Welsh Government Corporate Technology Strategy · Board(12)058 Appendix B. Welsh Government...

Board(12)058

Appendix B.

Welsh Government Corporate Technology Strategy

Evan JonesDraft 1.2 November 2012 v1.20 09:30 Nov 20

th 2012

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Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................... 2Executive Summary.................................................................................................. 3

Places and Services’ commitment to the Welsh Government................................. 3What problem are we trying to solve? ................................................................. 3We are not alone. ................................................................................................ 3The way forward.................................................................................................. 5

Recommendations .................................................................................................. 5Governance and implementation ............................................................................ 6

Preamble ................................................................................................................... 7Terminology ............................................................................................................ 7Relationship to other policies .................................................................................. 7

Overlap with the Business Blueprint .................................................................... 7Part one – The current position............................................................................. 10

Background........................................................................................................... 10Establishing and Benchmarking our Current position ........................................... 11

Applications Strategy......................................................................................... 11An Architectural Approach to ICT ...................................................................... 12Carbon Reduction.............................................................................................. 13Cloud Strategy................................................................................................... 14Commercial off the shelf (COTS) software ........................................................ 17Cost reduction ................................................................................................... 17Mobile Working.................................................................................................. 18Security ............................................................................................................. 19Sharing Services ............................................................................................... 19Other emerging common issues........................................................................ 21

Drivers and influences........................................................................................... 22External Drivers and influences......................................................................... 22Internal drivers and influences........................................................................... 25

Part Two – Strategic Direction............................................................................... 29Assumptions ......................................................................................................... 29Introduction ........................................................................................................... 29

Taking a collaborating and co-ordinated approach to ICT systems................... 30Technically competent....................................................................................... 32Providing the tools for the job ............................................................................ 34Widely integrated............................................................................................... 37

Metrics and measuring our success...................................................................... 38Part Three – Tactical implementation ................................................................... 39

Recommendations, Goals & initial timescale..................................................... 39Governance Structures...................................................................................... 43

Reference Section .................................................................................................. 44Benchmarking institutions.................................................................................. 44Governance Structures...................................................................................... 45The Terms of Reference of the Strategic Leads Forum..................................... 46The Terms of Reference of the Solutions Design Authority............................... 48Standard Terms of Reference for a Domain Expert Forum ............................... 50Government Digital Service, Design Principles ................................................. 52References ........................................................................................................ 55

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IntroductionAcross the UK Public Sector organisations are wrestling with the challenges of a fast-changing technological landscape. Graduates enter the public sector very familiar with collaborative working, shared services, anywhere/anytime remote access, cloud storage, and a multiplicity of communications devices. Entering the UK Public Service the graduate is taken back in time to an uncoordinated, unconnected world.

The problem is recognised. Publishing the 2011 Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on information and communications technology in governmenti the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge MP, observed, “While the history of ICT in government has included some successful projects, there have been far too many expensive and regrettable failures. ICT is not well enough embedded in departments' business, and as a result not enough reform programmes have had ICT at the coreii.”

We are not alone. The United States’ Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundrabelieves that, “The Federal Government’s current Information Technology (IT) environment is characterized by low asset utilization, a fragmented demand for resources, duplicative systems, environments which are difficult to manage, and long procurement lead times.”, concluding that, “These inefficiencies negatively impact the Federal Government’s ability to serve the American publiciii.”. It’s not just the British that can do laconic understatement.

Closer to home roughly a third of Welsh Government staff do not believe that they have the ICT that they need to do their job effectivelyiv. Even if we imagine for a moment that the belief is incorrect the effect on morale alone is a significant impediment to our organisation delivering its objectives.

The 2011 PAC report may well however mark the nadir of public sector ICT provision. There is much to create hope. Out of twelve UK Civil Service departments reviewed for the purposes of this strategy, nine were actively modernising their ICT and two others were looking toward the wholesale adoption of the UK Government’s 2011 Government ICT Strategyv.

Within the Welsh Government, 2011 / 12 saw a similar sea-change. Late in 2011 Board agreed a new ICT strategyvi which firmly establishes a modern, customer-focussed ICT provision while in March 2012 the Board followed those principles to agree a new purchasing strategy which moves towards a flexible multi-source supply of ICT services.

This document extends the agreed ICT policy to set out the technological strategic direction that will enable the Welsh Government to fulfil its commitments in the most efficient way. It identifies the relevant technological themes and the degree to which they should be adopted. It identifies the requirement for further work. It aims to reduce cost, and to improve service quality.

The First Minister said that the Civil Service we need for Wales will be focused on joining up to improve outcomesvii. That the Civil Service will drive improvement in public services. This ICT Technology strategy is designed to guide us there, to that place where our ICT services enable the business to deliver its priorities.

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Executive SummaryThis document is split into three parts. The greater part, one, looks at the current position and establishes an evidence base for the recommendations to be made in part two. The evidence is largely based on the issues and strategies identified by related institutions which include nine Civil Service departments; a further nine Non-Departmental, sub-departmental, and other UK Public Sector comparator bodies; and two overseas institutions. The institutions are listed in the Reference Section. Evidence further includes HMG policy documents, the Office of the (Welsh) CIO, and a number of academic, Parliamentary, press, and other sources. A full list is in the References section ordered by point of inclusion.

Part two outlines the strategic technical direction proposed and lays out a series of recommendations for action. Part three deals with some issues around implementation and is new to this incarnation of the paper (V1.1+). Notwithstanding the fact that part 3 is new to this version of the strategy the information contained has been supported by the Strategic Leads Forum through separate process and is endorsed by Operations Groupviii.

The evidence and the recommendations throughout were developed through the Strategic Leads Forum, the body of the most senior ICT decision makers in each Division with advice and input from the Solutions Design Authority, the ICT technical standards body in the Welsh Government. This final document has been endorsed by the Solutions Design Authority, the Strategic Leads Forum; and by Operations Groupix.

Places and Services’ commitment to the Welsh Government

We will: Reduce the direct cost of ICT Increase productivity in the organisation Improve organisational agility and responsiveness to Ministerial

requirements

What problem are we trying to solve?

The Welsh Government faced historic structural challenges which were initially addressed through the framework provided by the 2011 Strategyx. Our challenge now is to develop adequately the intelligent client framework that will enable us to realise the commitments above.

We are not alone.

We can, however take comfort in that many other departments are battling similar issues, and that many have already identified solutions. Perhaps the single most common driver for change is the public sector’s urgent desire to reduce cost, with many institutions looking at a complete sea-change in the way they address ICT. The Isle of Man Government, often used as a comparator for us, is looking at a 50% reduction in ICT expenditure. The FCO is aiming for 40%, DEFRA 40%, DFID a 50% reduction in non-staff costs.

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Civil Service Departments are also looking to make visible those elements of the service infrastructure that have previously been hidden. The cost of security decisions is rarely seen, neither is the price of underutilised infrastructure.

At a more tactical level, most of the public sector is revising their ICT estate to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Task number one is usually a revisiting of the ‘applications strategy’, cleaning up the range of applications on their systems to improve efficiency, reduce training costs, reduce licensing costs, and reduce hosting costs. Focussing on costs and also on the environment has also led to a renewed push on carbon reduction varying from a simple aspiration to reduce environmental impact through to more comprehensive strategies.

The sector is sharing services, across departments and institutions. We are merging systems, for example adopting single customer record policies; we are adopting more appropriate standards for software development, adapting our procedures to fit commercial software rather than spending millions on bespoke systems that are obsolete almost as they are written.

Strategically, the sector is (finally) moving to deal with the tricky subject of adopting an ‘architectural approach’ to ICT. An architectural approach is one that looks to deal with the organisation as a whole entity to provide a common understanding of that organisation. The approach does not see Information Technology and business processes as separate elements but as interconnected. ICT is part of the business process, enabling, and even sometimes dictating, the procedure to be followed to achieve a given business aim. Dealing with organisational systems in this way can save huge sums of money but represents a challenge for embedded thinking.

Finally, cloud strategies are a complete game-changer. The UK Government has “committed to the adoption of cloud computing and delivering computing resources.”, and to “deliver fundamental changes in the way the public sector procures and operates ICTxi”. HMG is committing to “robustly adopt a public cloud solution first policy”xii and as a result the UK Government Cloud service, G-Cloud,xiii now has an online catalogue of over 1,700 information and communications services, many of which are IL3 accredited.

Much has been written, largely horribly, even embarrassingly, uninformed about the potential security issues associated with Cloud Computing. The UK Government Cloud Computing Strategy absolutely asserts that, at any level, cloud solutions will, “balance the need to be open, accessible and usable with the growing cyber-security threat and the need to handle sensitive information with due carexiv.”. G-Cloud products arrive accredited and the potential savings are enormous.

The way forward

Part Two of this document is he vision for change. It sets out Places & Services’ aspirations for change and begins with a simple commitment: In fulfilling our promise to the Welsh Government Places and Services will be:

Collaborating and co-ordinated Technically competent Providing the tools for the job

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Widely integrated

The “Collaborating and co-ordinated” theme is intended to focus on how we can better work together within the Welsh Government. We will reduce costs by sharing services across departments and, where possible and appropriate, with other organisations. We will reduce duplication by treating the Welsh Government as asingle ICT organism. We will provide clear governance for decision making, and clear metrics of success.

The “Technically Competent” theme will look at how our overarching services can be provided in the most efficient manner. We will look at how cloud solutions can be implemented and what governance and procedures that will require. We will revisit the mobile working solution. To quote one Director General, “I just want ICT that works”.

“Providing the tools for the job”, looks at the software set that we require to undertake our core business. To implement the Programme for Government; to meet our regulatory and legal responsibilities, and to improve the efficiency of the organisation.

Finally, “Widely Integrated” looks at how we will contextualise our ICT. How we will take note of our wider responsibilities, for example to the Welsh Government’s climate change policies; how we will ensure that we are business-focussed within the Welsh Government.

Recommendations

1. The Welsh Government will implement an Architectural Approach to our ICT provision.

2. The Welsh Government will implement a “One Record” policy for all pertinent categories.

3. The Welsh Government will adopt a policy of “Share First” for all new services.

4. The Welsh Government will review all current services to assess their potential for shared service amalgamation.

5. The Welsh Government will adopt a ‘cloud computing first’ strategy and review all of its hosting arrangements.

6. The Welsh Government will provide mobile staff with a unified-communications solution that maximises geographical availability.

7. The Welsh Government will review all software licences and in future require all licensing proposals to be cleared by the Solutions Design Authority. This will apply both to hosted software and also to on-line services.

