The UK Civil Service Needs a Digital Backpack

Author: Sebastian Moore, Business Relationship Management at HM Treasury

Walk through any Government Hub today and you will see a fascinating dynamic.

We have successfully co-located our people. We have different departments sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, sharing spaces, canteens, and ideas. The physical barriers have come down.

But the digital barriers remain surprisingly high.

In a single cross-tenancy meeting, you might have half the room leveraging full Copilot integration to synthesise complex policy debates in real-time. The other half, restricted by their specific department’s current licensing or governance maturity, are operating in a completely different digital gear.

As Business Relationship Managers (BRMs), we look beyond the immediate IT constraints and see the strategic workforce implication.

We are striving for a UK Civil Service that is agile, where talent flows freely to where it is needed most. We want brilliant people to move from Department A to Department B to solve a crisis, and then move again.

However, when a staff member moves from a high-adoption environment to a restricted one, we aren't just changing their laptop. We are asking them to unlearn efficiency. If we want true interoperability of talent, we need interoperability of tools.

We already have a model for solving this.

Consider the framework for Reasonable Adjustments.

We know the process isn't perfect. It can be bureaucratic and slow to implement. However, it establishes a vital principle in our workplaces: it guarantees that if an individual requires specific tools to perform their role, the organisation must provide them, regardless of which department they sit in.

The tool follows the person's need, not the cost centre's convenience.

My question is strategic: Why is this principle reserved for exceptions?

In 2024, for a knowledge worker, having access to generative AI, secure cloud capability, and modern collaboration tools isn't a "perk." It is the baseline required to perform effectively.

If we can mobilise complex frameworks to ensure physical and accessibility needs are met across boundaries, surely we can establish a "Standard Digital Adjustment" for our workforce.

Our digital estate is missing the "Digital Backpack".

Imagine a model where the toolkit is attached to the user’s clearance and role, not just the building they sit in. A policy professional should carry their digital capabilities with them, regardless of which department pays their salary this month.

The benefits of harmonising our digital baseline are clear. We get talent that hits the ground running on Day 1, and crucially, we reduce risk. When people have access to the best enterprise tools, they have no reason to seek "shadow" alternatives to get the job done.

We are building the physical hubs of the future. Now we need to build the digital infrastructure to match them.

I’m interested to hear from other leaders: How are you bridging the gap when collaborating with departments on different points of the adoption curve?