Transforming Public Services with Open Service Platforms

Building something genuinely innovative

The credit crunch has sparked unprecedented appetite across public services to learn about the creation of platforms, such as Google’s, that will support a plethora of ‘servitised’ business models, and discussion of ‘ecosystems’, ‘freemiums’, and utility pricing is the order of the day. 

…but what are service providers transforming into?

Accordingly, almost every government organisation worth its salt is engaged in at least one ‘transformation’ programme.  But what, exactly, are they transforming to become?  For most, it seems that ‘transforming’ is really about ‘Leaning’ existing processes, or outsourcing yet more services to one of a small group of private sector companies.

‘Lean’ is not enough

Such efforts are merely fiddling with an outdated model of service delivery.  To take advantage of servitised business models, we will need to think more radically.
Organisations need to move from the right side to the left side of the above quadrant.

Industry-shaking research, here in Cambridge

Research undertaken here since 2008 has shaken the foundations of traditional IT services and established a new ‘Open’ IT strategy for Government.

What next? A component-based public service architecture

Why does the technology that underpins so many of our public services have to be so complicated and expensive, when it is now so cheap at home? Why can't it become more like Google, or Amazon? And what do we need to do about it?

An Open Platforms and Public Services Working Group is being established within Centre for Public Policy to develop a policy White Paper that will seek to engage politicians, civil servants, and the public with these, and other important questions that go right to the heart of designing and delivering public services for the future.

The paper will seek to prompt national debate and awareness about the need to build component-based public service platforms that will allow service providers to assemble bespoke services from standard ‘building blocks’.

Contact:Mark Thompson