GOV.UK really is a testament to what you can achieve when you inhouse and centralise provision of Government IT based on Open Source principles, instead of diff

GOV.UK really is a testament to what you can achieve when you inhouse and centralise provision of Government IT based on Open Source principles, instead of different departments outsourcing different bits to different agencies with no real unifying system (what we had before, and still have in some areas of Government). For those who are unfamiliar, GOV.UK's mission is twofold: to provide a set of standards for Government IT services - so in theory no Government IT service can be deployed without signoff from GDS - and a set of tools they build themselves that provide a platform to deliver Government services really easily - e.g. GOV.UK Notify provides a single service for sending texts and emails from Government services, so that every department doesn't need to build their own (slightly different) implementation. It's a huge win for citizens and a massive cost-saving overall for Government. Sadly there are always those who will attempt to tear it down (because they want to use IBM X or Microsoft Y, perhaps because their friend's Christmas bonus depends on it, but more likely because the organisational changes required to think of your department as providing a service to people, rather than requiring them to do things for you is too great). Bravo GDS team for another step in the right direction.