Digital broadside for Whitehall from IOD

More than three-quarters of business leaders think the public sector is ill-equipped to capitalise on changes due to technological advances and automation, a report out today claims.

And about 60 per cent of them believe government digital services are worse than those run by the private sector, says the survey by the Institute of Directors (IOD).

The same percentage says the UK government “does not make good enough use of private sector expertise”, according to the survey of nearly 1,000 business leaders, done with Atos, the global digital transformation company.

More than half of business leaders reported a positive impact since the launch of the Government Digital Service in 2011.

However, 77 per cent of company directors expressed scepticism about the public sector’s ability to take advantage of tech advances including automation.

Stephen Martin, director general of the IOD, said: “While there has been some improvement in recent years, business leaders still feel the public sector is lagging well behind when compared against the innovation we’ve seen from companies.

“Our members are providers and users of government digital services. They are very keen that the government make better use of the knowledge and experience that exists in businesses of all sizes.”

Martin added that “the gains could be not only better and more cost-efficient services, but also reduced time wasted on form-filling for companies”. 0 Stephen Martin: ‘Public sector lagging behind’