RIP IDA – nil by mouth

No need to say it, it goes without saying, it should be obvious to all but,

just in case it isn't obvious to all,

IDA is dead.

IDA, now known as "GOV.UK Verify (RIP)",

is the Cabinet Office Identity Assurance programme.

And it's dead.

Last heard, 26 March 2015, GOV.UK Verify (RIP) was in maudlin mood, brooding about the meaning of life and the objectives for its vanishing future.

Speaking through its faithful assistants Janet Hughes and Stephen Dunn from its deathbed in the Kingsway hospice destined to be its final resting place, GOV.UK Verify (RIP) expatiated ungrammatically on its Objectives for live and "what ‘live’ means" for it as the end approaches. Ominously, there hasn't been a word from GOV.UK Verify (RIP) in the five weeks since.

It's what they don't say that counts, please see RIP IDA – what they omitted from the obituary. GOV.UK Verify (RIP) has now hobbled from having only three "identity providers" to four, but they didn't tell us that. As their energy seeps away, the only reason we know is that Neil Merrett (read him early, read him often) kindly told us on 14 May 2015 in Verizon joins GOV.UK Verify accredited suppliers list.

Maybe they just didn't have the heart. Following the story two days earlier, Sprint and Verizon to pay $158 MILLION over bogus 'cramming' fees, how were GOV.UK Verify (RIP) supposed to convince the British public that the unsavoury Verizon is an ornament to the Constitution and a safe repository for our personal information?

GaaP – 1½ million useless public servants out the door and 35 billion quid off the deficit. What's not to like?

Promising clusters

GaaP. Government as a platform. There's a lot of chatter about it at the moment, it's got something to do with the future of public services in the UK, but what is GaaP? And why is anyone interested?

Where to start ...

... Tim O'Reilly? No.

... Public Servant of the Year ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken CBE CDO CDO, executive director of the Government Digital Service (GDS) and senior responsible owner of GOV.UK Verify (RIP)? No.

... Simon Wardley.

You get your money's worth with Mr Wardley. He's a trouper. DMossEsq has a nascent, muscular relationship with him ...

@swardley Spooky. How did you know? @cape — David Moss (@DMossEsq) October 27, 2014

Hanzoni – Whitehall controversy

Civil Service World magazine: John Manzoni: New Cabinet Office minister wants "collaborative" relationship with Whitehall.

John Manzoni took over from Sir Bob Kerslake last year as chief executive of the UK civil service. Following the general election 10 days ago, Matt Hancock takes over from Francis "JFDI" Maude as Cabinet Office minister. Mr Manzoni wants everyone to know that Mr Hancock wants Whitehall departments to collaborate.

Hardly controversial. Mr Manzoni is unlikely to have reported that Mr Hancock wants to see all-out war between Whitehall departments and the Devil take the hindmost:

The new minister for the Cabinet Office wants to see a more "collaborative" relationship between departments and the centre of government, the chief executive of the civil service has said, as he signalled the end of the "Francis Maude era".

Computer Weekly magazine: What does the end of the "Francis Maude era" mean for GDS?:

This surely increases the likelihood of the Government Digital Service (GDS) being slimmed down and much of its delivery responsibilities handed back to departments. I'd suggest this was always the eventual plan - GDS looks after strategy, departments look after delivery, and outsourcers are brought in once a service or system is into the support and maintenance phase.

GDS should look after strategy? It's up to the departments to deliver? And outsourcers should be in charge of maintenance and support?

Again – hardly controversial. Most people will regard these suggestions as anodyne and barely worth reporting. How else, most people may ask themselves, could the world be arranged?

The next phase of digital transformation could be Dutch

Here's a selection of Government Digital Service (GDS) posts and a film in the week leading up to purdah:

24-03-2015	Janet Hughes	Introducing GOV.UK Verify
25-03-2015	Chris Mitchell	Ready for Live: Digital Self-Assessment
25-03-2015	Janet Hughes	Procurement 2: New identity suppliers to join GOV.UK Verify
25-03-2015	Janet Hughes	GOV.UK Verify and Mydex CIC
26-03-2015	Janet Hughes and Stephen Dunn	GOV.UK Verify: Objectives for live
26-03-2015	Mike Bracken	It’s people who make transformation happen
27-03-2015	David Rennie	Working with the private sector to verify identity
27-03-2015	Mike Bracken	Turning the tanker: digital transformation done right
27-03-2015	Mike Beavan	Looking back at the exemplars
28-03-2015	Mike Bracken	Not the HMRC of old
28-03-2015	Mike Bracken	Data as a public asset
29-03-2015	Mike Bracken	Government as a Platform: the next phase of digital transformation
29-03-2015	Liam Maxwell	Better for less
30-03-2015	Martha Lane Fox	The Richard Dimbleby Lecture (text) (text) (text)

Let's take a look at Public Servant of the Year ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken CBE CDO CDO's 29 March 2015 offering, Government as a Platform: the next phase of digital transformation.

Over-promoted

Here's a selection of Government Digital Service (GDS) posts and a film in the week leading up to purdah:

24-03-2015	Janet Hughes	Introducing GOV.UK Verify
25-03-2015	Chris Mitchell	Ready for Live: Digital Self-Assessment
25-03-2015	Janet Hughes	Procurement 2: New identity suppliers to join GOV.UK Verify
25-03-2015	Janet Hughes	GOV.UK Verify and Mydex CIC
26-03-2015	Janet Hughes and Stephen Dunn	GOV.UK Verify: Objectives for live
26-03-2015	Mike Bracken	It’s people who make transformation happen
27-03-2015	David Rennie	Working with the private sector to verify identity
27-03-2015	Mike Bracken	Turning the tanker: digital transformation done right
27-03-2015	Mike Beavan	Looking back at the exemplars
28-03-2015	Mike Bracken	Not the HMRC of old
28-03-2015	Mike Bracken	Data as a public asset
29-03-2015	Mike Bracken	Government as a Platform: the next phase of digital transformation
29-03-2015	Liam Maxwell	Better for less
30-03-2015	Martha Lane Fox	The Richard Dimbleby Lecture (text) (text) (text)

Let's take a look at Public Servant of the Year ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken CBE CDO CDO's 28 March 2015 offering, Not the HMRC of old.