New pastures...

After almost 9 years, 6 of which as a senior civil servant, yesterday was my last official day at the UK Government Digital Service (GDS).

I was first brought into GDS in 2012 by the then Director of the Transformation Programme Michael Beaven with the irresistible lure of “come help fix ICT procurement”, and since then it’s been an absolutely amazing time working with amazing people.

Poster produced by Stephen McCarthy (@loft27design) at the UK GDS

Standing on the shoulders of others dedicated to reforming how the government assures digital, data and technology spend and delivery - people like Chris Chant, Denise Mcdonagh, Liam Maxwell, Tony Singleton, Andy Beale, Olivia Neil and Chad Bond - whose work provided the bedrock for what’s now the Digital Marketplace.

Some personal highlights I’m particularly proud of:

• Cheerleading service design in public procurement (more of this is needed!)

• Collaborating with the Government Legal Department and Cabinet Office Commercial Policy teams to reimagine government contracts, and partnering with World Commerce & Contracting to take this globally

• Championing governments’ adoption of open contracting data in the UK and around the world with partners the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP)

• Supporting the creation of the Crown Commercial Service buying digital community with the inimitable Emilia Hogarth

• Leading the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ‘E-Leaders’ thematic group on ‘GovTech Commissioning’

• Leading the GDS Global Digital Marketplace Programme with partners the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), British Embassy Bogotá (Colombia), British Embassy Jakarta (Indonesia), British High Commission Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), British Embassy Mexico City (Mexico), and British High Commission Pretoria (South Africa)

• Leading the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 'United for Smart Sustainable Cities' (U4SSC) thematic group on ‘Procurement Guidelines for Smart Sustainable Cities’ in partnership with the Organisation for International Economic Relations (OiER)

• Championing gender equality and social inclusion in public procurement with partners Oxford Insights

• Representing GDS in developing the ‘Transforming Public Procurement’ Green Paper

...and a bunch of other stuff in the meantime.

I've spent the summer resting and relaxing with the family in France, and reflecting on my professional direction.

I’m very clear about what my passion and interests are. This is why from today (1 October 2021) I've set myself up as Dangersmith SARL in Paris, and affiliated as Director with CURSHAW in the UK; they're a micro consultancy that specialises in Private Finance Initiative (PFI) expiry, procurement of digital, and commercial transformation.

There's lots of important work to do that can really make a difference to people's lives, and I'll be talking about that here or the CURSHAW blog from time to time.

[A version of this blog post was first published on the CURSHAW blog]