From Silos to Service: Why Digital Must Be at the Heart of Government

In this environment, digital can’t be treated as just another task on the to-do list. It’s not the IT team’s problem or something you bolt on at the end. It needs to be embedded in how public services are planned, delivered, and improved — across local and central government alike. Every. Single. Day.

At BetterGov, we have seen that the most impactful organisations — from councils to Whitehall departments — are those that treat digital as a shared responsibility and a core way of working. Not a side hustle. Not a "tech thing." Just how things get done.

Digital Is a Culture and a Way of Working

Too often digital is thought of as “the IT team’s job.” No, it isn't! Digital is not confined IT equipment, software, or websites. It is how services are designed, how decisions are made, and how teams work together. From how social care teams manage caseloads, to scheduling housing visits to processing grant applications to managing public consultations — digital underpins everything

When digital thinking is embedded across teams — whether in a borough council or a central policy unit — policy, delivery, design, technology, and frontline staff - services become more joined-up, more responsive, and frankly, more human. It starts with getting different teams working together, breaking down silos, and engaging the people who actually use the service, not just the people who write the brief. It's about involving residents and users throughout service design and delivery.

And no, you do not have to turn everyone into a developer. But you do need a shared mindset — where everyone understands that good digital means understanding users, iterating based on feedback, and keeping things simple.

Learning from Central Government, Adapting for Local Needs

Central government has made substantial progress in areas like user-centred design, agile working, and service standards. The GOV.UK platform, service standards, and commitment to user-centred design have set a solid foundation. These approaches have helped make services more accessible and accountable at national scale. These provide a useful blueprint, but local councils operate in a different context — more place-based, often with tighter budgets and more diverse populations.

The challenge is not simply replicating what central government does. It is about adapting those principles to local realities, making sure digital approaches are practical, relevant, and sustainable at the council level.

BetterGov helps councils translate these best practices into approaches that fit their unique needs — ensuring digital tools and ways of working support local priorities effectively.

Learning from Local Government, Adapting for Central Realities

The flow goes both ways. Central government has a lot to learn from local councils, too — particularly around working closer to communities, handling edge cases, and designing services in the face of very real constraints. Local teams are often closest to complex, nuanced resident needs and have developed agile, multidisciplinary ways of working to respond quickly.

Councils’ experience with constrained budgets, community engagement, and frontline delivery offers practical lessons that can inform national digital efforts — especially as central government looks to be more joined-up and place-aware.

At BetterGov, we champion this two-way exchange: digital transformation works best when it is collaborative and adaptive across government levels.

From Projects to Products, with Residents and Users at the Centre

One shift we champion at BetterGov — across all levels of government — is moving from projects to products to service. Projects start and stop. Products and Services evolve. They are owned by multidisciplinary teams and iterated over time based on data and user feedback.

This mindset keeps the focus where it should be on users. Whether you call them residents, citizens, claimants, carers, jobseekers, or business owners — people need services that just work. That are accessible, clear, and responsive to their needs, online or off.

Thinking in terms of products and services helps both local and central government teams break the cycle of start-stop initiatives and build services that actually stick — and improve.

This approach puts user insight at the heart of decisions — not just through initial research, but ongoing feedback and data-driven iteration. The result is more inclusive, effective services that respond to changing needs.

Benefits of a product centric operating model

De-Risking Innovation with BetterGov’s “Rapid Pre-Discovery"

A common issue in both local and central government is knowing where to focus specially with limited resources. Not every idea needs a full discovery phase — and not every problem is worth solving at scale.

That is where BetterGov’s Pre-Discovery offer comes in. It helps public sector teams make better decisions before committing time and budget. Having worked in government for the past 10 years, I’ve gained direct insight into the realities of delivery — from the common blockers that slow progress to the decisions that often get delayed due to unclear ownership, competing priorities, or stretched resources. Stepping into my role leading digital for BetterGov’s work with UK public sector organisations, I’ve drawn on that experience — and a deep understanding of the capacity and capability challenges across government — to shape a set of propositions grounded in real user needs. These are designed to support both local and central government in delivering better, faster, and more sustainable outcomes.

One such model is the rapid Pre-discovery. This approach has been designed to help councils and departments quickly assess which opportunities are worth pursuing and answer the most critical question - “should we even investigate this?” We start by clarifying the problem and applying a tailored triage matrix to prioritise ideas with the most potential impact.

Next, we align on scope by setting clear outcomes, mapping stakeholders, and running light-touch user research. We help build outcome focussed roadmaps. With light-touch research, we help teams understand user needs using a fast ‘design, test, learn’ model to quickly validate assumptions.

Finally, we help build a simple outline business case, paired with templates for agile funding and phased delivery. It is about funding people not programme, that is a cultural shift to address as well. This process reduces risk and builds confidence to proceed, making innovation more achievable and less daunting.

It is a fast, low-risk way to get clarity and confidence — and avoid wasting effort on ideas that will not deliver.

Building Digital Capability Across the Organisation

Real transformation does not happen when digital is kept in a corner. It happens when skills, mindset, and ownership are distributed — across leadership, operations, delivery, and frontline teams.

Whether it is a council service manager or a central policy lead, everyone benefits from understanding the basics: user research, agile planning, service design, and data-led decision-making.

BetterGov supports this through hands-on delivery and capability-building — helping public sector teams become more confident, more collaborative, and more equipped to own and evolve their digital services.

A Different Way to Deliver Public Services

Digital transformation is not just a single project or technology implementation. It represents a fundamental change in how government organisations—both local and central—operate, design, and deliver services.

By sharing learning across the different levels of government, adapting approaches to specific contexts, and applying fast, focused discovery methods to prioritise and validate ideas, public sector organisations can build more resilient, inclusive, and effective services that meet today’s needs and are prepared for the challenges of tomorrow. And if that journey also means fewer PDFs, less duplication, and one less panic about writing a business case — that is a win in our book.

Let's make digital everyone’s business and build better public services together!

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