This week, the Government Communication Service (GCS) launched its communications plan for 21/22, setting out UK Government Communications objectives and priorities for the year ahead.

This is the PR plan and stakeholder engagement strategic overview for the UK. It’s essential reading for any Govtech supplier looking to work with any department or entity on a customer basis.

Essentially, this plan sets out the blueprint for our possible avenues of engagement with government.

It provides Govtech PR teams with an insight into what the overall civil service communications narratives will be and the potential areas where their support may be needed…

Another day, another virtual event. Last week, I attended the Rewired Conference 2021: Digital Health, a conference dedicated to bringing together decision makers with established healthtech brands and start-ups. The event organisers certainly did not disappoint as one of the keynote speakers was Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, who gave an interesting and forward-looking address on how the Government aims to merge and integrate technology into the healthcare sector. Below, I have summarised his five main points:

Firstly, Matt Hancock noted how we needed to digitise more of the NHS, with the goal of ensuring that no-one is left behind…

Minister Oliver Dowden MP has just launched DCMS’s top 10 #TechPriorities for the UK. You can watch the video here, and read all 10 on the new dedicated microsite here.

Lack of space tech aside, they’re not rocket science, they’re sensible, general and, hopefully achievable pockets of UK tech excellence that will make most tech vendors, and specific govtech businesses breathe a sigh of relief at their chosen speciality being covered.

But, where’s the PR opportunity? How can we be part of this narrative? And should we?

1. Better integrated comms with DCMS itself, and other government departments — this is…

Collaboration, discussion and knowledge sharing is how we can truly improve public services. Therefore, the recent 5-dayDigiLeaders’virtual event, known as Insight Live: Public Sector, truly spoiled us with a range of webinar talks from key figures within the industry. Invaluable insights were provided on hot topics and thought-provoking questions were posed on how to rebuild the country after the pandemic.

From smart cities and cyber security to Govtech and healthcare services, the spectrum of conversation was expansive, especially since the virtual event had over 105 speakers in attendance. …

This year’s Spring Budget was probably one of the most anticipated budget announcements in a long, long time. With the UK economy recording its biggest drop in output in over 300 years and COVID-19 still stifling people and businesses, the Government’s economic policies going forward were always going to be of keen interest and highly scrutinised.

The Chancellor announced a wide range of initiatives to try help the economy get back on its feet as we navigate our way out of the pandemic, some new, some borrowed.

From a business perspective, one of the biggest announcements was the increase in…

If you ask many people where the Government is putting its tech pounds, it’s pretty likely they’d say healthtech and edtech. But, who knew, it turns out that justice is considerably out stripping every other part of public services.

The MoJ, prison service, courts service, the Met Police and ‘other police’ spent £3bn on tech between 2016–2020, according to a December report from Tussell.

The report says that justice buyers spent more on technology, as a proportion of total spending, than the public sector as a whole. In fact, it’s more than double.

It remains a market for the big…

Online events are here to stay. As well as the 2021 calendar of public sector tech events open to all, many vendors are looking to organise their own. How can you get the best return on investment from online events, and, if you’re planning on attending some, how can you make them worth your time?

Growing our businesses depends on being able to continue to meet, network and communicate with customers and stakeholders, and, actually, we’re seeing that webinars for B2G vendors are more prevalent than ever. However, as we all know, time has become a precious commodity and attending…

Big changes are coming to the NHS and healthtech could be at the centre of it all. With the aim of empowering the system to work to the advantage of clinicians and patients alike, Matt Hancock has announced a series of legislative reforms.

As with anything in politics, we do not know whether these reforms will be successful or whether they will simply exacerbate existing problems. But, what we do know, is that technology will be embraced and harnessed through the Governments’ efforts to improve patient care. In the Government’s new white paper, digital transformation is noted as an integral…