Exploring the possibilities of unrestricted data
Embracing Government-as-a-Platform (GaaP) in the UK for Efficient Digital Services
The UK government is making strides in digital transformation, with a focus on Government-as-a-Platform (GaaP)—an approach that provides shared foundational digital services and infrastructure for various departments and agencies. This strategy, championed by the Government Digital Service (GDS), aims to streamline service delivery and enhance citizen access.
A Brief History of GaaP in the UK
The concept of GaaP gained prominence within the UK government as part of its broader digital transformation strategy, initiated by the GDS in 2011. The goal was to create reusable components, like identity verification and payments, shared across departments, reflecting the GaaP philosophy. Over time, GDS developed GOV.UK as a single domain and platform, and initiated projects such as the GOV.UK Wallet and App, designed to simplify access to digital services and documents[2].
The Benefits of GaaP
The adoption of GaaP offers several advantages:
- Efficiency Gains: By sharing digital building blocks and infrastructure, departments can avoid duplication, reduce development and maintenance costs, and accelerate deployment.
- Improved User Experience: Citizens access multiple government services through consistent, interoperable platforms, such as the GOV.UK Wallet.
- Scalability and Flexibility: Allows quick iteration and innovation by reusing components across services.
- Better Data Sharing and Integration: Facilitates smoother data flows within government, supporting initiatives like AI adoption in public services[2].
- Transparency and Governance: Central platforms enable streamlined oversight and resilience, crucial for handling risks and emergencies[5].
The Future of GaaP in the UK
As of 2025, the UK government continues to evolve its digital government strategy under GDS’s stewardship. Recent efforts include launching the GOV.UK Wallet and App, publishing an AI Playbook, and overall reforms aimed at saving £45 billion, enhancing efficiency, and leveraging technology and AI across public services, including the NHS[2]. Resilience and governance actions are also being taken to ensure the platform and associated services are robust and trustworthy[5].
Nurturing Digital Skills and Open Data in the UK
To fully leverage the potential of GaaP, the UK must actively nurture, develop, and professionalize its digital skills base. This includes making it easy for government to access the best combination of internal capabilities and a rich marketplace of specialist digital suppliers. Furthermore, tying open data more explicitly into the day-to-day operations of government, such as decision making, policy development, and performance management, could drive demand for further improvements in the open data available[1].
Good architecture could build-in, not bolt-on, secure and controlled production and publishing of open data to government services, reducing cost. Increased demand for open data could lead to improvements in depth, currency, and accuracy of the open data available, benefiting not only the government but also industry and the public[1].
Tim O'Reilly, who popularized the term 'open source', stated that government should treat information produced by and on behalf of citizens as a national asset and that its role should be to convene and enable rather than initiate civic action[1]. This approach aligns with the UK's commitment to open data and its membership in the global network of the most digitally advanced governments, D5, which includes South Korea, Estonia, Israel, and New Zealand[4].
In conclusion, the UK’s Government-as-a-Platform approach has evolved from a key part of GDS’s digital transformation strategy since 2011 and has matured into an active program focused on shared digital infrastructure, demonstrated by projects like the GOV.UK Wallet. Benefits center on efficiency, improved citizen experience, and integration capabilities. Current efforts continue to modernize government IT, incorporate AI responsibly, and enhance resilience within a platform-driven government[2][5].
Data-and-cloud-computing technologies are essential in supporting the implementation of Government-as-a-Platform (GaaP) in the UK, as they allow for the centralization of shared digital services and infrastructure, improving scalability and flexibility.
Embracing the principles of data sharing and integration through cloud-based solutions is crucial for the optimal functioning of GaaP, facilitating smoother data flows within government departments and services, thereby supporting initiatives like AI adoption in public services.
