From Police ICT Company to Police Digital Service
Today marks an exciting milestone in our organisation’s evolution as the Police ICT Company becomes the Police Digital Service (PDS).
Evolution has always been at the heart of our organisation. It’s had to be. Crime evolves, so does technology and so does our workforce. But it is too easy for a word like ‘evolution’ to become just that, a word. When I joined the Company in 2018, it was my aim to ensure that what we spoke about – efficiency, digital transformation, agility, collaboration – became action.
This is why today is such pivotal point for us, but most importantly, for UK policing. Our change of identity reflects a broadening of our responsibilities which has come about because of the support and guidance of our Board, the trust invested in us by our Members and because our actions – our work, and everything we have achieved to date on behalf of policing – have been recognised. And so too has our potential to build upon this work and develop new capabilities to more effectively help UK policing harness the power of digital, data and technology, so they can better protect our communities.
Driving the delivery of the National Policing Digital strategy
I am delighted that, in addition to the organisation’s commercial and technical assurance expertise – which will continue to be among our highest priorities – we have been identified as the delivery vehicle for the National Policing Digital Strategy, a document that we co-authored. The Strategy is underpinned by five digital ambitions, which we are working in collaboration with policing, government and the private sector to achieve.
For instance, a key to realising these ambitions is ensuring forces can easily identify what is required to achieve and maintain a consistent level of quality. It’s with this that the National Standards programme – which has recently come under the PDS wing – assists.
The pace of recent progress made on standards, through a truly collaborative approach, has been nothing short of remarkable. Launched today, the new standards platform, framework and governance structure ensures the quality of planning, design and implementation of digital, data and technology projects within policing. The platform encourages greater transparency, discussion and collaboration, to help minimise rework, avoid duplication and ensure quality, whilst offering forces the flexibility to tailor their approach to local demands.
To ensure you’re made aware of new developments and are given a chance to have your voice heard, you can become a member of one of our category community groups here.
Our focus on forging strong, strategic partnerships continues
The Police Digital Service is constantly working to strengthen relationships between policing and the private sector to empower the sharing of public safety responsibilities, and to support a more transparent and accessible market for technology in policing.
In this spirt, I am delighted to announce a new, formal agreement with techUK, which enables an exciting synergy between the PDS, as a central coordinating organisation for UK Policing, and techUK, as an industry voice and national champion for technology innovation.
Our organisations have worked closely together before, but this agreement means a more united and streamlined approach to our efforts to deliver the National Policing Digital Strategy, in particular empowering UK policing with the technology it needs to stay ahead of crime and better protect the communities it serves.
A vision for the future
Ultimately, the vision is that, by 2030, the PDS will deliver the capabilities to create a more digitally enhanced police service whose workforce can more fully exploit data and technology to inform improved decision-making, strengthen operational effectiveness, drive value for money and, most importantly, better safeguard and protect the public.
This is not something we can or plan to do alone. As always, we will work in collaboration and friendship with police forces, policing organisations, our strategic partners and suppliers. If you have any questions or would like to get involved in our work, I encourage you get in touch with us.
I look forward to working with you.
