Guidance

GovTech Catalyst suppliers: end of phase 1

Published 18 September 2019

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/govtech-catalyst-suppliers-end-of-phase-1/govtech-catalyst-suppliers-end-of-phase-1

1. Preparing for the end of phase 1 show and tell

You’ll need to present what you’ve learnt in phase 1 to the challenge owner and the GovTech Catalyst team. This will consist of a 30 minute presentation followed by 45 minutes of questions.

It’s helpful if you present your research findings using the following structure:

  • what’s your understanding of the problem space (where did you start; what idea did you start with)?
  • what was the hypothesis in your original proposal?
  • how did you test your hypothesis, and what evidence confirmed or disconfirmed it?
  • what did you learn from that testing?
  • what did you do differently based on what you learnt?
  • how did you overcome any barriers?
  • what is your understanding of the most important set of user needs and how has that changed during this phase?
  • what would you do next and what are the biggest risks that can be addressed in the next phase?

2. How to demonstrate your progress against government digital standards

At the end of the phase 1 show and tell, the GovTech Catalyst team will want to hear how you’ve applied the Digital Service Standard and Technology Code of Practice to this challenge.

We use the original version of the Digital Service Standard so all challenges have been assessed using the same criteria.

Areas of focus for the Digital Service Standard are:

  1. Understanding user needs
  2. Do ongoing user research
  3. Have a multidisciplinary team
  4. Use agile methods
  5. Iterate and improve frequently
  6. Evaluate tools and systems
  7. Understand security and privacy issues
  8. Use open standards and common platforms
  9. Make sure users succeed first time
  10. Make the user experience consistent

Areas of focus for the Technology Code of Practice are:

  1. Make things Accessible
  2. Share and reuse technology
  3. Integrate and adapt technology
  4. Make better use of data

3. What happens next

After the show and tell, the challenge owner and GovTech Catalyst team will assess if the challenge should progress to phase 2. The decision is based on evaluating phase 1 of the challenge as a whole, and not the performance of individual suppliers.

For the challenge to progress to phase 2, it must meet a range of criteria:

  • the problem needs an innovative digital solution
  • a solution will bring better services or reduce costs
  • the public body is willing to buy the solution
  • the challenge owner’s goals for phase 1 have been met

Any decision to progress to phase 2 will need to be agreed by the GovTech Catalyst steering board.

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