To be ready for shared services platforms, processes and data across government must be ‘converged’, meaning that they are consistent and standardised. In 2023, the Government Finance Function began leading work with other central government functions on ‘NOVA’. NOVA is the guidance and standards that central government functions should follow when setting up their processes. For example, NOVA shows all the necessary steps and decision points which government HR professionals must take to recruit a new member of staff, or which government finance professionals must follow to pay a grant. When central government functions implement the NOVA guidance and standards across their processes, it drives convergence and improves data quality.66. With better data, government can better adopt innovative technologies like AI or better understand 62 Q 76 63 C&AG’s Report, para 3.5 64 Qq 74, 76 65 Q 76 66 C&AG’s Report, paras 15, 2.14, 2.15 17 where inefficiencies exist and what can be done to address them, driving productivity gains.67 The Cabinet Office has itself recognised the savings which data and process standardisation through NOVA can enable.68