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Platformland: An Anatomy of Next-Generation Public Services
The aim of most public sector digitization programmes is the status quo, delivered more cheaply. Rather than saving the public from bureaucracy, digital has created new administrative burdens. The public are engaged as consumers in a way that misunderstands the nature of what makes public services public. Instead of digital being recognised as critical to the operation of a modern state, it is too often an afterthought. It’s time to share the benefits of digital with the public more fully. This book describes the types of interaction we should expect from the next generation of public services, the digital platforms and infrastructure they will be built with, and the public sector design values needed to make them a reality. It includes thirty illustrated design patterns, ten strategic interventions, and global examples of emerging patterns in digital government. It also highlights some foundational ideas in computer science, design and public policy to show how the challenges posed by the digital state are neither novel nor new. The book will enable more policy professionals to think like technologists and designers, and it will help more technologists and designers to think about public policy.
296 pages, Paperback
Published November 29, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 10, 2025
How states behave toward citizens is not determined just by the policies the government pursues, or how much money it spends, but also by the way in which these services are designed and delivered. This often quite boring and dry aspect of public administration can be often overlooked - as it fits neither the economics nor politics bucket, but rather sits rather awkwardly somewhere around the design of policy studies - but makes the world of difference for people who depend on and interact with the state.
This book should be as influential and popular as 'Recoding America' by Jenifer Pahlka was a few years ago and it would be really beneficial for anyone in the policy world who deals with public services (health, education, justice, general administration etc) to read it. It to a large extent builds on the generally accepted definitions of problems with public services in the Anglo-American contexts from people like Pahlka and does not spend too much time on the analysis, but focuses on making them better, more efficient and adapting them to the 2020s.
I am however afraid it will not be, as it is written for a more specialised audience of policy professionals. It is, however, not too dry and I must say I enjoyed it, but I am also kind of the exact target audience for it. Richard Pope strikes a good balance between detail and complexity, focusing on practical issues for designing public services as well as describing the guiding principles for them.
The book has a somewhat textbook-ish feel to it, but that is actually great. Each chapter contains a more analytical intro into the issue, followed by an outline of the recommended patterns and then a 'strategy' that will help increase the chance for the successful outcome of the approach.
The starting point for Pope is the experience of the UK Government Digital Service (GDS) which was founded in 2010 and was the first of its kind - bringing digital ways of working and thinking into government (later expanded on by people like Tim O'Reilly in his 'Government as a Platform'). The GDS designed some of the first important steps of digital public services globally in the 2010s - the GOV.UK, GOV.UK Verify, and later contributed to the saving and improving of the Universal Credit system, the early implementation of which was largely seen as a failure.
The vision of public services Pope presents is relatively present in the policy debate in the UK but rarely presented so coherently. Many countries are developing their services in line with this vision - not least some parts of the UK, Estonia, Finland, India and Australia. And examples presented in the book are mostly from these few places.
Public services should aim to use automation to remove the administrative burden on citizens (noting that administrative burden can be a policy choice to discourage access to a benefit), should be proactive, real-time and passive, with the 'once-only' principle implemented across all the services (that government should require a piece of information from a user only once). Also important is to share the services' APIs (but also control them well).
The public sector has a great level of organisational complexity which often translates into the complexity of services (Conway's law) and gaps between them. This is why services should be designed around people's lives and 'life events' like the birth of a child, a wedding etc (which is something that a lot of countries have been doing recently). This can be done through 'composite services' - a virtual joining up of components across ministries - modelling the life event. Organisations need to design services that 'abstract, overlap and join up'.
People need to understand the public services. This can be done through the use of 'journals' - visible trackers of activity within the user's account on the service's system website or app interface. 'Task lists' can be used to document what users need to do. This framework of 'journals-accounts-task lists' was used in the latter and more successful stages of the design of Universal Credit. People need to understand what has happened and what will happen - they need to have a sense of ownership over their credentials and a relationship to the service they are interacting with, they need to have a democratic sense that they are co-producing them. Services should not be 'seamless', but rather easy to use with visible 'seams' - with enough automated (!!!) transparency and explanation (I personally think this is where AI can do a lot of help) for what is happening to their data and how have systems or processes changed.
Pope also - much like anyone who seriously thinks about public service reform in the UK and anywhere else - argues for a digital ID, that could incorporate all credentials a citizen has. This can be used for automation of access to services, it should be not shared but rather housed centrally (like all foundational data that should be accessible through APIs and unique identifiers) and then used as a credential for accessing a specific service - showing only what is relevant at the moment. Digital credentials allow splitting identity into attributes relevant to the service - like when applying for a disability claim, one does not need to show a full picture of one's own health, financial or health situation. Digital credentials should be seen as 'digital social objects' - things that hold meaning and interest for people.
