The great legacy escape: How government can finally break free

In the past month, we've kickstarted our initiative — "The Great Legacy Escape" — which shows how government can unshackle itself from its legacy processes and systems through digitisation, automation and AI.

The need to address legacy in government has always been present. But in recent years, the drumbeat to act has intensified.

Many government organisations still depend on unsupported, unpatched legacy systems. And the problem is growing.

The recent “State of Digital Government Review” said there are “deep systemic challenges” around legacy and under-digitisation in government organisations.

The number of high-risk, critical systems in central government increased by 26% from 2023 to 2024, according to the review.

It gives examples of how His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) handles 100,000 calls daily, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) processes 45,000 letters daily, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) manages over 500 paper-based services.

These aren’t just abstract numbers. For government organisations, they cause real-world frustrations.

Legacy processes — a barrier to a modern, joined-up digital government

The message is clear: clinging to legacy systems and making do with manual processes isn’t optional anymore. The costs, dangers and missed opportunities are too high.

Here’s what under-digitisation and legacy systems mean in practice for government departments:

How suppliers can help with the government's legacy escape

Government can’t tackle the problem alone. The issues aren't just about the technical complexities around legacy — they’re also systemic, often tied to organisational culture, funding cycles, procurement constraints, and a shortage of specialist skills.

This is where organisations need support from industry, which can bring the necessary experience and expertise to navigate these complex environments.

We’ve helped several government agencies in the most sensitive national security areas digitise, automate and modernise legacy systems.

We found that success depended on really understanding their existing landscape, building alignment across stakeholders and picking opportunities based on impact and user pain points — something that we’ve been able to do relatively quickly with our Transformation Day workshops.

A user-centred approach is key to ensuring solutions are used and effective for those who rely on them, while taking an agile and iterative approach allows the transition from legacy systems with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.

The benefits of modernisation are endless — streamlined operations, lower costs, stable systems, improved security, easier reporting and data-driven decision-making, seamless data sharing, a better user experience, and opening the door to innovation, such as AI.

The path to a modern, efficient and secure digital government is clear. It's just that some government departments need a little help to get started — and organisations like Zaizi are ready to do that.

Central Government Programme activities

The techUK Central Government Programme provides a forum for government to engage with tech suppliers. We advocate for the govtech sector, evangelise tech as a solution to public sector challenges, facilitate market engagement, and help make the public sector an easier market to operate in. Visit the programme page here.