digital transformation initiatives offer for the digital centre?
• AtkinsRéalis response: How to engage industry partners successfully. Digital data and information is generated across the public and private sectors – any government led digital data sharing or transformation initiative must involve all parts of the private sector.
• What can the UK learn from other countries’ efforts?

AtkinsRéalis response:

• The Netherlands are the leading light in sharing national data for the natural and built environment.
• DSIT Geospatial have also established a global network of expertise in this field including representatives from Estonia, Singapore, HongKong and Australia.

4. What assessment can be made of DSIT’s work on establishing the digital centre to date?

• What technical and policy expertise does DSIT need to deliver the digital centre?

AtkinsRéalis response:

• The centre does need stakeholder engagement and communication specialists who are able to work across the entire machinery of government to ensure alignment of initiatives, understand the requirements of users, including the supply chain, and are able to develop a clear vision that gains traction across government.
• Technical expertise can be insourced, what is needed in the centre is leadership, strategy, collaboration, engagement and communication skills.
• The Centre should follow Government Office for Science advice on Systems and Future Thinking and develop a holistic view of the data sharing landscape, identify areas to intervene but also foresee unintended consequences and future trends.
• Are the technological solutions required for the digital centre already used by government and other public bodies? If not, are they available or in development?
• AtkinsRéalis response: Yes. The digital centre should focus on adoption of the technologies that already exist and raising the baseline of IT across the overall government digital estate rather than trying to get ahead of technology. (see notes about NUAR)
• How should DSIT and other public bodies leverage reforms to public procurement to deliver and operate the digital centre?

AtkinsRéalis response: Our belief is that DSIT would benefit from a procurement framework to enable them to procure industry support effectively. The Procurement Act resets the approach to public procurement and will allow DSIT to focus on a range of drivers to ensure benefits from industry partnership including Value for Money and delivery of Social Value obligations. It also allows for multi-partner eco-systems which allows DSIT an opportunity to set up partnerships with large partners but with a requirement that they engage small/medium enterprises. It also includes a range of procurement models which could provide DSIT with agility, speed and efficiency in their procurement.

5. What are the barriers to successfully establishing a digital centre of government?

• How can DSIT address these barriers?

AtkinsRéalis response:

• Different governance mechanisms across different departments and bodies makes true collaboration difficult as there is not a consistent approach to prioritising funding and tracking and measuring outcomes and benefits. An initial review of governance mechanism and a clear and well communicated mandate detailing what DSIT will be responsible for will establish things on a good footing.
• As a new department DSIT may not yet have a clear mandate in the eyes of the other government departments. Without this mandate ‘shadow initatives’ are likely to spring up in individual areas distracting from and weakening the aims of the Digital Centre. Establishing this mandate and ensureing DSIT and the Digital Centre are the go to place for Digital Initatives is important.
• The role of UKRI and its arm's length status make it a challenging player in any central government initiative. The new Centre must work hard to gain cooperation from the Research Councils and align existing data initiatives and also review the roles of the data centres.
• What infrastructure and regulation is required to make the government “more digital”?
• AtkinsRéalis response: It is possible that this is the wrong question. ‘More digital’ could be achieved by automating one single manual process and is therefore a meaningless and subjective measure. DSIT should focus on words such as increase, decrease, eliminate, create and maintain when establishing targets and also recognise the differences between ‘digital’ - the use of any technology whether optimised or not, digitise – replacing a manual process with a digital process and digitalise – optimising the use of technology to enhance a process.

In addition, the committee welcomes submissions on the following points:

• What impact will the Data (Use and Access) Bill have on efforts to establish DSIT as the digital centre of government?
• AtkinsRéalis response: The Bill will have significant impact, as it sets out primary regulation on the use of data for use in research and innovation as well as mandating the sharing of buried infrastructure through the National Underground Asset Register
• How should the National Data Library proposed by the government be taken forward?

AtkinsRéalis response:

• The NDL should draw upon the lessons learnt from the National Underground Asset Register. It should avoid the attempt to create another portal, but look to existing initiatives and focus on interoperability and a federated approach.
• The NDL should carry out a wide and thorough stakeholder analysis to spot any overlapping and competing initiatives. It needs to raise awareness of its aims and objectives across government and also consider the devolved administrations and local government.
• It is key that the NDL includes data generated in the private sector on behalf of public sector programmes
• The NDL must take a cross-disciplinary approach and look for early wins in direct support of the government’s missions.

• How should the digital centre be delivered in a way that ensures equitable access to public services?

AtkinsRéalis response:

• Use of focussed user groups which represent distinct groups in society should be established and listened to throughout this process.
• The needs of the public vary from the needs of academics, engineers or policy makers. The NDL needs be designed with users and use cases in mind.

03 March 2025