By Debra Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer, ArvatoConnect
Britain cannot afford to move slowly. The demand for faster, smarter and more responsive public services is growing, but digital transformation must deliver more than efficiency alone. Every pound spent on digital public services is an investment in Britain’s productivity, competitiveness and longer-term prosperity.
Done well, digital transformation can improve how the state works while strengthening the businesses and local economies that make better services possible. It can also build a more capable workforce. We should be ambitious about achieving these outcomes together.
This is the driving force behind our report, released this week (18th September 2026), with the New Statesman, Digital transformation: The path to a more efficient state. Drawing on expert commentary, sector data and practical case studies, it explores how Britain’s digital ambitions can translate into better services, while driving opportunities and creating lasting benefits in every postcode.
Connecting public investment with local growth
In my contribution to the report, I argue that Britain’s digital future depends on the capability we build across our regions. Public service delivery should be seen as a source of economic opportunity rather than simply a route to faster transactions or lower costs.
Introducing technology successfully requires people who understand services and can redesign processes around users’ needs. That means building skills in service design, data interpretation, digital support, change management and problem solving, as well as the communication skills needed to help people navigate new systems with confidence. Employees must also be able to support users when a process does not work as intended and take responsibility for putting it right. These skills should be applied across government and the wider economy. Ensuring they are developed should be a deliberate outcome of public investment.
Procurement has a critical role to play. Every major contract should do more than deliver a service; it should create long-term value. It should give a business the confidence to recruit and train employees, while developing partnerships with specialist suppliers and innovative SMEs. It should also help the public body strengthen its own expertise.
Companies delivering from a UK base have a responsibility to demonstrate that contribution clearly. Their commitments need to show how they will create local employment, invest in skills and open opportunities to smaller businesses within the local economies in which they operate, as well as how they will assess the results.
Giving communities a stake in change
There is a public confidence argument here too. People should be able to see how digital investment is delivering tangible benefits where they live: better services, stronger local economies and more opportunities to participate in the growth developing around them.
That requires care in how services change. An easier online process is valuable, but someone facing a complex or sensitive situation must still be able to reach a person who can help, if they need to. Employees also need opportunities to develop their skills and influence how technology is introduced.
These are the issues at the heart of the report. It considers community involvement and digital inclusion alongside practical evidence from ArvatoConnect’s work with Wales Air Ambulance Charity, showing why economic opportunity must remain central to the way transformation is delivered.
Read the full report to explore how digital transformation can improve services while building stronger capability and creating wider economic value for communities across Britain here.