8. The Welsh Government will conduct a complete review of applications.

9. When acquiring new software the Welsh Government will "Re-use before Buying, Buy before Building"

10.When acquiring new software the Welsh Government will consider open-source solutions.

11.The Welsh Government’s Places and Services Division will produce an ambitious cost reduction plan.

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12.The Welsh Government will track cost, user satisfaction, and benchmark with comparator institutions.

Governance and implementation

Part three deals with the issues of managing the future. It outlines the initial tactics for developing the recommendations in the paper and the appropriate governance structures.

Governance is broadly laid down in the existing, Board approved, Welsh Government ICT Strategyxv. In a nutshell, the Strategic Leads Forum (SLF), comprised of the most senior ICT decision makers from each department, oversees our ICT and reports to Operations Group. Beneath SLF, the Solutions Design Authority (SDA) is our technical standards board. Comprised of those with technical knowledge the SDA reports to SLF. Finally, a series of “Domain Expert Fora” which address in-depth technical issues and standards exist to advise the SDA.

The above structure was dictated by Board which expanded on the role of the Strategic Leads Forum but left the SLF to resolve the exact arrangements for the SDA and the DEFs. The terms of reference for all of the bodies are laid out appropriately.

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Preamble

TerminologyThe language and terminology used in this paper is that specified in “UK Government Reference Architecture (UKRA) 2012xvi. The UKRA provides a common set of terms to provide an organisation-agnostic representation of the key business and enablingtechnological services which represent the scope of delivery responsibilities undertaken by and on behalf of the UK public sector.

By defining commonly required operational and technological services, the UKRA (ambitiously) aims particularly to assist the overall consistency and cohesiveness of cross government services, as these are designed and delivered on behalf of the UKpublic sector as a whole, rather than based on individual organisations.

At its meeting on the 25th June 2012 the Welsh Government’s ICT Strategic Leads Forum considered and adopted the UKRA for use across the Welsh Government estate.

Relationship to other policies

This strategy is a constituent part of the Welsh Government ICT Strategy adopted by Board in October 2011 and published as “Welsh Government ICT Strategy 2012-2016”, in January 2012. Within that policy key documents to be produced include this Technology Strategy and a complementary Business Blueprint which examines the business drivers for ICT provision.

Overlap with the Business Blueprint

This technology strategy is one element of three documents which together act as a compass to guide our ICT direction of travel. The overall ICT strategy is the master document which encompasses this Technology Strategy and also the Business Blueprint.

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ICT Strategy

Technology Strategy

Business Blueprint

This Technology Strategy outlines the technology landscape and the approach that we are taking to use technology within the Welsh Government. Any activity, technological or otherwise, is undertaken for one of three reasons:

The activity is required by the Programme of Governmentxvii or is otherwise dictated by Minister(s)

The activity is required by law or regulation The activity improves the efficiency of delivery

The Technology Strategy and the Business Blueprint share a common goal. The Technology Strategy looks at the three principles above and asks the question, “how can technology help us meet these requirements?”. In answering that question this Technology Strategy looks at what products and services are available or emerging and considers how ICT may potentially enable or improve our service delivery.

The Business Blueprint approaches the same requirement from the other direction, examining our business processes and asking how technology and associated processes may potentially enable or augment business process to improve our service delivery.

In effect, the Business Blueprint is asking, “how can our business use technology to be more efficient?”, while this Technology Strategy is asking, “what technologies can be useful to our business goals?”.

Both the Technology Strategy and the Business Blueprint provide a means for updating relevant elements of the Welsh Government ICT Strategy without the need to frequently review the whole ICT Strategy nor regularly refer it back to Board for updating. In this sense the overall policy acts as the master shell within which the two other, more flexible, policies are contained.

In addition to the Technology Strategy and the Business Blueprint there are other programmes and projects within the Welsh Government that overlap with the aspirations above. The Online Services Programme which aims to deliver “a cross

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DG approach for the provision of Welsh Government online information and servicesxviii” is a good example. Care is taken throughout this document to ensure that the direction proposed enables and compliments other initiatives within the Welsh Government, and does not duplicate nor contradict.

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Part one – The current position

BackgroundCovering the history of this document, external drivers affecting our forward ICT strategy; internal drivers affecting / effecting our forward ICT strategy.

At its meeting on the 21st of October 2011 Board adopted the, “Welsh GovernmentICT Strategy 2012 – 2016xix”, as our approach to improve, develop and manage our use of ICT as it applies to the operation of the Welsh Government. The agreed vision for ICT is:

“Within a clear governance framework ICT will bring value to the Welsh Government by enabling both the corporate body and departments to meet their objectives through an ICT organisation that has the customer interests at heart and identifies innovative solutions to meet business needsxx”.

Stripped of the qualifiers the objective is, “an ICT organisation that has the customer interests at heart and identifies innovative solutions to meet business needs”. A couplet that requires us to identify what the customer requires; and simultaneously to stay abreast of developments in order to deliver against business need. This is both a need-response cycle where businesses demand solutions to internal needs and also a solution-proposition cycle where ICT initiates the proposal to improve business operations. In this way either part of the operation can be the initiator of change but both parts have to be aligned in order to implement that change.

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The ICT strategy does not stop at the objective level however but goes on to dictate processes and structures for the organisation-wide operation of ICT systems.

Establishing and Benchmarking our Current position

We do not inspire trust. The last corporate staff survey showed that over a third of staff did not agree with the statement, “I have the technology (ICT/IT) I need to do my job effectively”, while in some departments (Health, Permanent Secretary, Local Govt & Communities) only around half of the staff felt that they had the necessary ICT services. PPCS, at the other extreme, had around 82% of staff positive about their ICT and only 2% “strongly disagreed”. Overall, a third of our staff working below their efficiency threshold is damning. That metric must rise.

The Welsh Government does not exist in a vacuum. We are one of a number of government departments and institutions facing similar questions. As part of the development of this strategy twenty other policies were reviewed including nine other Civil Service departments such as Defra and the FCO; a further nine British institutions, mostly those with governmental authority such as the Greater London Authority, the Isle of Man and the States of Jersey and Guernsey; and two foreign policies, Malta, and the US government’s cloud computing strategy. The full list of comparator bodies is available in the Reference section, below. A full review of the key issues is available as a comparator grid in Excel or in A3 hard copy form.

The main issues currently being addressed by the UK public sector are as follows:

Applications Strategy

Application software, also known simply as “an application” is any software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Depending on the activity for which it was designed an application can manipulate text, numbers, graphics, or a combination of elements.xxi

Many institutions, ourselves included, have a situation where the standard application set is dictated by custom on decisions made many years ago. Driven by a number of factors including: financial criteria; cloud computing opportunities; legal and licensing reform; and application rationalisation, there are wholesale reviews occurring in the UK public sector. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a typical example. Aiming for significant reductions in the total number of applications they believe that the approach will not only reduce licensing costs but will improve efficiency and free up resources to improve training on the remaining applications.

Hidden within most institutions’ applications strategy is an information or data strategy. Our applications policy is somewhat divorced from the information strategy and this unusual approach leaves a consequent risk that personally-held Access databases and Excel spreadsheets will obscure information, duplicate processing, and corrupt our ability to manage information on a wider scale. Such obscured information cannot easily be re-used, or maintained accurately.

Across the Welsh Government we have an estimated two hundred and thirty-twosoftware applications, many holding the same data. A key issue for us will be how to rationalise, and what our future applications estate will look like. In addition to the Ministry of Justice we have a number of other examples of good practice that we can

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follow. The Ministry of Defence is assessing all applications for utility aiming for re-use across internal departments or even across government to reduce costs and increase efficiency. HM Treasury is rationalising and modernising their applications suite, DFID is thinking wider and looking for partner departments to share applications across Civil Service silos.

An Architectural Approach to ICT

An architectural approach is one that looks to deal with the organisation as a whole entity to provide a common understanding of that organisation. Interchangeably referred to as “Enterprise Architecture”, and “Business Architecture” the approach does not see Information Technology and business processes as separate elements but as interconnected. ICT is part of the business process, enabling, and even sometimes dictating, the procedure to be followed to achieve a given business aim. To quote Gartner, “The scope of the enterprise architecture includes the people, processes, information and technology of the enterprise, and their relationships to one another and to the external environmentxxii”.

Enterprise architecture is an ongoing business function that helps an 'enterprise' decide how to best execute the strategies that drive its development. In effect the organising logic for business processes and ICT infrastructure, reflecting the integration and standardisation requirements of the company's operating model. The operating model is the desired state of business process integration and business process standardisation for delivering goods or services to customers.xxiii

The United States Government specifically classifies enterprise architecture as an Information Technology function, and defines the term not as the process of examining the enterprise, but rather the documented results of that examination, as a 'strategic information base' that defines the mission of an agency and describes the technology and information needed to perform that mission, along with descriptions of how the architecture of the organisation should be changed in order to respond to changes in the mission.xxiv

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From “Innovating with information systems”. Weill, P, 2007xxv

The diagram above, “Designing a Foundation for Execution”, illustrates the relationship of the Enterprise Architecture approach to the execution of business objectives. The Enterprise Architecture both defines the core capabilities and also the limits of the strategic possibilities of the organisation.

There are however technical implications from adopting such an approach, not least the very strong implication of the centralisation of ICT management. The Government of Malta, for example, intends to "Develop and sustain a consolidated enterprise architecture which is secure, scalable, reliable, cost-effective and adequately responsive to the IT/IS requirements imposed by the business of Governmentxxvi” as a core element of their architectural approach. The implications for Welsh Government governance are discussed later in the paper. However, the implications of not adopting this approach are to operate at a less efficient and more costly level than is otherwise possible.

Carbon Reduction

Almost every public sector institution has a carbon-reduction strategy varying from a simple aspiration to reduce environmental impact through to more comprehensive strategies incorporating standards for the full environmental impact of ICT. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) in particular is introducing 'Carbon Accounting' to provide a valid methodology for understanding carbon impactxxvii. Within that methodology the MOD is reviewing all operational impacts, such as energy consumption and is also analysing the environmental impact of other activities such as equipment disposal.

In this instance we have a simple benchmark. Every public sector institution is reviewing how ICT change can reduce carbon impact.

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Cloud Strategy

Cloud computing is one of the most influential external changes affecting (and shortly effecting) the Welsh Government’s ICT provision.

Cloud computing is a style of computing in which scalable ICT capabilities, such as networks, servers, storage and applications, are provided as a service to users, enabling technology and service re-use, whilst increasing agility and reducing costs. (MoD, 2010xxviii). A cloud service has three distinct characteristics that differentiate it from traditional hosting:

It is sold on demand It is scalable, so the user can have as much or as little of a service as they

want at any given time The service is fully managed by the provider.(CCA, 2012xxix)

The official UK Government definition however, as laid out in the UK Government Cloud Computing Strategy, is that of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, which states that, “Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisionedxxx.”

Cloud computing can be deployed through primarily four different models: private;public; hybrid; and community. The primary differences between these models are in scope and access. In a ‘private’ cloud the infrastructure is managed and operated solely for an organisation, the MoD’s defence cloud is a good example. For a public cloud the infrastructure is owned by a cloud provider and accessible to the general public or a large industry group; for a ‘hybrid’ cloud some resources are managed in-house and others are provided externally; while for a ‘community’ cloud the infrastructure is most likely shared and managed by several organisations. The UK Government’s G-Cloud is an example of a community cloud, restricted to the UK public sector.

As well as the deployment model, cloud genres can also be sub-divided by the type of service provided. In the most basic cloud service model, ‘Infrastructure as a Service’ (IaaS), cloud providers offer computers as virtual machines, storage, firewalls, and networks supplied on demand. Following the HMG Cloud Strategy almost the whole of the UK Civil Service has aspirations to close most, or all, of their data centres to move to an IaaS model of infrastructure provision.

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From “Federal Cloud Computing Strategy”, Kundra, V, 2011xxxi

Increasingly, however, the public sector is moving toward additional services such as ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) a software delivery model in which both the software and the associated data are centrally hosted on the cloud. SaaS has become a common delivery model for many business applications, including accounting, collaboration, customer relationship management, management information systems, enterprise resource planning, human resource management, content management and service desk management The Isle of Man, to take just one example, has based its whole ICT strategy on migrating to cloud-based systems, infrastructure and applicationsxxxii.

SaaS’ key opportunities are cost reduction and efficiencies through update management. However, moving to SaaS also provides users with a related opportunity to more easily implement shared services and collaboration tools.

The UK Government is positively evangelical in its embracing of cloud computing approaches. “Cloud computing has brought about a step change in the economics and sustainability of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). [HM] Government is committed to the adoption of cloud computing and delivering computing resources. The G-Cloud is an iterative programme of work to achieve this which will deliver fundamental changes in the way the public sector procures and operates ICT.

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The G-Cloud strategyxxxiii outlines in more detail how [HM Government] will: achieve large, cross government economies of scale deliver ICT systems that are flexible and responsive to demand in order to

support government policies and strategies take advantage of new technologies in order to deliver faster business benefits

and reduce cost meet environmental and sustainability targets allow government to procure in a way that encourages a dynamic and

responsive supplier marketplace and supports emerging suppliers.

Not in any way holding back the policy continues to emphasise that HMG, “… is committed to the adoption of cloud computing and delivering computing resources to users as needed (an on-demand delivery model). By exploiting innovations in cloud computing we will transform the public sector ICT estate into one that is agile, cost effective and environmentally sustainablexxxiv.”. The document commits the UK Government to “robustly adopt a public cloud solution first policy”xxxv, referred to elsewhere as “Cloud First”.

Within the UK Government G-Cloudxxxvi there is an online catalogue of over 1,700 information and communications services available to the UK public sector, many of which are already IL3 accredited.

Much has been written, largely horribly uninformed and often by people who ‘raise issues’ as a substitute for solving problems, about the potential security issues associated with Cloud Computing. The UK Government Cloud Computing Strategy cuts through them by asserting at the very beginning of the strategy that, at any level, cloud solutions, “must balance the need to be open, accessible and usable with the growing cyber-security threat and the need to handle sensitive information with due carexxxvii.”.

As with many new technologies, or new approaches to technology, there is a natural concern that there may be drawbacks hiding within. The UK Government ‘cloud first’ strategy addresses security through two core principles in particular:

The strategy holds to the principle that information risk owners will remain accountable for the risks to the information for which that department is an owner or custodianxxxviii.

The IA Governance arrangements are being established to ensure the ability to carry out most of the assurance and accreditation work is done once, carried out well and then re-used, re-used, re-usedxxxix.

Looking outside of the UK national government, the public Sector is differing only by the degree to which it is adopting cloud models. The Metropolitan Police are specifically reducing the range of technologies in use to commoditise computing and adopt a cloud computing model across the service. The MOD is migrating its computing to G-Cloud for "Restricted" and below while building a private 'Defence Cloud' for services above "Restricted". DFID will run all services on a virtual architecture; Defra is closing all local data centres to migrate onto G-Cloud. The

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Home Office is migrating to G-Cloud; the MoJ is migrating to G-Cloud. The list could go on.

One slight exception to the rule is the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS). NICS include an aspiration to provide services to g-cloudxl. An interesting opportunity for all departments to look at what services that have that could be shared elsewhere in government to reduce coverall cost.

Commercial off the shelf (COTS) software

Given a history of ignoring Voltaire’s observation that ‘the perfect is the enemy of the good’ much of the public sector, in the UK and abroad, has form for developing applications to provide a ‘perfect’ solution when a commercially available solution would have been good enough. Across the service we are much more inclined to spend millions on a bespoke solution than to vary our aspirations or tamper with our much-loved processes.

In fairness, the service has not always received the best of advice. Suppliers have a vested interest in recommending certain products, and those products which require ongoing support, maintenance or customisation will always appear a more attractive sale proposition.

As a consequence a number of Civil Service departments have adopted a “COTS first” strategy, with those wishing to buy bespoke software having to actively demonstrate that there is no commercial software able to meet the requirements. A good example is the Scottish Parliament who have adopted the mantra, "Re-use before Buying, Buy before Building". The Ministry of Justice now similarly mandate re-use in the first instance, and where re-use is shown to be impractical then the requirement turns to COTS. Bespoke solutions are last resort, and even then should be designed for re-use, both technically and, importantly, legally. More than one government department has discovered too late that the software contract did not transfer the copyright to the software, nor the droit moral.

A related angle to enabling re-use is the degree to which the public sector enables others to make use of software written for, or in use by, the government departments. A good example is HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which has defined and published the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for its online services. An API is a specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other. By making its APIs available, together with validation rules and test scripts, third parties can build software products which can calculate and submit information online. One and a half thousand commercial software developers now provide online filing products for more than twenty HMRC online servicesxli.

Cost reduction

All departments are looking to reduce costs. Most are looking at a complete sea-change in the way they address ICT with opportunities for very significant savings. Many are revamping accounting procedures and systems to highlight and analyse ICT spend. Much of the other strategic issues or themes identified in this section of the ICT Technology Strategy are driven in whole or part by an overarching desire to lower cost and / or improve operating efficiencies.

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The Isle of Man Government, often used as a comparator for us, is looking at a 50% reduction in ICT expenditure. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office, a complex ICT system, is promising 33% but aiming for higher, 40%. The Department for Rural Affairs is aiming for 40%. The Department for International Development is looking at a 50% reduction in non-staff costs.

A related issue is cost visibility. Many Civil Service departments cannot accurately define their ICT spend nor, unsurprisingly, describe the elements of their spend. The problem is recognised: the Mod is revamping its accounting system to reveal the sources of ICT expenditure; a number of departments are working on internal recharges to dampen demand. As an alternative approach, DFID will not operate ICT chargeback, but rather a “showback” model will be developed to indicate the cost of ICT services for different parts of the organisationxlii.

Departments are also looking to make visible the component parts of those elements of the service infrastructure that have previously been amortised across the service provided. The raw cost of security decisions is rarely seen, neither is the price of underutilised infrastructure such as server time.

Mobile Working

One of the biggest sources of complaint in Welsh Government, the focus of a TUS report last year and, anecdotally, the reason why fully 15% of staff in the Permanent Secretary’s department strongly disagree with the statement that, “I have the technology (ICT/IT) I need to do my job effectivelyxliii.”.

One user’s experience in Llandudno Junction.“I arrived to use a hot desk but there wasn’t one free with a laptop dock. IT helped me plug a lead into the laptop and that worked to log on and enabled me to send the e-mail I’d done on the train. I still had to work without the full keyboard and monitor and couldn’t print. The desk phone didn’t work, I needed something called a ‘login’ which I didn’t have and which takes some days to set up. I was told that there was a normal line in a ‘comfy area’ nearby though so I thought I’d work there. Unfortunately the Welsh Government laptop wouldn’t let me log-on to the Welsh Government wireless network so there was nowhere in the building I could work with a phone and a computer at the same time. My mobile phone didn’t work anywhere inside the office.

I just accepted that I’d have to walk to the comfy area whenever I needed to make a phone call. However, when I did go to make a phone call the phone had been taken away as part of the “managing with less” cuts. So, no phone service, no printing service, no proper keyboard, mouse, or monitor. Gave up and went home instead.”

Looking specifically at those Civil Service departments that have a strong requirement for mobile communications could prove instructive. Within the MoD the Defence Core Network Services programmes are introducing 'Unified Communications', "to encompass Voice and Telephony, Conferencing, Messaging, Presence and Communications Applications – all accessed from a form of Unified Client for the end-userxliv.". The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has also refreshed

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its communications and mobility procedures integrating telephony, data and desk-based videoconferencing over both secure and less-secure platformsxlv.

Closer to home a number of departments are introducing unified communications systems with telephony, instant messaging and presence, and even desktop videoconferencing as standard. Within the Home Office there is an aspiration to provide remote, mobile, and flexible working for all staff with the aim that any device can access all facilities. “Being able to access applications regardless of location and/or device helps the workforce to operate more effectively and thereby improves the overall effectiveness of the businessxlvi.”

Bluntly asserting that, "policing will not be restricted by technologyxlvii", the Metropolitan Police similarly aspire to work from home, ‘other locations’, and from partner organisations as necessary.

Not all of the problems associated with mobility have been resolved, and no department has yet found a ‘magic bullet’. However, three clear benchmarks emerge: unifying communications into a single device-presence; maximising device compatibility; and maximising geographical availability.

Security

The Welsh Government has some unusual management structures with much of the responsibility for information, and ICT, security falling at some distance from the central ICT team. Regardless of that, our issues are similar to those of other departments: how do we adequately maintain appropriate security of information while modernising systems for shared-working and more flexible operations?

The “very” secret departments are moving to a less prescriptive, more case-by-case approach. The FCO is moving to a risk-management strategy, "to simplify & improve our approachxlviii". The MOD is going further, in their section on risk management they look at adopting, "….technologies [that] offer the potential to deliver benefits but do not necessarily comply with Communications-Electronics Security Group standards or formal security certification requirements. However compliance is rarely as simple as a pass/fail test; appropriate risk/balance is keyxlix.".

Interestingly, the Metropolitan Police have undertaken a complete revision of their basic principles and are consequently moving away from a focus on securing the network to a focus on securing the information, “making the information, not the network, securel.”

The proposed direction is mindful of the Hannigan reportli on data handling procedures and of the forthcoming review of information security classifications.

In benchmark terms, the Welsh Government is currently at some variance from the standard modes of operation with a potential disconnect between information management, ICT, and Information Security.

Sharing Services

Variously referred to as, “Sharing Services”, or, “Shared Services”, the aim is exactly the same. Shared services refers to the provision of a service by one part of an

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organisation or group where that service had previously been found in more than one part of the organisation or group. In this way the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and the providing department effectively becomes an internal service provider. The key is the idea of 'sharing' within an organisation or group.

Across the board the public sector is strategising for a ‘shared services’ approach, sharing applications, date, information, and services. The MOD, “shall strive to align its ICT across Governmentlii”; The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) is working to an open platform to share information across Defra and also externally, “Mature solutions will enable users to collaborate seamlessly and securely in Defra, across Whitehall and with citizens, businesses and academialiii”. The Northern Ireland Executive is changing to operate services across the NICS and the Northern Irish public sector; the Metropolitan Police is opening up to a shared system with other UK police services. Within the Welsh Government the Online Services Programme is already addressing, “a business desire to more effectively join up across the Welsh Governmentliv”.

The Welsh Government however, is a more complex customer-facing environment than many other Civil Service Departments, with a much broader mission. Looking further afield, in Malta, for example, Corporate Shared Services is one of the four key pillars of the development of the Country as a whole. In the States of Guernsey the government is sharing services and information for integrated working across departmental boundaries. Guernsey has gone further than many by mandating that all information must be in a common format and that customers must not provide the same information more than oncelv. The States of Jersey has a similar aspirationlvi. However, within similar administrative jurisdictions the Isle of Man, like Malta, are positioning their ICT Strategy with the express aim of delivering shared services across governmentlvii.

The idea isn’t new. The Gershon Reportlviii proposed sharing services as an important tactic for improving public sector efficiency back in 2004. “Advantages of shared services identified included: enabling the organisation to focus on the core business; access to ready made services and the avoidance of the need to self design. Suggestions for grouping of shared service included by location, serving a number of organisations in a given area, or by similar type of organisation. lix”

Gershon went on to look at the other side of the coin, noting that, “Concerns in relation to shared services included: the risk of creating a monopoly provider; and the risk that ineffective implementation of shared services arrangements could impactadversely service delivery. There was also a concern over the lack of capacity to deliver change at the local level. lx” Gershon was prescient. The Department for Transport’s implementation of a shared services centre led to a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigationlxi. In presenting the report the Chair of the PAC, Edward Leigh MP, summed up the committee’s opinion, saying, that the DfT, “planned and implemented its shared corporate services project with stupendous incompetence.lxii”

Shared services has its detractors. Not least Professor John Seddon who argues that shared service projects fail (and often end up costing more than they hoped to save) because they cause a disruption to the service flow by moving the work to a central

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location, creating waste in handoffs, rework and duplication, and lengthening the time it takes to deliver a servicelxiii. However, his arguments are mostly based around a perceived inability to achieve change rather than any inherent flaw in the concept itself.

Seddon is right that sharing services as a means of cost reduction does indeed have a chequered history in the public sector. However that neither means that is must be ever thus nor that sharing services for other objectives cannot succeed. In particular the Isle of Man see shared services as the way of delivering the core objective for their records management, viz:

One record per citizen One record per company One record per pupil One record per patientlxiv

Gartner defines, “shared services”, as, “a delivery model in which a shared-service centre, supported by dedicated people, processes and technologies, acts as a centralised provider of a defined business function for use by multiple enterprise constituencieslxv” and potentially identifies the point of contention. If shared services are only to be viewed as processing centres there is quite possibly limited scope for process improvement. If however shared services / sharing services refers to the potential for improved delivery through departments and systems re-using information then the potential for benefit is clearer.

Other emerging common issues

Presence & MessagingAlthough covered in “unified communications” in the Mobile Working section above the introduction of Instant Messaging and Presence systems in the public sector is worthy of specific mention.

Instant messaging is a set of communication technologies used for text-based communication between two or more participants over a network. Instant messaginghappens in real-time. Of importance is that instant messaging differs from other technologies such as email due to the perceived quasi-synchronicity of the communications by the users.

“Presence” is that feature of Instant Messaging systems which shows whether a user is available for communication. It is seen as having a particular benefit in the management of dispersed teams.

A number of other parts of the civil service are already integrating presence and messaging into their applications and/or their mobility strategies. The Ministry of Justice believes that, “internal instant messaging and presence awareness are very useful office productivity optionslxvi”, and plan to implement in the first quarter of 2013.

Open Source SoftwareWithin the UK Government’s ICT Strategy there is a specific objective to, “Create a level playing field for open source softwarelxvii”. Clarified later as, “Where

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appropriate, government will procure open source solutions. When used in conjunction with compulsory open standards, open source presents significant opportunities for the design and delivery of interoperable solutionslxviii”. Whether as part of their approach to Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) software or as a policy on its own the Government’s lead on the adoption of Open Source software is being taken up in a number of areas. The Home Office goes as far as to demand “rigorous” consideration of Open Source technologieslxix while the Ministry of Justice opines that, “Open Source solutions are to be preferredlxx”. The Department for International Development goes further by aspiring to both use, and contribute tolxxi

Open Source systems. Amongst our more direct comparators, although the Scottish Government’s ICT Strategy is out of date and currently under review the 2008 policy specifically promotes “greater use of Open Source softwarelxxii” and it is likely the emphasis will remain in the new incarnation.

TrainingAlthough training is widely strategised elsewhere the Welsh Government ICT strategy contains little on our approach to developing and maintaining staff skills.

In some departments, for example DFID, the MoD, or the States of Guernsey, ICT training is focussed on the end user of ICT systems with the intention of improving efficiency and staff satisfaction. The Home Office however is taking this further. Using the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) as a framework for upskilling ICT staff in particular they Intend to train their way toward becoming an intelligent clientlxxiii. Both approaches can inform our potential options.

Drivers and influencesExploring, briefly, a number of pressures pertinent to our ICT operations

External Drivers and influences

ParliamentThe UK Parliament has regularly studied Civil Services ICT. Whether it the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) examining specific programmes such as the Department for Transport’s shared services farrago, or the Public Administration Select Committee’s (PASC) more thoughtful consideration of good governance in the effective use of government ICT. “Government and IT — “a recipe for rip-offs”: time for a new approachlxxiv” which was published early in 2012. While the PAC’s approach is generally very specific the PASC is developing recommendations for Government, many of which are finding their way into the Cabinet Office’s strategies. In particular, the PASC is raising issues around the oligopoly of large suppliers, the Civil Service’s internal capability to manage ICT, and, again, emphasising that the Government could, “go further and move faster”, to implement ‘digital by defaultlxxv’.

Within the Welsh Government we’re ahead of the game in recognising the need to avoid the influence of an oligopolistic supply model and have already changed strategy to move to a multi-supplier model that enables a much wider pool of potential suppliers. The ICT strategy has also reformed some of our internal processes to better enable ‘intelligent client’ behaviours.

The Cabinet Office

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The Cabinet Office has produced a number of policies which impact on our future technological strategy. The foremost three are:

The Civil Service Reform PlanAt the heart of the Civil Service Reform plan is the commitment to, “digital by Default”. The plan proposes that central Government wherever possible must become a digital organisation. “These days the best service organisations deliver online everything that can be delivered online. This cuts their costs dramatically and allows access to information and services at times and in ways convenient to the users rather than the providers. Government has lagged far behind; and the pace of change needed to catch up will place major demands on the Civil Service. We need better skills, better technology and a mindset that revolves around the user, not the producer.lxxvi”

The reform plan specifically includes Civil Servants working in the Welsh Government, although noting that “the Governments in Scotland and Wales have, or will have, complementary plans, setting out how they are equipping their workforces to meet the challenges we are collectively facing.”. Nonetheless, the service’s direction of travel is very clear. In the Welsh Government we need to be prepared for the effect of the statement “Digital by Default needs to become a realitylxxvii”.

The Government ICT StrategyIn February 2010 the UK published its ICT strategy for the UKlxxviii. Specifically applying to all parts of the United Kingdom the strategy sought to reduce cost and improve efficiency in the delivery of public sector ICT. By March 2011 the new government issued a further “Government ICT strategy”lxxix, with similar drivers including reducing waste and creating common infrastructure. That current ICT strategylxxx has four key strands: Reducing waste and project failure, and stimulating economic growth

In which the Government wishes to move away from large ICT projects that are slow to implement or pose a greater risk of failure and shift towards the application of agile ICT delivery methods,

Creating a common ICT infrastructurePromoting interoperability as widely as possible.

Using ICT to enable and deliver changeThe “Digital by Default” section looking to widen service provision as much as is possible.

Strengthening governanceBy the development of a cross-government CIO Board and widening the scope of challenge.

Moving from principles to activities the ten “key actions” from the (2011) Government ICT strategy are to:

Introduce new central controls to ensure greater consistency and integration; Take powers to remove excess capacity; Create a level playing field for open source software; Greatly streamline procurement and specify outcomes rather than inputs; Create a presumption against projects having a lifetime value of more than

£100 million;

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Impose compulsory open standards, starting with interoperability and security; Create a comprehensive asset register; Create a cross-public sector Applications Store; Expect SROs to stay in post until an appropriate break in the life of a

project/programme; and Encourage boards to hold ministers and senior officials to account on a

regular basis for the progress of ICT projects and programmes.lxxxi

The ICT strategy applies to central government, executive agencies and arm’s length bodies. The Cabinet Office also intends to “work with the devolved administrations to develop a shared vision that aligns with the principles of the strategylxxxii”, although the details of that work are not specified.

Digital.GovThe Government Digital Service is a new team within Cabinet Office tasked with transforming government digital services. As well as developing the “gov.uk” replacement for DirectGov (while also simultaneously integrating other public sector services) they publish standards to guide other parts of the UK Public Sector.

At its July meeting the Welsh Government’s Strategic Leads Forum formally noted the “alpha” release of the GDS design principles as appropriate for application to our operations. The core principles are reproduced below and the document in full is attached as an appendix.

1. Start with needs – user needs not government needs2. Do less3. Design with data4. Do the hard work to make it simple5. Iterate. Then iterate again.6. Build for inclusion7. Understand context8. Build digital services, not websites9. Be consistent, not uniform10. Make things open: it makes things better

Office of the CIONot, strictly speaking, an ‘external’ driver as the Office of the Chief Information Officer is contained within the Welsh Government. Their role however is to develop an ICT strategy for the whole of the Welsh public sector, which includes the Welsh Government. The office is not the “CIO office for the Welsh Government”.

