Andy Wilds is no stranger to driving change. Starting his career in the banking sector, he initially focused on managing operational teams before gaining valuable experience in Lean and Six Sigma transformation methodologies.
However, he soon came to realise that the catalyst for true transformational change lay in the world of digital technology. This prompted a move into technology consulting, where he spent several years working on large-scale tech-driven transformation programmes for major UK banks.
After a decade in the banking industry, Andy was “itching for a new challenge”. This led to a role within the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) arm of the UK Home Office, where he’s currently leading the delivery of a new border technology to replace a system that has been in place for nearly 30 years – delivering functionality that supports millions of passengers every week.
“Even though I really enjoyed working in the banking technology transformation space, I didn’t really have the same passion for what we were doing,” he explains. “The programmes that we’re working on at the Home Office make a tangible difference to people’s everyday lives; I can see the real value we’re delivering every day. In that way, the move has proved to be really rewarding.”
Transformation drivers and challenges
Many of the modern requirements for digital transformation revolve around customer expectations. The needs of today are expected to be met instantly, putting the focus on implementing technologies and methodologies that deliver quality experiences faster.
For the UK Home Office’s DDaT arm specifically, this has resulted in a real drive to move away from slow and complex legacy applications towards more adaptable, scalable and resilient architectures. And it’s this customer aspect that excites Andy: “The constant innovations and endless opportunities that new technologies bring to our customers are what keep me engaged and motivated. I love being at the centre of these technological advancements, enabling and driving transformative change for customers.”
Andy’s team is also constantly adapting to the evolving landscape of border security and immigration policy changes. The key challenge is balancing user experience and cost efficiency with national security; the smooth flow of people and goods across UK borders must be assured while reducing costs where possible – all without compromising on security.
“Data security and privacy concerns are paramount, and balancing these with the need for efficient processing can be a real challenge.”Andy Wilds, Technology Delivery Lead, UK Home Office
Of course, due to the sensitive nature of the work, there are other unique challenges for Andy and his team to navigate. For example, data privacy and security “are paramount”. The fact that the Home Office is constantly accumulating sensitive data makes it an attractive target for cyber-criminals, so “staying ahead of ever-evolving cyber threats and emerging AI and quantum computing capabilities is and will remain a constant battle.”
Then there’s the skills shortage, an issue which is far from unique to the Home Office. The increased pace of technological innovation has created a need for talent that can build and maintain emerging digital technologies, which will only intensify in the years to come as technology continues to evolve.
“The talent shortage goes across the board. If we lack the right talent, it will be the biggest barrier to the adoption of emerging technologies. The Civil Service as a whole needs to ensure it is thinking long-term and setting up strategic partnerships to help grow our expertise in the right areas.”
Modernising border control
Andy’s team is in the process of delivering some significant technical changes. Tactically, he’s focused on making improvements to an already comprehensive UK border control platform, which integrates multiple systems to provide a more seamless experience for travellers while simultaneously managing risk at the border.
As Andy explains: “The focus is on modernising and replacing legacy systems to drive improvements in a number of areas. Along with improving the border crossing experience, this includes enhancing data sharing across departments and making our operations more efficient and secure.”
In the short-term, Andy is working towards the key milestone of decommissioning the existing system and replacing it with a new system that will reduce border queue times and enable more targeted intelligence alerts for Border Force officers. It will also improve border system reliability and availability, helping the Home Office to set itself up well for the future.
“We will continue to deploy new infrastructure and technology. There are some exciting developments on the horizon.”Andy Wilds, Technology Delivery Lead, UK Home Office
That’s the tactical. Strategically, Andy is focused on implementing a more data-driven approach to decision-making. “The migration to the new borders system is based on enhancing our use of data and technology, alongside redesigning our operations to improve outcomes across all areas of delivery. And we will continue to deploy new infrastructure and technology. From exploring the feasibility of a more contactless border to using advanced analytics to better identify trends and threats in real-time, there are some exciting developments on the horizon.”
This work is already making an impact; Andy’s team within the UK Home Office’s ‘Digital Service at the Border’ programme (comprised of Home Office and BAE Systems employees) was recently named as one of three finalists in the 2023 Civil Service Awards – a significant achievement. This recognition is down to the team’s innovative and pioneering “shift-left” approach to crucial testing, which has reduced development time and enhanced code quality to deliver real-world benefits – the essence of the transformative impact of technology.
Looking ahead
Andy envisages several key developments in the sector over the coming years. Unsurprisingly, he expects to see a continued shift towards automation and advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning. These technologies will increasingly be used for risk assessment, improving and accelerating government’s ability to identify and respond to threats, as well as supporting rapid, accurate decision-making at scale.
Another interesting area will be advancements in digital identity. Currently, citizens must go through a separate checking process every time they need to prove their identity – repeatedly sharing this with multiple government departments. But technology can be used to streamline this process and improve the user experience – while at the same time providing assurance of data privacy and security.
“It must be quite frustrating from a customer experience perspective if you've already shared your passport with one government department, and then another department is asking you for the same information. Through the Government Digital Service, the UK is looking to address this and follow the example of other countries that enable digital identities to be reused. I think it’s going to play quite an interesting role in our sector and I look forward to how advancements in this space will impact our work in the Home Office.”
Andy also highlighted a growing trend of international cross-governmental department collaboration and data sharing to enhance border security. He suggested a need for government organisations to establish “formal accountability structures for data sharing, including standards for data structure, quality and timeliness”.
He spoke of a vision that would see CIOs have in-built mission objectives related to value-add data sharing initiatives across government departments. This would help improve access to information in a timely manner, in turn enabling better quality decisions within the UK Home Office and wider.
Secrets to successful transformation
Finally, we asked Andy to offer some advice for other people running major transformation programmes. His top tips were to start with a clear, well-defined vision of what you want to achieve and be open to collaboration – both within your organisation and with external partners as part of a “one team” approach where trust and transparency are valued.
He also advised investing time at the start of the project in the ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’, which could cover anything from how you control scope to managing workloads between teams. “Not having a clear structure for teams to follow can lead to significant problems down the line. And this becomes more important the bigger the programme gets, as having multiple teams working in different ways or to different standards is a recipe for disaster.”
“Transformations can be challenging, but they are also incredibly rewarding when you get them right."Andy Wilds, Technology Delivery Lead, UK Home Office
The key, Andy said, is to get the simple, repeatable things right from the start of the project. This will make it easier for teams to stay focused on the actual problems you’re trying to solve.
Last but not least, stay agile. Set yourself up in a way that enables you to adapt to changing circumstances and react quickly to unexpected challenges. This can be achieved by keeping batches of work small to foster faster learning and feedback, and testing functionality with stakeholders on a regular basis. As a result, you’ll discover issues earlier which will make them easier to fix.
“Transformations can be challenging, but they are also incredibly rewarding when you get them right. So much of success depends on how early you can get feedback. By adopting a continuous deployment culture with regular testing and promoting of your code, you’ll be able to get faster feedback and identify issues earlier in the development cycle.”
About the author
Tom Noble, Account Manager