UK Gov Comms (NON GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT)

Amazing!

Oh, and I think most people can find the US on a map without help...

YouTube video by UK Government Inside the China-UK deal: how it delivers for Britain | Peter Kyle explains

I'm obviously a big fan of more and better gov comms. I love the idea of ministers using social media to speak directly to the public. What is this though? Did you get feedback from a broad-spectrum audience before publishing? Try harder.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=koX1...

This bot does sterling work posting what DSIT says in Hansard because our government chooses not to make sure comms automatically available themselves.

Weeknotes S22 Ep4 A reminder of how easily your world can go off balance

Weeknotes for 2 weeks as there has been a bit much happening all at once, this probably features a little too much thinking out loud and not enough condensed thoughts, still, it is what it is. @weeknotes-bot.bsky.social weeknot.es/weeknotes-s2...

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Explore Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s 2,200 photos on Flickr!

Genuinely surprised to discover Flickr still exists after the latest DSIT update email points people there.

www.flickr.com/photos/dsitg...

This is a remarkably good point. I wonder if the Communications Union has considered it.

so a month ago I was reading @markpackuk.bsky.social’s speech on Twitter in the lords and there were obviously fake stats the government used to justify Twitter’s UK reach and its continued importance to British audiences

Rob has now found the source of the data was… Twitter

Well, absolutely. It would be excellent, for example, if the committee were to commit up front to a regular monthly blog, public show and tell videos and / or publishing the minutes of their meetings.

Meanwhile, congrats to the folks involved. Let us know when you know what the NDL is 😀.

More than a helpdesk: user support’s role in helping GOV.UK Notify send 12 billion messages User support – a necessary burden or a strategic advantage? Find out how GOV.UK Notify turned users’ questions into insights, team engagement and an improved service that has now sent 12 billion messa...

Nice post from GDS about an often overlooked role.

gds.blog.gov.uk/2026/02/05/m...

AI Opportunities Action Plan - 2026 Progress Progress on ramping up AI adoption across the UK to boost economic growth, provide jobs for the future and improve people's everyday lives

Once again happened across this today. Absolutely rage inducing that DSIT (e.g. GDS) have their logo on this which is not only worlds-away from correct government branding but also must be an absolutely nightmare for accessibility.

delivery.ai.gov.uk?mc_cid=9927f...

Pattern principles in the welfare sector Finnish designer, Janne Mattila, explains what makes something a public design pattern.

This is an excellent post - particularly the part about international cooperation. More of both this kind of work and this kind of public reporting on it please!

publicpolicydesign.blog.gov.uk/2026/02/05/p...

On top of how much this is contrary to #GaaP / #PlatformLand thinking I can't help but wonder, once again, what *all* grant giving services have in common and could be brought together.

One the other hand, a *single service* designing and building its own microservices architecture! A *single service* building a Form Designer and a Form Runner!

This is exactly the kind of hugely expensive duplication in government digital that is happening over and over again.

Funding Service: How we built a new funding platform for MHCLG Over the past year, the Funding Service has been building a new funding platform for the department based on an entirely new single codebase. This post outlines the technical choices and approach that...

On the one hand, huge props to MHCLG for openness about the iterative development of this. This is the kind of really great team level comms we want to see.

mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/2026/02/04/f...

Absolutely rage inducing. Not that DSIT doesn't have the data (although that does seem to be something that DCMS should know) but that people can claim this kind of thing in Parliament with no citations.

Excellent! Looking forward to the blog post after!

Yes!! Much more of this sort of thing!

Architecture Community: Gregor Hohpe Talk and Q&A GDS is excited to welcome Gregor Hohpe at their first Architecture community event of 2026

Today's spamming continues I'm afraid 😅. This also looks excellent. - Please - publish in the open a summary of what was discussed.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/architectu...

GOV.UK has entered the Chat: our vision for GOV.UK Chat Learn about our plans for GOV.UK Chat, the AI-powered chat system we’ve built as an easier, quicker way to interact with government.

It'd be good to know if there's user research to back up that users actually want this vs. it just being a shiny thing the minister wants.

insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2025/12/16/g...

Progress towards enabling the use of digital verification services for alcohol sales in England and Wales In December 2024, the then Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) announced that changes would be made to the Mandatory Licence Conditions (MLCs) under the Licensing Act 2003...

Missed when this came out - good blog.

It's particularly interesting as I have a feeling this is something @tomski.com mentioned back in his and @richardpope.org mentioned as a possibility back at Code for America in 2015.

enablingdigitalidentity.blog.gov.uk/2026/01/07/p...

Also just to quickly highlight @dsit-answers.bsky.social - a (presumably bot?) account that does the work posting things here that DSIT should be doing themselves anyway.

Our roadmap for modern digital government This week, we published our roadmap for modern digital government, setting out how teams across government are transforming public services through joined‑up platforms, AI adoption, stronger digital i...

I was reminded by the lastest GDS Bulletin (which is very good) about this. Also great stuff but it's one thing to talk about transparency and another to let your individual teams blog or make their show and tells public.

gds.blog.gov.uk/2026/01/20/o...

How people used GOV.UK in 2025 User insights help us to understand how we can develop GOV.UK to ensure it continues to meet people’s needs and work well for everyone. Learn about some of 2025’s main findings across the GOV.UK websi...

This is exactly the good stuff we're talking about. Now imagine a commitment to doing this every month. How are can that be? 😀

insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2026/01/28/h...

A grid with a total of 9 screenshots and pictures each with a short description, 3 per column: First column: Domain policy, spend controls, assessments Second column: Design system, Service Standard, Technology Code of Practice Third column: Training, Service Manual, calls and meetups; Overimposed on the first column is the emoji of a stick; over the third column, it’s the emoji of a carrot

Standards won’t do anything unless integrated into a larger system that includes carrots & sticks.

Today, we shaped our 2026 activities for the German #ServiceStandard. My product management colleague Robert asked for a short input on what worked in the UK.

I made that slide.

All remains relevant

I love improving the Service Manual + Standard.

But I'm even more interested in fixing the management of the mountain of GDS+govt content about making great public digital services.

Strategic, joined-up, no duplication or contradictions. Users not having to stitch it together themselves.

🔔 Did you know you can get emailed whenever the GOV.UK Service Standard or Service Manual are updated?

Just click on 'Get emails when any guidance within this topic is updated' within the sections you're interested in at www.gov.uk/service-manual, including the Service Standard itself. 📬

How often do you engage in cross-silo exchange?

How often do you talk to colleagues and other teams doing similar work as you do, but in different organisations and contexts?

Today, our #ServiceStandard team spoke with @benaldo.bsky.social , and it was worth every one of the 60 minutes we had.

Does anyone have any evidence on how adding shiny AI is going to improve services that are already based on data and responsibility silos.

Horrific. Are these press releases even being vetted by DSIT or is some spad in the CO just firing out stuff with no oversight?