The emerging strategy from the Office of the CIO has five key objectives Drive down costs and return on investment Use common products, services and approaches Work together across public sector Establish a corporate architecture and design Build commercial partnershipslxxxiii

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This Welsh Government Technical Strategy is designed to align with those objectives. This policy is also being developed in consultation with the Office of the CIO who will, where relevant, provide comment on the proposals.

Internal drivers and influences

Ministerial PrioritiesThe Welsh Government’s priorities are laid out in the “Programme for Governmentlxxxiv”. The aim of this ICT technology policy is to build a platform that will enable those commitments to succeed.

ICT Strategy 2012-2016The Welsh Government’s ICT Strategy is the cornerstone of our strategic direction and the document which engenders both this Technology Strategy and also the Business Blueprint. The ICT Strategy was presented to Board in October 2011 and, other than for contextual revisions, it is not anticipated that it will be presented again until 2015.

In order to make an appropriate delineation between those strategic elements which require only occasional review and the operational elements which require regular review the Technology Strategy and Business Blueprint will be reviewed annually.

The diagram below is taken from the strategy and shows the overall relationship of the relevant elements.

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It is not in the gift of this document, nor any body below the Welsh Government’s Board, to vary the strategy except where leeway has been provided in the document itself.

Knowledge & Information StrategyThe Welsh Government’s Knowledge & Information Strategy (KIMS) is the Strategy and action plan for managing the Welsh Government’s knowledge and information asessential corporate assets. It provides the basis for developing capabilities in knowledge and information management and informs other strategies dealing with the provision of the Welsh Government’s business solutions and technologylxxxv. The strategy identifies that the Welsh Government needs the necessary business infrastructure to manage the knowledge and information adequately and plans for the delivery of a range of people, process, systems and governance initiatives to meet this need.

KIMS informs the Business Blueprint to a greater level than it affects this Technology Strategy, however, this Technology Strategy is designed at this strategic level to be complementary with KIMS and aims to assist in the development of appropriate standards. Paragraph 4.3 is particularly pertinent. KIMS notes that, “Appropriate technology is an essential dimension of a robust knowledge and information environment. Technology to facilitate knowledge and information management (including shows, a fit-for-purpose intranet, technologies dedicated to supporting and making efficient specific knowledge and information management processes, ERDMS, and IT architecture) that enables the sharing and secure storage of information within the organisation has to be in place.”.

Security PolicyThe Welsh Government Security Policy sets out the approach taken to manage information security to ensure that our information assets are properly protected against a variety of threats such as error, fraud, sabotage, terrorism, extortion, industrial espionage, privacy violation, service interruption, theft and natural disaster, whether internal or external, deliberate or, indeed, accidentallxxxvi. The Security Policy is supported by the Security Handbooklxxxvii which provides detailed guidance on procedures, and the day to day application of the procedures.

The proposals in this document comply with the requirements of both documents and, where possible, are designed to enhance our operational security.

Managing with Less Managing With Less is described as “our response to the huge financial challenges we're facing - both now and in the longer term. Involving everyone in our organisation”. The aim is to reduce spending by £42m per annum by 2014.

Our ICT provision currently costs an estimated £114 Million per annum. The word, “estimated” is significant. We do not yet have clarity of our ICT spend.

Until 2010 spend records were contained entirely within vertical departmental accounting silos with no horizontal analysis of the nature or amount of ICT spending across the organisation. There was no realistic mechanism for applying “re-use” criteria between departments.

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Since the introduction of SAP and the specification of ICT categories across the organisation our financial management has improved. The Commercial and Contracts Unit within Places and Services Division has also defined improved reporting systems to describe the information needed to establish clear and relevant information on our ICT spend across the Welsh Government. That is not to say that the underlying spending processes improved but at least they were now much more visible.

As a response the 2011 ICT strategy, as presented to Board, focussedoverwhelmingly on establishing a clear governance and financial framework. Including a requirement that projects must have perceptible cost-effectiveness from the start.

“Solutions must be business case driven, designed to be cost effective over their lifetime and make the best use of previous investment. A solution cannot be proposed without a defined business requirement and

a surrounding business project.

All ICT components of projects will need to be initiated and supported by an ICT Investment Proposal which will identify projected costs, resource requirements, tangible and intangible benefits, and measures for success.

Welsh Government will conduct due diligence to ensure it receives “best price” and utilises the most effective procurement approaches.

The core ICT function must be able to quantify the cost and value to business departments of its ICT. lxxxviii.”

Hidden within these statements are implications which will require further work. There is disagreement as to what constitutes the “core ICT function” and while we can proceed in a relatively straightforward fashion to assess intra-departmental proposals we have yet to define adequate controls for cross-departmental initiatives.

Nonetheless, work remains in progress to reveal lower level of cost granularity for the ICT products and services consumed. From that data we intend to reveal further spending efficiencies.

Fit for the futureFit for the Future is the Welsh Government’s programme to improve our organisational performance.

The overall goal is to be one of the best performing public sector organisations in the UK and to see that improved performance reflected in better outcomes for people and communities. To quote the First Minister, “The Civil Service we need for Wales will be focused on joining up to improve outcomes rather than operating in silos. It will be underpinned by a belief in collaboration rather than competition to drive improvement in public services. Our Fit for the Future Action Plan is designed to equip the organisation to deliver for ministers with professionalism, pace and ambitionlxxxix. “

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This policy is designed to support that vision. To ensure that the Welsh Government ICT service enables that improved performance and provides the capability for the organisation to work at its peak.

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Part Two – Strategic Direction

Assumptions

Political and Senior Management willingness exists to accept and implement necessary change.

There will be a recognition ICT is a critical business enabler. Risks will be identified and managed. There will be some resistance to changes in working practices. We have to work collaboratively, opting out is not an alternative. Departments’ business needs are different and this strategy will need to reflect

that . Resource requirements must be assessed and factored in to decisions. ICT priorities will change to reflect changes in the Welsh Government’s

corporate and departmental business and in underlying technologies. The processes set out in this document will continue to need to be regularly

monitored and reviewed to keep them relevant.

Introduction

The research work contained in Part One identified nine core areas of strategic importance and a further three areas of strategic or operational relevance. This section looks to translate the identified issues into actions that will improve the service that we provide, enable the Welsh Government to deliver its priorities, and reduce the costs associated with doing so.

Through the implementation of this Technical Strategy we will: Improve the service that we provide. Enable the Welsh Government to deliver its priorities. Reduce the costs associated with the provision of ICT services.

The areas of strategic importance described above were validated by the Strategic Leads Forum which later grouped them into appropriate themes. Those elements which most pertained to realising the universally promoted joined-up approach were themselves zygotically combined to form a single theme working on “a collaborating and co-ordinated approach” to ICT systems and their development, for example. Those strategic elements most applying to underlying technical competence were similarly grouped, as were those relating to the provision of appropriate tools to enable staff to carry out their functions.

In implementing the Technical Strategy the Welsh Government will be:

Collaborating and co-ordinated Technically competent Providing the tools for the job Widely integrated

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The “Collaborating and co-ordinated” theme is intended to focus on how we can better work together within the Welsh Government. We will aim to reduce costs by sharing services across departments and, where possible and appropriate, with other organisations. We will aim to reduce duplication by treating the Welsh Government as a single ICT organism instead of a loose federation. We will aim to provide clear governance for decision making, and clear metrics of success.

The “Technically Competent” theme will look at how our overarching services can be provided in the most efficient manner. To be widely accepted and externally validated as a ‘best in breed’ example of low-cost, high-efficiency, ICT without compromising either quality or security. We will look at how cloud solutions can be implemented and what governance and procedures that will require. We will revisit the mobile working solution to develop appropriate standards for frequent travellers, occasional travellers, and homeworkers. To quote one Director General, “I just want ICT that works”.

“Providing the tools for the job”, looks at the software set that we require to undertake our core business. To implement the Programme for Government; to meet our regulatory and legal responsibilities, and to improve the efficiency of the organisation.

Finally, “Widely Integrated” looks at how we will contextualise our ICT. How we will take note of our wider responsibilities, for example to the Welsh Government’s climate change policies; how we will ensure that we are business-focussed within the Welsh Government and appropriately connected with other programmes such as the Online Services Programme. We will look to align with the UK Public Sector’s direction of travel including the guidance provided by HM Government and by the Office of the (Welsh) CIO.

Taking a collaborating and co-ordinated approach to ICT systems

Clarifying governance & procedures; Taking an architectural approach to ICT; Sharing our services

This theme is intended to focus on how we can better work together within the Welsh Government.

Clarification of our governance and procedures is a work in progress taking place in parallel with the work on technology and business strategies as it has been necessary to establish powers and governance urgently, both in order to adequately manage the day-to-day business of the Welsh Government but also in order to provide a sound basis on which to progress decisions on the Technical Strategy and the Business Blueprint.

The principal work is now complete. Formal terms of reference are written for all the main bodies concerned. Some procedures remain to be developed, for example the development of a process to reassess ‘business as usual’ solutions and to revise the life-cycle of applications at an early enough stage to implement seamless upgrades.

A wider explanation of our systems is described in “How we make decisions”, above in Part one. Details of the terms of reference and other relevant documents can be found as an appendix to this policy.

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An architectural approach to ICT is a key plank in establishing an effective integration of business need and technology services. As described above, an architectural approach is one that looks to deal with the organisation as a whole entity to provide a common understanding of that organisation. The approach does not see Information Technology and business processes as separate elements but as interconnected.

Almost every significant public sector institution is moving to adopting a ‘whole organisation’ view of their establishment, or has already done so. In its plan on revising ICT governance the Ministry of Defence aims to “ensure that systems are coherent by using an Enterprise Architecture (EA) approach to connect business and ICT requirementsxc”. DEFRA believes that it has already done so with a “Common Architectural Approach” applied to its provision of business applicationsxci.

The ‘whole organisation’ culture underpins Shared Services and the management of corporate efficiency. Invariably, organisations adopting this approach have to deal with a culture change toward openness and teamwork.

In the Strategic Leads Forum, July 23rd 2012, members discussed whether the Welsh Government was capable of a ‘whole organisation’ approach, we agreed that we are, although it will not be easy to achieve. We believed that it would be based on the needs of business and will require commonality of data and to some extent commonality of business procedure.

Recommendation 1.

The Welsh Government will implement an Architectural Approach to our ICT provision.

Sharing our Services is an approach that is also being adopted across the board in the public sector. Institutions are sharing applications, data, information, and services both within and externally to their organisation. Within the Welsh Government we have the philosophical challenge of whether we wish to look to a shared services approach, and potentially the cultural challenge of sharing, not least ‘open data’ and the technical challenges of enabling that to happen. Sharing Services is both about unifying processes and also about sharing data sets.

The Government of the Isle of Man has adopted a simple creed:

“IoM Database and information records strategy. One record per citizen One record per company One record per pupil One record per patientxcii

The “One record” aspiration aligns with the Welsh Government Board’s previously agreed “tell us once” strategyxciii to improve our interaction with businesses and the public. Members of the ICT Strategic Leads Forum have identified a number of challenges: management and governance; data structures; data quality; and out of date information, for example.

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None of the challenges are incapable of resolution. Governance is difficult where a project is spread across departments and staff will need to learn to decry departmental nationalism and release power and budget to other departments, or to the centre, where others are better positioned to provide a product or service. The challenges are perhaps rather more cultural than organisational or technical.

The data issues are, however, largely technical. The establishment of an agreed single structure and the translation of existing data to a new structure is a prerequisite of a single-record strategy. The transition from existing multi-store models to a single data record will also involve the resolution of contradictions in the records. Cleaning that data for accuracy is not a small job but the alternative is to continue to hold inaccurate and frequently invisible records that challenge both our ability to operate and also our legal/regulatory compliance.

Recommendation 2.

The Welsh Government will implement a “One Record” policy for all pertinent categories.

Recommendation 3.

The Welsh Government will adopt a policy of “Share First” for all new services.

Recommendation 4.

The Welsh Government will review all current services to assess their potential for shared service amalgamation.

Within these reviews or within the proposed applications review below, we will also need to review our approach to the storage of information on Access and Excel platforms. We currently have an estimated 25,000 Access databases. We have no clear idea what data they hold, nor what role they play in the management of our operation. We do not know if we are meeting our legal obligations. Although if we don’t know if we are, then are it’s a fairly safe bet that we’re not.

We have a similar, if less extreme, issue with Excel spreadsheets, some of which are being used to record and store personal data. We do not know which ones.

Technically competent

The next generation platform – our cloud strategy; Mobility; Security.

All ICT provision is founded on the presumption of technical competence. Our systems must work, and work seamlessly to the user. They must be secure yet ergonomic; centralised for efficiency yet capable of seamless access from a wide range of locations anywhere in the world.

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The next generation platform is our strategic direction for hosting our services and purchasing our applications. The Cabinet Office’s Cloud Strategy for the UK Public Sector observes that, “Today, public sector ICT is characterised by high levels of duplication, silos of infrastructure, fragmented and often inappropriate provision and low levels of server utilisation. It is estimated that in some cases, infrastructure utilisation is less than 10%. In adopting the principles of commodity and cloud based services, the existing services must be rationalised and aligned with commodity services. Key to driving out the benefits will be the rationalisation of data centres to significantly reduce costs while increasing resilience and capabilityxciv.” The Americans are (unusually) more succinct. “Our responsibility in government is to achieve the significant cost, agility and innovation benefits of cloud computing as quickly as possiblexcv.”.

Doing just that, the identified Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) opportunities for the Welsh Government include: an opportunity to improve security, flexibility, cost reduction; and improved efficiency. Our aspirations for cloud computing will be a key part of the technology strategy. It is much more of a case of “how far we go” into the cloud rather than “if” we go into the cloud.

There are a number of pre-existing models for establishing a decision process that informs which among an institutions services should reasonably be migrated to a cloud-hosted solution. Kundra’s ‘flexible framework’, below, is a good example of the principles. Organisations first identify which services it is practical to move, ensure that services are aggregated appropriately (aligning also with the shared services / sharing services approach), then manage the service provided.

From “Federal Cloud Computing Strategy”, Kundra, V, 2011xcvi

As ever, many of the challenges are cultural. A change in mindset from providing hardware to providing services is one such challenge.

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Recommendation 5.

The Welsh Government will adopt a ‘cloud computing first’ strategy and review all of its hosting arrangements.

Mobility is another area where significant changes are taking place across the public sector. Many, possibly most, Civil Service departments are introducing unified communications systems with telephony, instant messaging and presence, and even desktop videoconferencing as standard equipment. Most are focussing on enabling all staff to work from a wide range of devices from any location.

In the Welsh Government we have constant complaints that our mobile provision “simply does not work” and anecdotally it is the reason behind the very poor staff survey results in those departments with a significant peripatetic or international presence. Mobility issues also attracted the greatest single set of observations when discussed by the Strategic Leads Forum. Forum members opined that our mobile solution should fully meet user need and be universally available. ICT Strategic Leads particularly emphasised the degree to which technologies developed initially for freedom of mobility, such as presence and messaging or device-based videoconferencing, have a homogenising effect, joining remote or virtual teams and harmonising workflow.

As noted above there are three clear benchmarks for effective mobility: Unifying communications into a single device-presence Maximising device compatibility; and Maximising geographical availability.

Recommendation 6.

The Welsh Government will provide mobile staff with a unified-communications solution that maximises geographical availability.

Unified communications, as well as presence and messaging, are already under discussion in the ‘fit for the future’ plans for improving ICT. Whether there is a single solution is debateable. The overseas component of our mobile working strategy, for example, may well benefit from investigating the FCO / DFID Echo programme for communication up to and including “Restricted”.

Providing the tools for the job

Our Applications strategy; Acquiring the software; The new enablers, Presence and Instant Messaging.

Our applications strategy is another opportunity to improve efficiency, lower cost, and improve user satisfaction. The Welsh Government has an estimated 232 software applications. The Ministry of Justice has 67. We often don’t know who owns an application, how it is meant to be supported, or whether it’s even in use.

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A key issue for the Welsh Government is providing a ‘Fit for the Future’ ICT service is how to rationalise our applications estate, and what that future estate will look like. Should we, for example, move to an “applications catalogue” with significantly fewer applications on the network? Should we have an ‘applications on demand’ facility?

A closely related issue is our management of software licenses. While many public sector institutions are centrally controlling license management most have historically delegated licensing to the purchasing departments and are now reviewing that tactic. Within the Welsh Government we have a number of licenses which apply to named users only; a number that apply to specific roles only; and a number that while transferrable can apply to only one specific user at any given time. It is unclear how many software licenses we hold, or even what for. Again, we’re not alone. Reporting on the UK Government’s one-year-on reviewxcvii of the (new) ICT Strategyxcviii the Guardian believes that over a third of UK Civil Service software licenses lie unusedxcix. We may well be typical.

Licensing proposals need to be rigorously reviewed. Wherever possible we will move to a floating license system with a capped number of users at any given point in time. As the Scottish Government put it, “The case for purchasing new proprietary licenses will have to stand up to scrutinyc”

Recommendation 7.

The Welsh Government will review all software licences and in future require all licensing proposals to be cleared by the Solutions Design Authority. This will apply both to hosted software and also to on-line services.

Returning to the applications themselves, after considering the issues the Strategic Leads Forum agreed that a catalogue approach is best adopted, with all software centrally recorded and accessed. We aspire to an environment where applications are available on-demand, standardised, and on every desktop or device.

The last report to the Board noted that, “There are a number of ‘overlapping’ systemsacross the different departments in the Welsh Government. There is no definitive view of the extent of duplicationci.” We propose to instigate an applications review with the following objectives:

Reducing duplication and reduce cost of provisiono A reduction in the number and complexity of business applicationso Having the most effective mix of strategic and tactical solutions;o Identifying opportunities for the retirement or consolidation of older and

smaller applications which are costly to support;o Having services that are “good enough” rather than “perfect”;

Increasing the agility of applications to meet new and changing requirements through:

o The exploitation of existing applications;o The timely and reliable provisioning of new capabilities;o Standardising common functions and supporting services;

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o Deploying applications that can scale to meet known and future requirements

Enabling the effective sharing of informationo Stable and reliable interoperability between applications;o Stable and reliable interoperability with third party applications such as

Welsh Public Sector interoperability objectives

Recommendation 8.

The Welsh Government will conduct a complete review of applications.

A related aspiration which overlaps our user satisfaction issues, below, is the ideal of “winning the desktop”, of seamlessly providing the user with the software and services that they require with minimal effort. At the moment our individual user application acquisition process is particularly sub-standard although improvements to the application set, the introduction Cloud Software as a Service, and improvements to our licensing procedures are intended to dramatically improve that situation.

There is one further strand to be addressed. Application Support will be addressed through the Applications Review, above. We have systems supported through a number of helpdesks, and some supported by none. Establishing the support method for any given application can be frustrating and time-consuming.

Acquiring the software. The problem is widely recognised. The Public Sector appears almost by instinct to buy monolithic highly-customised, bespoke software systems that are obsolete within minutes of commissioning. Our lack of “Intelligent Clients” means that we frequently fail to apply industry standards such as code-escrow, and the legal transfer of the copyright and droit moral.

Not to adopt a “Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) first” strategy would leave us isolated within the Civil Service.

Recommendation 9.

When acquiring new software the Welsh Government will "Re-use before Buying, Buy before Building".

The Strategic Leads Forum has also observed that it would be prudent to check within the Welsh Government and the wider public sector for suitable software before purchasing externally. This, and the commitment to "Re-use before Buying, Buy before Building" will be included in the business process approval template.

The Strategic Leads Forum has also noted the Government’s lead on the adoption of Open Source software. Open Source is not without its challenges which can include poor analysis of the total cost of ownership, security issues, and the availability of the

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skills to use and support the software. Nonetheless, we intend to overcome our institutional neophobia and propose to consider open source solutions as standard procedure.

Recommendation 10.

When acquiring new software the Welsh Government will consider open-source solutions.

This is not to mandate the use of open source software, it is however an intention to mandate the consideration of open source software.

Widely integrated

Our approach to overlapping or overarching policies such as Carbon Reduction; the Online Services Programme; Managing with Less; and our alignment with HM Government and Wales CIO ICT Strategies

Those identified areas of wider integration are largely a ‘given’ but are worth restating nonetheless. We absolutely need to achieve a Secure solution and one that isn’t will not be acceptable. Carbon reduction is an active Welsh Government policy where we are required , “to consider climate change in all decision-makingcii”. Within a judicious re-evaluation of our ICT services we may be able to make a significant contribution through cloud computing, carbon accounting our ICT estate, and mitigating the Welsh Government’s travel impact through teleworking. However, while ICT can contribute to the Welsh Government’s green agenda through the provision of new technology it will require a cultural shift within the organisation to achieve the full benefits.

