The Defence digital strategy

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 14 Oct 2022 Closed: 13 Apr 2023 Parliament page
The nature of modern warfare is changing, with access to and exploitation of information becoming a vital way of securing military advantage. But the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) digital estate includes many aged legacy systems, it is operating with poor data and it faces critical digital skills gaps. To address … Read more
15 Recommendations
8 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Event
Activity timeline 4 events
12 Apr
2023
Report published
3 Feb
2023
Report published
14 Nov
2022
Oral evidence
14 Nov
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
14 Nov 2022
View on parliament.uk
The Defence digital strategy
Charlie Forte · Ministry of Defence David Williams CB · Ministry of Defence Laurence Lee CMG · Ministry of Defence Lieutenant General Tom Copinger-Symes CBE · Ministry of Defence
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence digital strategy HC 727 3 Feb 2023 23 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
23 results
2 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
Despite the urgency and ambition of its digital strategy, the Department does not yet have...
Despite the urgency and ambition of its digital strategy, the Department does not yet have a delivery plan to measure and track progress. The Department’s digital strategy sets out how it wants to share and exploit data effectively for information … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and will develop an integrated delivery plan underpinned by the Digital Strategy for Defence, aligned with the DX4D programme, with specific, tools-based metrics and measures building on portfolio management and transformation reporting.
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3 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The Department faces a considerable challenge to recruit the specialist digital skills that its strategy...
The Department faces a considerable challenge to recruit the specialist digital skills that its strategy relies on. We have reported previously on the shortage of specialist digital skills in the marketplace and how many government departments are struggling to overcome … Read more
Government Response
The government intends to implement the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) and cyber pay framework. Under Project ACCELERATE, the department is implementing the plan to expedite elements of the recruitment process that it controls and will apply the digital recruitment approach to wider digital recruitments.
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4 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The Department is struggling to deliver its largest, most transformational digital programmes.
The Department is struggling to deliver its largest, most transformational digital programmes. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s (IPA’s) most recent public reporting from March 2022 shows three of the Department’s major digital programmes have significant issues (‘amber’) and two are … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and will respond following the publication of the IPA report, noting the dependency on the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) report availability.
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5 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The Department’s budget is under considerable pressure, and this may make some planned, future digital...
The Department’s budget is under considerable pressure, and this may make some planned, future digital activity unaffordable. As inflation rises, the purchasing power of the Department’s existing budget falls. The Department is starting to see pressure build on its pay … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to provide an update on the impact to the implementation of the department’s Digital Strategy following the publication of the refreshed Integrated Review.
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6 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The Department is not yet able to share and exploit data across the Armed Forces...
The Department is not yet able to share and exploit data across the Armed Forces and with partners effectively enough. Recent events including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine show the importance of responding in a nationally and … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states that delivering the Digital Backbone by 2025 is key, progress is being tracked and measured through the Strategy Delivery Plan, with dedicated resource in place to measure specific key performance indicators.
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1 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Defence (the Department) about the Defence digital strategy. The rapid advance of technology is changing the character of warfare, introducing a … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's conclusion regarding the rapid advance of technology and its impact on warfare.
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7 Conclusion
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
In its report, the NAO draws attention to the slow progress wider government and the...
In its report, the NAO draws attention to the slow progress wider government and the Department have made with previous digital strategies.13 We wanted to know why the Department thinks its most recent strategy will succeed, given that it has … Read more
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8 Conclusion
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
In its digital strategy, the Department sets itself three strategic outcomes to achieve.
In its digital strategy, the Department sets itself three strategic outcomes to achieve. By 2025 it wants to share data seamlessly, use it effectively to gain advantage, and develop a 7 C&AG’s Report, para 2 8 Q 13 9 Ministry … Read more
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9 Conclusion
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The NAO reported that the Department’s strategy is consistent with good practice across government.
The NAO reported that the Department’s strategy is consistent with good practice across government. For example, its strategy recognises data as a strategic asset and that people and processes are as important as technology to successful digital change.20 However, the … Read more
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10 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
We have reported previously that there is a large gap between the demand and supply...
We have reported previously that there is a large gap between the demand and supply of the digital specialists that government needs.24 We found that government is yet to make meaningful progress overcoming this long-standing challenge, which often leaves it … Read more
Government Response
The department has established a dedicated talent acquisition team and intends to implement the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) and cyber pay framework to help attract and retain talent, and are expediting elements of the recruitment process.
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11 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
However, the National Audit Office reported that the Department finds it difficult to recruit and...
However, the National Audit Office reported that the Department finds it difficult to recruit and retain digital specialist talent.31 We were interested in what is stopping the Department from getting the skills it needs; for example, its ability to pay … Read more
Government Response
The department has established a dedicated talent acquisition team and intends to implement the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) and cyber pay framework to help attract and retain talent, and are expediting elements of the recruitment process.
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12 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
We asked how the Department intends to perform better than the market, which it needs...
We asked how the Department intends to perform better than the market, which it needs to do if it is to overcome the lack of supply of digital specialists. The Department told us that it has focused heavily on its … Read more
Government Response
The department has established a dedicated talent acquisition team to support digital recruitment and is implementing the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) and cyber pay framework which will help attract and retain talent.
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13 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
One area where these resourcing challenges have become apparent is in Defence Digital’s track record...
One area where these resourcing challenges have become apparent is in Defence Digital’s track record of delivering major digital programmes. These are the Department’s most complex and transformational programmes, many of which are needed to replace older legacy systems, and … Read more
Government Response
The government will update programme management policies and standards, upskill staff, and improve programme governance, targeting a summer 2023 implementation date, and notes the Next Generation Communication Network programme has improved.
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14 Recommendation Acknowledged
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The NAO report identified that Defence Digital’s project delivery has suffered from a lack of...
The NAO report identified that Defence Digital’s project delivery has suffered from a lack of skilled and experienced personnel, immature project controls, and a culture focused on the approvals process rather than outcomes.42 The Department accepted that its performance up … Read more
Government Response
The department already has key actions in place to improve its performance in delivering major digital programmes, including updating programme management policies, upskilling staff, and improving programme governance.
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15 Recommendation Acknowledged
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
Nonetheless, we challenged the Department on its need to get better at stopping and improving...
Nonetheless, we challenged the Department on its need to get better at stopping and improving failing digital programmes.47 The Department stated it had recently paused its core networks programme to make changes to its design before going out to the … Read more
Government Response
The department already has key actions in place to improve its performance in delivering major digital programmes, including updating programme management policies, upskilling staff, and improving programme governance.
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16 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
Similarly, the Department pointed out that where some programmes were rated red, there were elements...
Similarly, the Department pointed out that where some programmes were rated red, there were elements of good progress on sub-programmes within them. While the IPA rated the Department’s MODNet Evolve programme red, the Department told us that 16 of its … Read more
Government Response
The government will update programme management policies and standards, upskill staff, and improve programme governance, targeting a summer 2023 implementation date, and notes the Next Generation Communication Network programme has improved.
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17 Conclusion
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The Integrated Review, has, at its heart, much greater digital connectivity between military platforms, in...
The Integrated Review, has, at its heart, much greater digital connectivity between military platforms, in order to achieve a significant force-multiplier effect, even with, in some cases, notably fewer units of increasingly high-tech equipment. For the Army, the much-delayed Morpheus … Read more
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18 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The NAO reported that the Department’s digital strategy was initially not fully funded, but the...
The NAO reported that the Department’s digital strategy was initially not fully funded, but the Department worked to identify ways to fund the strategy as well as reprioritise money to ensure that, as of its last budgeting cycle, it considered … Read more
Government Response
Following the next update to the Integrated Review, the department will write to the committee explaining whether planned and actual spend on digital has changed and whether it has enough funding to deliver the strategy, targeting a Summer 2023 implementation date.
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19 Recommendation Deferred
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The Department told us government sees digital technology as a way it can make services...
The Department told us government sees digital technology as a way it can make services more affordable and that the Integrated Review in 2023 will inevitably focus on this.59 The Department hopes to use digital technology to transform how it … Read more
Government Response
The department will provide an update on the impact to the implementation of the department’s Digital Strategy following the publication of the refreshed Integrated Review in Summer 2023.
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20 Conclusion
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The Department has a substantial legacy technology estate, in part because it has not prioritised...
The Department has a substantial legacy technology estate, in part because it has not prioritised the investment needed to keep it up to date.63 Defence Digital, the organisation responsible for leading on the digital strategy, estimates it will cost £11.7 … Read more
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21 Conclusion
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The Department noted that one important challenge in the war in Ukraine is that not...
The Department noted that one important challenge in the war in Ukraine is that not all of the various donated western equipment systems can be easily connected or exchange data. The Department told us that integrating different systems in different … Read more
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22 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
The Department is working toward this by developing common standards, technology architecture and ways of...
The Department is working toward this by developing common standards, technology architecture and ways of working. The NAO reported that the Department has set up its governance and controls well, but ensuring compliance with these common standards and approaches across … Read more
Government Response
The department is accelerating digital transformation through the Digital Exploitation for Defence (DX4D) programme and will track and measure progress through the Strategy Delivery Plan, with dedicated resource in place to measure specific key performance indicators.
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23 Conclusion
Thirty-Sixth Report - The Defence …
We asked the Department what it was doing to work more closely domestically and with...
We asked the Department what it was doing to work more closely domestically and with international partners, such as NATO.76 The Department is creating shared architectures to help it work more closely and share data securely with other parts of … Read more
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Government Response AI assessment · 16 of 15 classified
Accepted 12
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 1
Total 15 recs + 8 conclusions