Using the right technology

Digital is more than tools: it’s about people, how they work, the processes they follow and the culture they shape.

The right technology enables teams to design, build and run services that improve lives and deliver public value. 

Poor choices creates risks, including:

• technical debt
• vendor lock-in
• barriers to accessibility and security

Choosing the right technology helps you build services that are reliable, scalable and meet user needs.

Understand why your technology choices are important and how to make the best decision for your service.

• Choosing technology (gov.scot)
• Choosing technology: an introduction (GOV.UK)
• Technology Code of Practice (GOV.UK)

Build a strong and reliable service that meets user needs and can grow safely.

• Building a resilient frontend using progressive enhancement (GOV.UK)
• Making your frontend accessible (GOV.UK)
• Designing for different browsers and devices (GOV.UK)
• Making sure your service works well on mobile (GOV.UK)
• Deploying software regularly (GOV.UK)
• API design guidance (GOV.UK)

How open standards and open source code can benefit your service. 

• Open Standards principles (GOV.UK)
• Making source code open and reusable (GOV.UK)
• Be open and use open source (GOV.UK)

Choosing where your service lives online affects how well it works, keeping it secure, stable, and easy to manage.

• Deciding how to host your service (GOV.UK)
• Use Cloud First policy (GOV.UK)
• Cloud technology and the public sector (GOV.UK)

Keeping your services secure is important to protect people’s privacy and trust, and reduces the risk of cyber attacks and data breaches.

• Securing your information (GOV.UK)
• Secure by Design Principles (GOV.UK)
• Principles for securing personal data in government services (GOV.UK)
• Cloud security principles (NCSC)
• Data protection impact assessments (ICO)

Testing early and often helps you identify problems early and make sure your service meets user needs and works as intended.

• Quality assurance: testing your service regularly (GOV.UK)
• Test your service's performance (GOV.UK)
• Exploratory testing (GOV.UK)
• How to test frontend performance (GOV.UK)
• Testing with assistive technologies (GOV.UK)
• Monitoring the status of your service (GOV.UK)

Considering sustainability when designing public services can help to reduce environmental impact while creating services that serve people effectively and last.  

• Digital sustainability guide
• Designing accessible, inclusive and sustainable services
• Make your technology sustainable (GOV.UK)
• Green Web Foundation
• Green Services Principles 0.3
• Eco-Friendly Web Alliance

Choose the right technology when you’re building or improving a service. 

Policy and guidance

Wales procurement policy statement (GOV.WALES)

Define your purchasing strategy (GOV.UK)

Moving away from legacy systems (GOV.UK)

Platforms and frameworks

G-Cloud framework (CC)

How to buy through Crown Commercial Service (CC)

Sell2Wales

Data helps you understand what currently works well within your service and what you can improve, so you can make informed decisions that better meet your users’ needs. 

• Measuring the success of your service (gov.scot)
• Using data for better decision-making in the Welsh public sector
• Measuring success (GOV.UK)