A cost-effective, “managing with less” solution is yet another opportunity for a contribution to wider corporate objectives. The figure aspired to, and often achieved, by other departments are inspiring. Whether it’s the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices’ 33% guaranteed reduction, but a 40% target, or the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs’ commitment to, “reduce the overall costs of our ICT by up to 40%ciii.” Much of our approach is outlined in the “Managing with Less” section within the “internal influences” heading above. However it is worth re-stating that we intend to further develop the Commercial and Contracts Unit’s work on cost granularity. We will work tirelessly to reveal exact, relevant and useful cost data.

Recommendation 11.

The Welsh Government’s Places and Services Division will produce an ambitious cost reduction plan.

Places and Services Division will continue to work closely with the Online Services Programme. We will ensure that technology policy will continue to be aligned with HM Government and Wales CIO ICT Strategies.

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Metrics and measuring our successCommenting on the Department for Transport’s much-criticised shared services programme in “People Management” magazine, Keith Rogers emphasised the key importance of developing, and using, appropriate metrics to measure success. “More than three-and-a-half years on from the project launch, DfT collects data on only 14 out of 18 performance indicators, which implies less than total commitment to the principles of performance management. Worse, at the time of the committee hearing, it had hit only four of them. In its defence, DfT argued that its performance lagged averages in the private sector because it has less economies of scale and government reporting requirements add complexity. Both claims may well be true but, if they are, the department needs to develop more meaningful metrics that take these factors into accountciv.”

User satisfaction is one area where we have a chequered history. If we are to succeed in providing a fit for purpose ICT infrastructure we will need to ensure that our customers regard it as fit for purpose. All too often one encounters an attitude that blames the user for the shortfalls in the system. This must change. In addition to tracking user satisfaction we will apply social science research methodologies to truly understand our users’ needs and to apply appropriate remediation to any issues that may arise.

Recommendation 12.

The Welsh Government will track cost, user satisfaction, and benchmark with comparator institutions.

Comparator institutions will be used for a number of purposes: to identify alternative strategic approaches; to assess the effectiveness of other approaches to ICT provision; and to identify new software or operating solutions. Particular attention will be taken to enabling direct comparisons of user satisfaction. To this end we will both assess satisfaction and also report in the same format as is used by ORC International in the Civil Service wide People Surveycv.

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Part Three – Tactical implementation

Recommendations, Goals & initial timescale

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dati

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Goal Sub Goal Achieved Through ResourceStart work

Finish work

1

The Welsh Government will implement an Architectural Approach to our ICT provision.

This is a policy statement. It will be implemented as the approach that the Strategic Leads Forum takes to ICT policy.

Strategic Leads Forum

December 2012

Ongoing

Identify all relevant records

Research. Places & Services December 2012

April 2013

Develop implementation proposal

Implementation proposal paper to be presented to Strategic Leads and Operations Group

Places & Services March 2013

May 20132

The Welsh Government will implement a “One Record” policy for all pertinent categories.

Report to Ops Group

Places & Services May 2013 May 2013

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3

The Welsh Government will adopt a policy of “Share First” for all new services.

This is a policy statement. It will be implemented as the approach that the Solutions Design Authority takes to ICT implementation.

Solutions Design Authority / Architecture Office

December 2012

Ongoing

4

The Welsh Government will review all current services to assess their potential for shared service amalgamation.

Paper exercise from reports currently being compiled by Departments.

Places & Services Started in August 2012

March 2013

Adopt "Cloud Computing First" strategy

This is a policy statement. It will be implemented as the approach that the Solutions Design Authority takes to ICT implementation.


December 2012

Ongoing

5

The Welsh Government will adopt a ‘cloud computing first’ strategy and review all of its hosting arrangements.

Review hosting arrangements

Research project. Places & Services December 2012

April 2013

Compose mobile device minimum standards policy

Mandated minimum standard.

Places & Services, with advice from Solutions Design Authority

December 2012

April 2013

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The Welsh Government will provide mobile staff with a unified-communications solution that maximises geographical availability.

Review annually Solutions Design Authority / Architecture Office

February 2014

Annual, ongoing

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Review all software licenses

Full internal review Places & Services February 2013

May 2013

Publicity exercise Internal comms December 2012

February 2013

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The Welsh Government will review all software licences and in future require all licensing proposals to be cleared by the Solutions Design Authority. This will apply both to hosted software and also to on-line services.

Require all licensing proposals to be cleared by SDA Reviewing proposals Architecture office

within policy framework set by SDA

January 2013

ongoing

8

The Welsh Government will conduct a complete review of applications.

Recommend replacement

A full review of all applications.

February 2013

May 2013

9

When acquiring new software the Welsh Government will "Re-use before Buying, Buy before Building"


The policy will be implemented by the Architecture Office.

December 2012

Ongoing

10

When acquiring new software the Welsh Government will consider open-source solutions.


The policy will be implemented by the Architecture Office.

December 2012

Ongoing

11The Welsh Government’s Places and Services Division

Initial Review A review of current expenditure in parallel with other reviews, above

Places & Services December 2012

March 2013

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will produce an ambitious cost reduction plan.

Long-term reduction plan

Reduction plan developed in harmony with other reviews and clarified as changes to recording; and 'real' outputs are verified.


July 2014

Track user satisfaction

ORC Format survey Places & Services December 2012

March 2013

Track cost to establish service costs.

Simultaniously with initial review of current expenditure.


March 201312

The Welsh Government will track cost, user satisfaction, and benchmark with comparator institutions.

Benchmark with comparator institutions

Identify comparators and establish data partnerships.

Places & Services February 2013

July 2014

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Governance Structures

As outlined previously, the institutions that control and manage the ICT service consist of:

The Strategic Leads ForumComprised of the most senior ICT decision maker from each department the SLF’s role is to oversee the strategic direction of the service.

The Solutions Design AuthorityComprised of technically knowledgeable staff the SDA sets technical policy within the boundaries laid down by the SLF.

Domain Expert Fora.The SLF and the SDA have agreed six Domain Expert Fora which bring together technical experts within the given technical area. They are: Information Management and Collaboration; Networking and Communications; Hosting and Infrastructure; Business Applications; End User IT; and the Online Information & Service Programme SDA.

The terms of reference for each of the above are in the Reference section.

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Reference Section

Benchmarking institutions

The following institutions’ ICT/ICT strategies have been reviewed and elements may have been incorporated into this strategy.

Civil Service Departments Department for Culture, Media and Sport Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Department for International Development Foreign & Commonwealth Office HM Treasury Home Office Ministry of Defence Ministry of Justice Northern Ireland Executive

Non-Departmental; sub-departmental; & other comparator bodies Greater London Authority Highways Agency Isle of Man Government Metropolitan Police Service Northern Ireland Assembly Scottish Parliament States of Guernsey States of Jersey Veterinary Medicines Directorate

Foreign public sector ICT strategies, sub-strategies and extracts Federal Cloud Computing Strategy (USA) Government of Malta

No current strategyThe Attorney General's Office does not have a strategy of their own while, at the time of assessment the DWP and DCLG are reviewing their strategies to align with the UK Government ICT strategy. The Scottish Government was working to an outdated policy while developing a new strategy.

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Governance Structures

Ops Group

Board

Solutions Design Authority


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Dep

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InstructsReports to

InstructsReports to

Instructs

Reports to

Requests

Advises

Exists to govern the overall strategic direction and subsequent investments in ICT of the Welsh Government.

Departmental Strategic Leads are the most senior ICT decision makers in the relevant department.

The technical approval forum which assesses project proposals and assists Strategic Leads with technical advice.

Dep

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The Architecture office is the central pool of permanent technical experts while the Domain fora are subject-expert groups.

Architecture Office

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The Terms of Reference of the Strategic Leads Forum

RoleThe ICT Strategic Leads Forum is responsible for:

Governing the overall ICT strategic direction and subsequent investments of the Welsh Government.

Driving collective action across DG areas to ensure the Welsh Government’s ICT capability operates as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The initial consideration of new ICT proposals impacting on the organisation as a whole.

Defining the strategic policy framework for the Solutions Design Authority. Receiving the minutes of the SDA to:

o Note the actions of the SDA made under delegated authority.o Consider items referred from the SDA up to the SLF.o Comment on any aspect of the SDA meeting.

Providing strategic ICT advice to WG Departments in relation to ICT Projects and Services.

Ensuring all WG Departmental ICT Investments and Services remain aligned with WG Business Strategies and the WG ICT Strategy.

Reviewing and providing feedback on the performance of ICT Services provided to each Department by PPCS/PLSE.

Reviewing and approving the Departmental Annual ICT plans.

Membership/Chairing arrangementsThe ICT Strategic Leads Forum is the forum of the most senior ICT decision makers within the Welsh Government and its constituent departments. Departmental Strategic Leads are the most senior ICT decision makers in the relevant department.

Membership of the Strategic Leads Forum shall comprise of: The Deputy Director, Places & Services. The Departmental ICT Strategic Lead from each department, viz:

o Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science.o Department for Education and Skills.o Dept for Health, Social Services and Children.o Legal Services Department.o Local Government and Communities.o People, Places and Corporate Service.o Permanent Secretary’s Division.o Strategic Planning, Finance and Performance.o Sustainable Futures.

Such person(s) as may be nominated by Operations Group. Co-opted members.

The ICT Strategic Leads Forum may co-opt such representatives as it feels are appropriate. Co-opted members shall count towards the quorum.

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The Meeting will be Chaired by the Deputy Director, Places & Services, or such person as the Deputy Director, Places & Services may nominate.

Observers should request leave of the Chair in advance of the meeting and are permitted at the Chair’s discretion.

Frequency/structure of MeetingsFrequency & Calling Meetings of the Strategic Leads Forum will be called by the Chair. No fewer than ten working days notice will be given of any meeting. The Strategic Leads Forum will normally meet on a monthly basis and in any

event not fewer than ten occasions per year. Meetings will last approximately two hours depending on agenda items.

Agenda & Structure The agenda will be formulated by the Chair. Agenda items may be initiated by the Chair, by the Strategic Leads Forum at a

prior meeting, by Operations Group, or by the Solutions Design Authority. The quorum of the meeting shall be 50% of the membership at the time of

calling the meeting. Papers for consideration will be submitted to the Chair no fewer than seven

working days before the date of the meeting. The agenda and any papers for the meeting will be issued by the office of the

Deputy Director, Places & Services no fewer than five working days before the meeting.

Support arrangementsSecretariat support for the Strategic Leads Forum will be provided by the office of the Deputy Director, Places & Services. The Deputy Director, Places & Services will be responsible though their office for compiling agendas commissioning, assuring andcirculating papers; recording decisions and monitoring action points.

Reporting/Communication arrangementsThe minutes of the meeting of the Strategic Leads Forum will be circulated to: The membership of the Strategic Leads Forum within five working days

following the meeting. The Operations Group Secretariat within five working days following the

meeting.

