The Covid-19 pandemic means that many citizens are contacting their local authority online for the very first time. Unable to communicate with officials face-to-face, they expect seamless and effective service through digital channels instead.

The use of data analytics and automation can improve the experience of users and deliver savings compared to the more traditional service-desk SLA approach.

The Economic impact of digital inclusion in the UK report has found every £1 invested in building essential digital skills contributes £9.48 to the UK economy.

As political leaders and civil servants react to an ever-increasing array of challenges, we consider how to make time for placemaking and digital projects.

How can levelling-up be truly achieved when there’s still a large gap between those who are digitally included and those in our communities who are not?

For the past five years the number of homeless people in the UK has been rising, with Crisis estimating that up to 200,000 families and individuals are now experiencing the most severe forms of homelessness, including rough sleeping.

It’s been a few months since the long awaited Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail was published, with some early signs of reform already being introduced, such as the recent launch of new flexible tickets for commuters.

We look at public sector digital transformation projects delivered during the pandemic such as the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) Test and Trace programme.

At a recent roundtable in partnership with Wired, Doug Brown, Head of Data, Cyber and AI Guild and Chief Data Scientist of Capita Consulting, was joined by Lisa Talia Moretti, a digital sociologist at the Ministry of Justice; Reid Darby, innovation lead at Golden Valley Development in Cheltenham; Carly Kind, Director at the Ada Lovelace Institute and Tavi Kotka, an engineer/entrepreneur and former Chief Information Officer for the Estonian government to discuss data, identity and the digital citizen.

In a world of non-stop innovation, where it feels like there are apps to serve every purpose and new technologies are emerging onto the market at breakneck speeds, perhaps it’s time to take a step back and ask ourselves: how can we be sure that the technology we’re making is truly benefiting society and, just as importantly, can be accessed by everybody?