The 2025 Conference Programme
Setting the Agenda for Public Sector Digital, Together.
This year’s conference gathered leaders and pioneers from across the sector to examine the enormous opportunities and profound risks that have been created as a result of a change of administration, a major reorganisation of the government’s digital and data functions and the conclusion of a three-year cross-departmental transformation.
08:30 - 09:15
Registration & Breakfast
09:15 - 09:20
Chair's Opening Remarks
09:20 - 10:25
Perm Secs Panel
In this session, the most senior leaders of government departments and agencies will discuss their role in spearheading and supporting digital and data objectives across their organisation – and throughout government. The conversation will cover the skills needed by senior leaders, their role in overseeing projects, and how best to support innovation and the use of new technology.
- Fiona James, Director for Data, Growth and Operations and Chief Data Officer, Office for National Statistics
- Susan Acland-Hood, Permanent Secretary, Department for Education
- Loveday Ryder, Chief Executive, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
10:25 - 10:55
Keynote session: How the MoJ is using digital to support better outcomes for the whole justice system
With more than 100,000 employees across government, courts, and prisons, the services provided by the MoJ reach millions of people that interact with the justice system – with a requirement to ensure everyone, from victims to offenders, is treated with both efficiency and empathy.
- Kamal Bal, Director of Digital, Ministry of Justice
10:55 - 11:35
Networking & Coffee
11:35 - 12:20
Roundtable: Can digital help win the 'war on Whitehall waste'?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged that government reform, including a new swathe of technology and process transformation, will be crucial to delivering her plans to “put an end to all waste” throughout departments. While the language is robust – avoiding the usual allusions to ‘efficiency’ or ‘productivity’ – the themes will be familiar to many civil servants, especially those in the digital and data world. This time, the plans are backed by an ambitious agenda for AI and other innovations, as well as target for one in ten officials to come from the tech profession. But the key questions remain: can the war on waste be won – and how powerful a weapon is digital? This roundtable discussion – held under Chatham House rules for a select group of attendees – will enable government technologists to examine the ongoing reform plans, while comparing notes and engaging in candid debate about the key challenges and opportunities they are facing.
- Hosted in partnership with Hitachi Solutions
- Chaired by Civil Service World editor Suzannah Brecknell
11:35 - 12:00
Workshop: Securely equipping public sector staff for enhanced productivity
Public bodies face growing demand for critical services, while delivering organisational efficiencies – and, in a complex threat landscape, not compromising on security. Putting the right devices in the hands of millions of staff is essential to delivering these objectives. This session will explore the challenges and benefits doing so.
- Hosted in partnership with Google Pixel
12:00 - 12:20
Workshop: How public sector pioneers can reuse tech for social good
Since 2022, the Good Things Foundation National Device Bank has provided 17,631 digitally excluded individuals with a free device, thanks to contributed tech from public and private sector organisations. This session will celebrate the impact so far, explore the challenges overcome by public sector pioneers and introduce the upcoming DSIT-sponsored Device Reuse Charter, which aims to encourage more organisations to reuse tech for social good.
- Natasha Early, Partnerships Manager, Good Things Foundation
12:20 - 13:10
Panel Discussion: How is digital reshaping the relationship between citizens and local government?
Local councils invariably have the deepest and most familiar relationship with citizens of any branch of the public sector. In this discussion, sector leaders will examine how technology and data can help better understand and engage with residents, improve frontline services, and promote inclusion.
- Rehana Ramesh, Director, ICT, Digital and Customer Services, London Borough of Hackney
- Kevin Taylor, Senior IT Manager, Suffolk County Council & Vice President, Socitm
- Alison Young Associate Director, Local Public Services, techUK
- Annie Radcliffe – Adviser, Cyber, Digital and Technology Policy, Local Government Association
13:10 - 14:00
Lunch & Networking
14:00 - 14:45
Panel Discussion: Data leadership in a complex world
This panel discussion will bring together some of the public sector’s most senior data leaders to discuss their remit and ambitions in a changing and complicated environment, characterised by the opportunities of AI and hyperscale computing, as much as the challenges of citizen trust and misinformation.
- Jeni Tennison, Founder and Executive Director, Connected by Data
- Eddie Copeland, Director, London Office of Technology and Innovation
- Smera Jayadeva, Researcher, Data Justice and Global Ethical Futures, Public Policy Programme, The Alan Turing Institute
14:45 - 15:00
Behind the spend: Unpacking public sector digital and data procurement
This presentation from public procurement data specialists Tussell, will zoom in on the billions of pounds spent each year by public bodies on digital, data and technology services. The session will provide a data-driven look at tech procurement market, including its scale, the major players, the most popular routes to procurement – and how these insights can help you make smarter, faster, and more cost-effective buying decisions.
- Lorna Ingwell, Research Manager, Tussell
15:00 - 15:40
In focus: The present and future of digital government
15:00 - 15:15 | Civil service skills: Inside government’s plans for 1 in 10 to work in digital
As part of major reform ambitions, ministers have pledged that, by the end of this decade, the proportion of the civil service comprised of digital and tech specialists will nearly double – to a total of 10%. In this presentation, Thomas Beautyman, deputy director government digital capability, will provide an insight on how this target can be reached via recruitment and upskilling, as well as the key challenges that will be faced along the way and the ultimate benefits of achieving the one-in-ten mark.
- Thomas Beautyman, Deputy Director Government Digital Capability, Government Digital Service
15:15 - 15:40 | How will the new digital centre drive transformation?
Government’s core digital agencies have undergone their biggest overhaul since being established almost 15 years ago. In this session, experts and will examine the role of the revamped GDS, and discuss its impact going forward.
- Emily Middleton, Director General, Digital Centre Design, at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology