Today we launch the digital service for Individual Electoral Registration (IER). This is our first major transactional service delivered all the way to live as an agile project.
There are lots of other firsts as well.
For the first time we have:
- linked all local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland with a central national service across the PSN (Public Services Network)
- built a way to verify people against the DWP system to allow online registration, authenticated through National Insurance number
- built a system which works across multiple security levels on a national scale in a way that is safe, secure and transparent to users
- developed an open RESTful API which underpins a national service
- had Ministerial approval at the start of a project, not through a paper submission or governance board, but by having the Minister use the service
I have been asked if agile can deliver at scale. IER supports 46 million voters across 400 local authorities.
I have been asked if agile can deliver robust services. IER underpins the democratic process in this country and is secure and robust.
I have been asked if agile can deliver against tight timescales. The only way we could have successfully delivered the digital service with a small team against a deadline set in legislation is by being agile.
Agile is not a thing you buy, agile is a thing you are. This is reflected in how we have worked and what we have learned.
Over the next few days some of the team will talk about what they learnt in delivering IER as a Product Manager, a Delivery Manager, a Service Manager or a Technical Architect.
There is a great deal to learn from our experiences in delivering IER. This was my first agile delivery project on this scale and I have learnt a lot. We are very happy to share that learning.
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