Government Digital Service announces Digital HQ to expand DWP digital service

"It's about transformation, not just digital" says GDS director

The Government Digital Service (GDS) has announced that it will absorb the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) Digital Academy Service in an attempt to form a Digital HQ and hub in Aldgate, London.

The move is intended to build capability across government and give the GDS a "real national presence for the first time".

The DWP Digital Academy has been running since 2014 and was designed to overhaul the department's approach to building digital services to replace traditional paper forms and the need for citizens to call the department on the phone.

The system covers transactions such as pensions and health benefits for around 22 million people.

Folding the Academy into the planned Digital HQ is an attempt to draw digital services more closely together, according to Ben Gummer, Paymaster General and minister for the Cabinet Office.

"Our message is clear: we are working hard to make life easier for the people of the UK. We want our services to be simple, easy and efficient," he said.

GDS director general Kevin Cunnington affirmed the message, claiming that the work by GDS will be "about transformation - not just digital".

"We have a superb team and I want our UK strategy to reflect the bold ambition that we have across government and the new challenges that now face us. We will have an updated and complete Digital Transformation Strategy before the end of the year," he said.

Gummer combined the announcement with the news that GOV.UK Pay has taken its first transaction and is ready for business with services that will come online in the autumn.

Gummer called the initiatives "significant moments, not just for the GDS and the Cabinet Office, but for the millions of people who use government services every day".