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Modernisation and Reform

How challenge-driven innovation is helping Defence identify and solve problems

Designed as a Laser Directed Energy Weapon to demonstrate the potential for future weapons systems, using high powered laser beams to acquire, track, target and destroy relevant targets. A briefing took place at Wellington Barracks in London today (17 July 2023), showcasing the latest Science & Technology work underway within Defence. This formed part of the British Army Expo London 2023 (Army Expo), taking place on the 18th until the 20th of July. The three day event will demonstrate to an audience of invited guests the value the Army brings both at home and overseas and will highlight how its mobilisation and modernisation programme is progressing, as well as outlining its vision for the future.

A guest blog by Stuart Laws, Portfolio and Outreach Assistant Head, Defence Innovation Unit. Innovation is the lifeblood of change, but how can it be harnessed effectively within government departments? In this blog post, we'll explore the concept of challenge-driven …

An Innovative Journey: Why 20% really matters

Moodboard capturing the real-time content creation assistant ideas

Guest blog by Ross Middleham, Creative Lead at the Met Office. At the Met Office, one of our core values is that ‘we keep evolving’. We are constantly horizon-scanning for ways to make improvements and deliver value. So in August 2023, …

Government is one of the largest employers of digital and data professionals in the UK

government digital and data logo

Guest blog by Mike Potter, Government Chief Digital Officer. At the end of last year, the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) launched Government Digital and Data, a community of experts leading digital transformation in government. Together, we are a …

Meet the Modern Civil Service: Jenny Brooker

Jenny Brooker, Chief Data Architect, CDDO

  Hello! Welcome to the fourth interview in the Meet the Modern Civil Service series. The aim of this series is to showcase the people in the civil service who are innovating change, whether that be through being a learning champion, …

Connecting to communities through policy making

Policy professionals gathered at the policy event in Sheffield.

Sheffield is home to the first government Policy Campus outside of Whitehall. As part of the Places for Growth programme, the Civil Service is delivering a range of Government Hub sites across the UK as well as relocating 22,000 roles …

The innovation book club: great reads to give a hoot about!

An owl sitting on a chair reading a book.

What are the best books to read on innovation? We asked a range of leaders across the Civil Service for favourite literary recommendations to inspire innovative thinking, from popular guides to to inspirational novels, with a few videos and podcasts …

One Big Thing 2023: putting the ‘big’ in big data!

OBT learning highlights

The Civil Service launched One Big Thing on 4 September 2023, as a new annual initiative for civil servants to take shared action each year around a reform priority.  Our theme for 2023 was data skills and we committed to …

Building the first policy campus beyond Whitehall

Sheffield policy building

A new government campus will help Sheffield become a powerhouse for policy making and talent development, in line with the Capability and Place missions as part of A Modern Civil Service. In June, the Government’s first policy campus launched in …

Harnessing the power of local statistics with ONS

UK Statistics Authority building

A guest blog from ONS. We all know that working out what's actually happening on the ground can be difficult. Linking national data to where people live and work is often a challenge for many civil servants, especially when you’re …

Building an Innovative Civil Service

Civil servants at the One Big Conference on data in November 2023

  A Modern Civil Service is our vision of a skilled, innovative and ambitious organisation equipped for the future. We've discussed what we mean by 'skilled', but what do we mean by 'innovative'?" Innovation has a wide range of applications, …