This document discusses the work of the Government Digital Service (GDS) in the UK. It summarizes some of GDS's key goals and principles, including starting with user needs, designing with data, doing less, and building things that others can build upon. It also mentions some specific digital services and platforms GDS has created, like GOV.UK Pay and Notify. Finally, it discusses GDS's work on establishing open registers of government data and moving toward a digital ecosystem in the UK.

1. Paul Downey
Registers
Government Digital Service
@psd

3. History

4. Long time coming …

6. Create [GDS]
Fix publishing
Fix transactions
Go wholesale

7. So how can we help make
better services, across
government, for less?

8. Government?

11. gov.uk/government/organisations

15. 15

19. Publishing

21. GDS
1. Start with needs
2. Do less
3. Design with data
4. Do the hard work to make it simple
5. Iterate. Then iterate again.
6. This is for everyone
7. Understand context
8. Build things people can build on
9. Be consistent, not uniform
10. Make things open: it makes things better
Design Principles

22. Start with needs*
* user needs, not government needs

25. Design with Data

26. gov.uk/performance

28. https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/10/21/
how-many-people-are-missing-out-on-
javascript-enhancement/

29. https://gdstechnology.blog.gov.uk/
2016/09/19/why-we-use-progressive-
enhancement-to-build-gov-uk/

30. https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/03/11/
interesting-browser-stats/

31. https://
www.gov.uk/
after-a-death

32. https://
www.gov.uk/
info/
after-a-death

33. Do the hard work
to make it simple

36. Do
less

38. It must be gov, yeah, yeah!

39. No link left behind!

40. Use the HTTP:

51. Transactions

53. https://www.gov.uk/
service-manual

54. https://www.gov.uk/
service-manual/
making-software/
apis.html

59. Working on an
exemplar

65. GDS@psd
Theodore
Burton
Fox Ruoff

67. The mirror
principle
— the register of title should reflect, accurately and
completely, and beyond all argument, the facts that
are material to the title

68. The curtain
principle
— the public register should be the sole and definitive
source of information for proposing purchasers, but
not reveal sensitive information

69. The insurance
principle
— if, as a result of human error, the title is proved to
be defective in any way, then the person or persons
suffering loss as a result must be able to claim
compensation

71. Autonomy Mastery Purpose

77. Define a
steel-thread

78. Iterate, then iterate again!

79. Biomorphs – Richard Dawkins

90. We had an epic team!

92. and we learnt, loads

93. User research is
such sweet sorrow!

94. A digital signature is …
I am me I agree!&

95. Take fraud seriously!

96. Architecture is hard to
change

97. Minimise the architecture!

99. Mutability

100. Digital
ecosystem

101. Simon Wardley
http://blog.gardeviance.org/

102. http://blog.gardeviance.org/2013/03/basics-repeated-again.html

104. http://blog.gardeviance.org/2013/03/basics-repeated-again.html

107. Services

108. Service mapping

109. Good services are verbs,
bad services are nouns

110. They need to change
quickly in response to
learning about their users

111. Design patterns

112. Service patterns

113. Platforms

115. GOV.UK Pay

116. GOV.UK Notify

117. Technology

118. GDS@psd
You must be able to
change your mind

121. github.com/alphagov

122. github.com/openregister

123. Data

125. “SCOLAND UK”
“SCOTALND UK”
“SCOTKLAND UK”
“SCOTLAD UK”
“SCOTLAND”
“SCOTLAND UK”
“SCOTLAND UK”
“SCOTLAND UNITED KINGDO”
“SCOTLAND UNITED KINGDOM”
“SCOTLAND UNITED KINGODM”
“SCOTLAND, UK”

126. Registers

127. companies, charities, trade unions, courts,
schools, universities, hospitals, zoos, circuses,
inspections, licences, certificates, births,
marriages, deaths, electoral roll, insolvencies,
bankruptcies, passports, animal passports,
drivers, vehicles, land parcels, land ownership,
land use, legal boundaries, awards, tax rates,
benefits, livestock movements, flood risk, river
levels, companies, fish caught, patents,
trademarks, designs, non-native invasive plants,
bank holidays, clock changes …

128. Our product is the
process for establishing
Registers

129. … lots of them, each
backed by a custodian

131. ODI Data Spectrum

132. Psychic
paper

135. Data
matures like
wine

136. Technology
Matures like fish

137. My precious!

138. ISE Shrine
– Clay Shirky, Here comes everybody

139. Writing law
demands a certain
level of
commitment
from goats, calves
and sheep

140. Merkle-tree magic

142. github.com/
openregister/
local-authority-
data

143. Decision
log

144. Towards a
digital
ecosystem

145. Knocking down the
Towers of SIAM

149. https://
data.blog.gov.uk/
2016/09/12/registers-
in-a-digital-ecosystem/

150. Paul Downey
Technical Architect
Government Digital