Joanna Davinson of the CDDO has told MPs that the UK government currently lacks a central, dynamic list of its legacy computing estate and the risks associated with ageing IT infrastructure and applications, The Register reports.
But Ms Davinson - executive director at the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) - said the Cabinet Office, which encompasses CDDO, was working on such a system, aimed at helping prioritise spending, which her team hopes to pilot this year and launch in January.
"I acknowledge that it's not as systematic as it should be at the moment, but we've got an initiative in place," Ms Davinson told Parliament's public spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee.
The need to understand the risks involved with maintaining legacy IT systems reportedly came into focus last week when the National Audit Office revealed an ICL mainframe from the 1980s was one of the systems implicated in an underpayment of state pensions by around £1bn.
Ms Davinson, whose office was created last year as the new strategic centre for government activity in "digital, data and technology", said, "We do have information in the centre around what legacy systems are out there… what we don't yet have as clearly as I would like is an ongoing process for really assessing and understanding what our cross-government legacy risk looks like, and in what direction it's going, and where do we need to intervene."
Ms Davinson oversaw the troubled implementation of the Emergency Services Network during her time as chief digital, data and technology officer at the Home Office, delays to which would cost £550m in maintaining legacy systems.
She told MPs last week that her office was working with departments to create "a framework for assessing legacy risk" to offer a "clearer picture across government, be more transparent and also help us in conversations with funders, such as Treasury."
The CDDO is currently piloting a tool with three departments in the hope of launching it across government from the beginning of 2022.
The move comes as the UK government hires external help; in part to justify spending on legacy systems and the transition to more modern technologies. McKinsey won a £3m, eight-week contract to build business cases before the Spending Review '21.
The role, which could see the international management consultancy influence government technology spending priorities, was described as one which would "design the cross-departmental approach to tackling core digital, data and technology (DDaT) priorities, developing cross-government business cases and work plans."
Source: The Register
(Links via original reporting)
Joanna Davinson of the CDDO has told MPs that the UK government currently lacks a central, dynamic list of its legacy computing estate and the risks associated with ageing IT infrastructure and applications, The Register reports.
But Ms Davinson - executive director at the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) - said the Cabinet Office, which encompasses CDDO, was working on such a system, aimed at helping prioritise spending, which her team hopes to pilot this year and launch in January.
"I acknowledge that it's not as systematic as it should be at the moment, but we've got an initiative in place," Ms Davinson told Parliament's public spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee.
The need to understand the risks involved with maintaining legacy IT systems reportedly came into focus last week when the National Audit Office revealed an ICL mainframe from the 1980s was one of the systems implicated in an underpayment of state pensions by around £1bn.
Ms Davinson, whose office was created last year as the new strategic centre for government activity in "digital, data and technology", said, "We do have information in the centre around what legacy systems are out there… what we don't yet have as clearly as I would like is an ongoing process for really assessing and understanding what our cross-government legacy risk looks like, and in what direction it's going, and where do we need to intervene."
Ms Davinson oversaw the troubled implementation of the Emergency Services Network during her time as chief digital, data and technology officer at the Home Office, delays to which would cost £550m in maintaining legacy systems.
She told MPs last week that her office was working with departments to create "a framework for assessing legacy risk" to offer a "clearer picture across government, be more transparent and also help us in conversations with funders, such as Treasury."
The CDDO is currently piloting a tool with three departments in the hope of launching it across government from the beginning of 2022.
The move comes as the UK government hires external help; in part to justify spending on legacy systems and the transition to more modern technologies. McKinsey won a £3m, eight-week contract to build business cases before the Spending Review '21.
The role, which could see the international management consultancy influence government technology spending priorities, was described as one which would "design the cross-departmental approach to tackling core digital, data and technology (DDaT) priorities, developing cross-government business cases and work plans."
Source: The Register
(Links via original reporting)