A very important aspect of modern public services is to see them through platforms and credentials. This thinking comes from the early programming philosophy of the Unix operating system (write programs that do one thing and do it well, programs that can work together and can handle text streams) and means effectively that a component of public service should only focus on one thing, like verification, payment or issuing a digital credential. It is then the job of the service, which becomes a platform, to join these components into easily accessible and understandable services and tools.
Overall, I would definitely recommend to anyone thinking about how should public services look in the late 2020s, not from the perspective of the point of service delivery (like the provision of healthcare or education), but from the perspective of the design of the whole system and the user's interaction with it.
This book should be as influential and popular as 'Recoding America' by Jenifer Pahlka was a few years ago and it would be really beneficial for anyone in the policy world who deals with public services (health, education, justice, general administration etc) to read it. It to a large extent builds on the generally accepted definitions of problems with public services in the Anglo-American contexts from people like Pahlka and does not spend too much time on the analysis, but focuses on making them better, more efficient and adapting them to the 2020s.
I am however afraid it will not be, as it is written for a more specialised audience of policy professionals. It is, however, not too dry and I must say I enjoyed it, but I am also kind of the exact target audience for it. Richard Pope strikes a good balance between detail and complexity, focusing on practical issues for designing public services as well as describing the guiding principles for them.
The book has a somewhat textbook-ish feel to it, but that is actually great. Each chapter contains a more analytical intro into the issue, followed by an outline of the recommended patterns and then a 'strategy' that will help increase the chance for the successful outcome of the approach.
The starting point for Pope is the experience of the UK Government Digital Service (GDS) which was founded in 2010 and was the first of its kind - bringing digital ways of working and thinking into government (later expanded on by people like Tim O'Reilly in his 'Government as a Platform'). The GDS designed some of the first important steps of digital public services globally in the 2010s - the GOV.UK, GOV.UK Verify, and later contributed to the saving and improving of the Universal Credit system, the early implementation of which was largely seen as a failure.
The vision of public services Pope presents is relatively present in the policy debate in the UK but rarely presented so coherently. Many countries are developing their services in line with this vision - not least some parts of the UK, Estonia, Finland, India and Australia. And examples presented in the book are mostly from these few places.
Public services should aim to use automation to remove the administrative burden on citizens (noting that administrative burden can be a policy choice to discourage access to a benefit), should be proactive, real-time and passive, with the 'once-only' principle implemented across all the services (that government should require a piece of information from a user only once). Also important is to share the services' APIs (but also control them well).
The public sector has a great level of organisational complexity which often translates into the complexity of services (Conway's law) and gaps between them. This is why services should be designed around people's lives and 'life events' like the birth of a child, a wedding etc (which is something that a lot of countries have been doing recently). This can be done through 'composite services' - a virtual joining up of components across ministries - modelling the life event. Organisations need to design services that 'abstract, overlap and join up'.
People need to understand the public services. This can be done through the use of 'journals' - visible trackers of activity within the user's account on the service's system website or app interface. 'Task lists' can be used to document what users need to do. This framework of 'journals-accounts-task lists' was used in the latter and more successful stages of the design of Universal Credit. People need to understand what has happened and what will happen - they need to have a sense of ownership over their credentials and a relationship to the service they are interacting with, they need to have a democratic sense that they are co-producing them. Services should not be 'seamless', but rather easy to use with visible 'seams' - with enough automated (!!!) transparency and explanation (I personally think this is where AI can do a lot of help) for what is happening to their data and how have systems or processes changed.
Pope also - much like anyone who seriously thinks about public service reform in the UK and anywhere else - argues for a digital ID, that could incorporate all credentials a citizen has. This can be used for automation of access to services, it should be not shared but rather housed centrally (like all foundational data that should be accessible through APIs and unique identifiers) and then used as a credential for accessing a specific service - showing only what is relevant at the moment. Digital credentials allow splitting identity into attributes relevant to the service - like when applying for a disability claim, one does not need to show a full picture of one's own health, financial or health situation. Digital credentials should be seen as 'digital social objects' - things that hold meaning and interest for people.
A very important aspect of modern public services is to see them through platforms and credentials. This thinking comes from the early programming philosophy of the Unix operating system (write programs that do one thing and do it well, programs that can work together and can handle text streams) and means effectively that a component of public service should only focus on one thing, like verification, payment or issuing a digital credential. It is then the job of the service, which becomes a platform, to join these components into easily accessible and understandable services and tools.
Overall, I would definitely recommend to anyone thinking about how should public services look in the late 2020s, not from the perspective of the point of service delivery (like the provision of healthcare or education), but from the perspective of the design of the whole system and the user's interaction with it.
February 10, 2025
'software is politics now'
Ugh this book was so thought provoking, with bold statements on what the future could look like in its best and worst state.
Richard Pope does a great job of kicking you back to core values of public services and their purpose. Pope makes many bold statements around highly debated topics but he made me consider things completely differently!
As an example many people start to think to be user centered first then look at the technology, but Pope argues this is one and the same. Without recognizing the capabilities technology can offer us, we are cutting off our hands.
Technology offers possibilities for fairer and more democratic public services.
Such a powerful book! Read this book if you work or are interested in public services .
Ugh this book was so thought provoking, with bold statements on what the future could look like in its best and worst state.
Richard Pope does a great job of kicking you back to core values of public services and their purpose. Pope makes many bold statements around highly debated topics but he made me consider things completely differently!
As an example many people start to think to be user centered first then look at the technology, but Pope argues this is one and the same. Without recognizing the capabilities technology can offer us, we are cutting off our hands.
Technology offers possibilities for fairer and more democratic public services.
Such a powerful book! Read this book if you work or are interested in public services .
May 29, 2025
Platformland offers an optimistic and exciting vision for digital governance. Former civil servant Richard Pope, one of the pioneers of the UK’s Government Digital Service, argues that technology should empower citizens as active participants rather than passive consumers. Intelligent service design, he contends, must foster trust while ensuring that interactions with government are easy and simple. Pope’s exploration of the ‘Tell Us Once’ principle shows the potential of composite services to leverage shared data, allowing citizens to disclose only necessary information while helping government departments reduce costly duplication.
Democratic accountability demands an extra level of transparency for government services that private providers need not consider. Echoing Balfour’s notion that democracy is ‘government by explanation’, Pope introduces the concept of “seamful” design. This challenges the tech industry view that simplicity is the sine qua non of service design; government services should demonstrate how policy reflects the messiness of life, and that complexity can be visible across the user journey.
Pope is clear on the challenges of implementing ‘government as a platform’, especially in the UK. Cross-government communication is hampered by the asynchronous operation of departments, local authorities and other public bodies, at vastly different levels of technological maturity. His solutions are compelling, but might risk oversimplifying the bureaucratic and structural constraints. Pope’s discussion of international case studies - India and Estonia most prominently - offer valuable insight but do not account for the constitutional complexities of UK governance. Platformland only alludes to the cybersecurity risks arising from shared data depositories and digital identity credentialing. These may be overly technical topics for a book which is admirably accessible to the general reader.
For a digital civil servant, Platformland is an invaluable tour of the future potential of co-produced government services. The challenge of realising ‘software as politics’ is both daunting and energising.
Democratic accountability demands an extra level of transparency for government services that private providers need not consider. Echoing Balfour’s notion that democracy is ‘government by explanation’, Pope introduces the concept of “seamful” design. This challenges the tech industry view that simplicity is the sine qua non of service design; government services should demonstrate how policy reflects the messiness of life, and that complexity can be visible across the user journey.
Pope is clear on the challenges of implementing ‘government as a platform’, especially in the UK. Cross-government communication is hampered by the asynchronous operation of departments, local authorities and other public bodies, at vastly different levels of technological maturity. His solutions are compelling, but might risk oversimplifying the bureaucratic and structural constraints. Pope’s discussion of international case studies - India and Estonia most prominently - offer valuable insight but do not account for the constitutional complexities of UK governance. Platformland only alludes to the cybersecurity risks arising from shared data depositories and digital identity credentialing. These may be overly technical topics for a book which is admirably accessible to the general reader.
For a digital civil servant, Platformland is an invaluable tour of the future potential of co-produced government services. The challenge of realising ‘software as politics’ is both daunting and energising.
December 23, 2025
My work-related reading for the last couple of months.
I thought that the structure of the book, with each chapter concluding by recommending patterns, would end up feeling too abstract and formulaic. But the real world examples drawn from such a range of different countries and periods counterbalanced this. In particular, the overarching focus on Girobank and the Post office makes the book feel even more timely.
I thought that the structure of the book, with each chapter concluding by recommending patterns, would end up feeling too abstract and formulaic. But the real world examples drawn from such a range of different countries and periods counterbalanced this. In particular, the overarching focus on Girobank and the Post office makes the book feel even more timely.
January 27, 2025
this is very good for an average public administration literature enjoyer. I'm lacking a bit examples beyond 4-6 countries he keeps using. but I guess that what links are for.
conclusions / epilogue was a bit abrupt. and I also lacked a bit of complete "out of this planet" foresight thinking + cybersec aspect. but otherwise - highly recommend for egov enthusiasts
conclusions / epilogue was a bit abrupt. and I also lacked a bit of complete "out of this planet" foresight thinking + cybersec aspect. but otherwise - highly recommend for egov enthusiasts
September 29, 2025
Practical vision for civic technology. This is well beyond “just digitize everything” and speaks to the challenges of design and infrastructure to consider. Worth revisiting regularly.
May 3, 2025
I enjoyed reading about some of the ideas, they were inspiring. The implementations are somewhat oversimplified but nonetheless, I enjoyed the book and examples and references discussed.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews