Many different technologies are used across Defra as a consequence of how the Defra Group has grown and changed over time, and how systems were originally developed by different organisations within the Group, which each had their own approach to technology. Defra does not yet have agreed standards for IT systems across the Department and its organisation that would ensure they are developed in a more consistent way across the Group. It told the NAO that, where work to address legacy IT systems had so far resulted in greater user of common technologies, this had been coincidental rather than in accordance with an overarching design. The NAO found that different areas of Defra were still making different choices about their IT systems based on what they already had and were not always taking into account wider corporate considerations, which would inhibit Defra’s ability to gain the full benefits of standardisation.34 We asked the Department when it expected to have established an overall Group-wide standard for technology and architecture. Defra recognised that, while it had established many standards, there were some gaps, and told us that it had work in place to fill these which it anticipated would be complete within the year.35 Aligning digital and business transformation