The Deputy Director, Places & Services will ensure that a quarterly report of the work of the Strategic Leads Forum is presented to the Operations Group Secretariat.

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The Terms of Reference of the Solutions Design Authority

RoleThe Solutions Design Authority is responsible for: Governing the ICT technical standards of the Welsh Government. Driving collective action across DG areas to ensure the Welsh Government’s

ICT capability operates to the best common and agreed technical standards. The consideration of the technical suitability of new ICT proposals.

o The SDA may accept without further reference such proposals as it considers both technically competent and within policy set down by the Strategic Leads Forum.

o The SDA may reject without further reference such proposals as it considers are technically inappropriate our outside of policy set down by the Strategic Leads Forum.

o Regardless of whether a proposed solution is technically acceptable or not, if the proposal raises strategic issues then the proposal is referred to SLF.

o Regardless of whether a proposed solution is technically acceptable or not, if the proposal is outside of the mandate granted to SDA by SLF then the proposal is referred to SLF.

Receiving the minutes of the Domain Expert Fora to:o Note the opinions of the relevant DEF on any given proposal.o Consider items referred to the SDA up from a DEFo Comment on any aspect of a DEF meeting.

Providing technical advice to WG Departments in relation to ICT Projects and Services.

Advising the Architecture Office on technical standards to be adopted. Defining a policy framework for the Architecture Office to follow when

automatically accepting or rejecting project proposals. Ensuring all WG Departmental ICT Investments and Services remain aligned

with the WG ICT Strategy as it relates to technical standards. Reviewing and providing feedback on the technical performance of ICT

Services provided to each Department by PPCS/PLSE. Reviewing the technical aspects of the Departmental Annual ICT plans and

advising the Strategic Leads Forum appropriately.

Membership/Chairing arrangementsMembership of the Solutions Design Authority shall comprise of: The Deputy Director, Places & Services or her/his nominee. Such person(s) as may be nominated by the Strategic Leads Forum. Co-opted members.

The ICT Solutions Design Authority may co-opt such representatives as it feels are appropriate. Co-opted members shall count towards the quorum.

The Meeting will be Chaired by such person as the Deputy Director, Places & Services may nominate.

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Suppliers or external consultants may be in attendance to advise if called upon but will not form part of the quorum.

Frequency/structure of MeetingsFrequency & Calling Meetings of the Solutions Design Authority will be called by the Chair. No fewer than five working days notice will be given of any meeting. The Solutions Design Authority will normally meet on a monthly basis and in

any event not fewer than ten occasions per year. Meetings will last approximately two hours depending on agenda items. A meeting must be called within ten working days of a proposal being referred

to the SDA by the Architecture Office.

Agenda & Structure The agenda will be formulated by the Chair. Agenda items may be initiated by the Chair, by the Solutions Design Authority

at a prior meeting, by the Architecture Office or by the Strategic Leads Forum. The quorum of the meeting shall be 50% of the membership at the time of

calling the meeting. Papers for consideration will be submitted to the Chair no fewer than seven

working days before the date of the meeting. The agenda and any papers for the meeting will be issued by the office of the

Deputy Director, Places & Services no fewer than five working days before the meeting.

Support arrangementsSecretariat support for the Solutions Design Authority will be provided by the office of the Deputy Director, Places & Services. The Deputy Director, Places & Services will be responsible though their office for compiling agendas commissioning, assuring and circulating papers; recording decisions and monitoring action points.

Reporting/Communication arrangementsThe minutes of the meeting of the Solutions Design Authority will be circulated to: The membership of the Solutions Design Authority within five working days

following the meeting. The Strategic Leads Forum Secretariat within five working days following the

meeting.

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Standard Terms of Reference for a Domain Expert Forum

RoleThe <name> Domain Expert Forum is responsible for:

Recommending the ICT technical standards and solutions within the <domain area> to the Solution Design Authority (SDA)

Considering the technical suitability of relevant proposals and making recommendations to the SDA

Communicating, and ensuring understanding of, relevant technical standards and solutions

Reporting breaches of technical standards to the SDA Maintaining a register of technologies in use which fall within the purview of

the domain Reviewing the life cycle of relevant technologies and making appropriate

recommendations to the SDA

In carrying out its duties the <name> Domain Expert Forum will:

Monitor the minutes of other Domain Expert Fora (DEF) to: - Note the opinions of the relevant DEF on proposals where information and services may overlap - Identify opportunities for collaboration Consider items referred to the <name> Domain Expert Forum from another

DEF Refer for advice items which might reasonably fall within the competence of

another DEF Provide technical opinion to the SDA to inform DGs in relation to their requests

for expert opinion

Membership/Chairing arrangements

Membership of the <name> Domain Expert Forum shall comprise of: Such representatives as the SDA chooses to nominate Co-opted members

The OISP SDA may co-opt such representatives as it feels are appropriate. Co-opted members shall count towards the quorum.

Meetings will be chaired by a nominee of the SDA.


Suppliers or external contractors may be in attendance to advise if called upon but will not form part of the quorum.

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Frequency/structure of meetingsFrequency & Calling Meetings of the <name> Domain Expert Forum will be called by the Chair. The <name> Domain Expert Forum will normally meet on a quarterly basis (or

as required) and in accordance with the Domain Expert Fora meeting cycle. Meetings will last approximately one hour depending on agenda items.

Agenda & Structure

The agenda will be agreed prior to each meeting by the Chair. Agenda items may be initiated by the Chair, by the <name> Domain Expert

Forum at a prior meeting, by the SDA or by the Strategic Leads Forum. The quorum of the meeting shall be 50% of the membership at the time of

calling the meeting. The agenda and any papers for the meeting will be issued by the Chair.

Support arrangements

The Chair will provide secretariat support including compiling agendas, commissioning, assuring and circulating papers, recording decisions and monitoring action points.

Reporting/Communication arrangements

Recommendation, minutes and action points will be circulated to <name> Domain Expert Forum members promptly after each meeting.

<name> Domain Expert Forum meeting minutes may be published on the intranet once approved.

All papers and minutes will be copied to the Chair of the SDA.

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Government Digital Service, Design Principles

Listed below are our design principles and examples of how we’ve used them so far. These build on, and add to, our original 7 digital principles.

1. Start with needs2. Do less3. Design with data4. Do the hard work to make it simple5. Iterate. Then iterate again.6. Build for inclusion7. Understand context8. Build digital services, not websites9. Be consistent, not uniform10. Make things open: it makes things better

1. Start with needs USER NEEDS NOT GOVERNMENT NEEDSThe design process must start with identifying and thinking about real user needs. We should design around those — not around the way the ‘official process’ is at the moment. We must understand those needs thoroughly — interrogating data, not just making assumptions — and we should remember that what users ask for is not always what they need.

We use ‘needs’ as an organising principle since people come to our sites to accomplish tasks and to fulfil needs, not just to hang out. Focusing on needs means we can concentrate on the things that deliver most value for money.

2. Do lessGovernment should only do what only government can do. If someone else is doing it — link to it. If we can provide resources (like APIs) that will help other people build things — do that. We should concentrate on the irreducible core.We’ll make better services and save more money by focusing resources where they’ll do the most good.

3. Design with dataNormally, we’re not starting from scratch — users are already using our services. This means we can learn from real world behaviour. We should do this, but we should make sure we continue this into the build and development process —prototyping and testing with real users on the live web. We should understand the desire paths of how we are designing with data and use them in our designs.This is the great advantage of digital services — we can watch and learn from user behaviour, shaping the system to fit what people naturally choose to do rather than bending them to a system we’ve invented.

4. Do the hard work to make it simpleMaking something look simple is easy; making something simple to use is much harder — especially when the underlying systems are complex — but that’s what we should be doing.

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With great power comes great responsibility — very often people have no choice but to use our services. If we don’t work hard to make them simple and usable we’re abusing that power, and wasting people’s time.

5. Iterate. Then iterate again.The best way to build effective services is to start small and iterate wildly. Release Minimum Viable Products early, test them with real users, move from Alpha to Beta to Launch adding features and refinements based on feedback from real users.Iteration reduces risk. It makes big failures unlikely and turns small failures into lessons. This avoids the 200 page spec document which can turn into a bottleneck. This, again, is the core advantage of digital: we’re not building bridges — things can be undone.

6. Build for inclusionAccessible design is good design. We should build a product that’s as inclusive, legible and readable as possible. If we have to sacrifice elegance — so be it. We shouldn’t be afraid of the obvious, shouldn’t try to reinvent web design conventions and should set expectations clearly.We’re designing for the whole country — not just the ones who are used to using the web. In fact, the people who most need our services are often the people who find them hardest to use. If we think about those people at the beginning we should make a better site for everyone.

7. Understand contextWe’re not designing for a screen, we’re designing for people. We need to think hard about the context in which they’re using our services. Are they in a library? Are they on a phone? Are they only really familiar with Facebook? Have they never used the web before?

We’re designing for a very diverse group of users with very different technologies and needs. We need to make sure we’ve understood the technological and practical circumstances in which our services are used. Otherwise we risk designing beautiful services that aren’t relevant to people’s lives.

8. Build digital services, not websitesOur service doesn’t begin and end at our website. It might start with a search engineand end at the post office. We need to design for that, even if we can’t control it. And we need to recognise that some day, before we know it, it’ll be about different digital services again.We shouldn’t be about websites, we should be about digital services. Right now, the best way to deliver digital services is via the web — but that might change, and sooner than we might expect.

9. Be consistent, not uniformWherever possible we should use the same language and the same design patterns — this helps people get familiar with our services. But, when this isn’t possible, we should make sure our underlying approach is consistent. So our users will have a reasonable chance of guessing what they’re supposed to do.This isn’t a straitjacket or a rule book. We can’t build great services by rote. We can’t imagine every scenario and write rules for it. Every circumstance is different and

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should be addressed on its own terms. What unites things, therefore, should be a consistent approach — one that users will hopefully come to understand and trust —even as we move into new digital spaces.

10. Make things open: it makes things betterWe should share what we’re doing whenever we can. With colleagues, with users, with the world. Share code, share designs, share ideas, share intentions, share failures. The more eyes there are on a service the better it gets — howlers get spotted, better alternatives get pointed out, the bar gets raised.

Partly because much of what we’re doing is only possible because of open source code and the generosity of the web design community. So we should pay that back. But mostly because more openness makes for better services — better understood and better scrutinised. If we give away our code, we’ll be repaid in better code. That’s why we’re giving away all this...

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HM Parliament, “Public Accounts Committee - Fortieth Report, Information and Communications Technology in government”. July 2011

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