Local government spends billions on technology every year, yet councils face the same challenges around interoperability, data sharing and supplier lock-in. Since launching last year, GDS Local has been working with councils, suppliers and partners to understand why this fragmentation persists and what practical steps could reduce it.
The government’s ambitions for growth, public service reform and devolution depend on collaboration with local government and strategic authorities. GDS Local was established to strengthen the connection between national digital transformation and local delivery in three ways:
- developing a strategic technology vision for local government, so every organisation works from the same blueprint
- shaping the market by bringing local government into the conversation
- enabling and de-risking adoption of common components
Together, these form our approach to reducing fragmentation and improving interoperability across the whole of local government – helping local government buy tech better! When systems do not connect, councils can spend more time moving information between organisations or working around technology, rather than improving the services residents rely on.
First, we listened
We engaged 300 practitioners up and down the country through the sprint that created GDS Local. A consistent challenge emerged: fragmented technology and infrastructure make vital services harder and more expensive to deliver.
Systems often cannot work together, even within the same service area. Data remains locked in proprietary platforms with high costs to retrieve or move. Councils repeatedly procure similar capabilities, while complex, duplicated procurement processes limit innovation.
Then, we acted – starting with building a shared understanding of the technology landscape
Councils often use different language for similar systems, and there has never been a comprehensive model showing how applications, capabilities, data, and integrations fit together across the sector. Without this shared language and architectural view, it is difficult to identify common problems, coordinate action and tackle fragmentation collectively.
We have been developing the Local Government Architectural Model (LGAM) to address this gap. Designed with and for practitioners in local authorities who face this complexity every day, the LGAM is more than a mapping exercise; it helps define a future where councils have greater control over their data, information moves more easily between systems, and organisations have more choice over the products and services they use.
Now, we want to do more – creating the market conditions for change
Through our market shaping research, we have brought councils and suppliers together to understand what prevents a more innovative, competitive and interoperable market.
Our research has highlighted recurring concerns about how the market operates, including concentration, inconsistent requirements, high switching costs and difficulties moving data between systems. Councils and suppliers told us that these issues make the market harder to navigate and can limit choice and innovation.
The feedback we received reflected a sentiment that the market isn't working for anyone - not for council digital departments or operational services, and not for suppliers (the big and the small) - because it is difficult to navigate consistently and transparently.
The issue is not lack of guidance, but a need for market-level coordination, standards and collective leverage.
The feedback:
- councils often buy similar technology separately. They want the centre to support collective leverage and engagement with vendors
- suppliers also expressed a clear appetite for the centre to move beyond ‘soft guidance’ and mandate standards that reduce fragmentation and support negotiations
- suppliers pointed to inconsistent procurement practices, inconsistent requirements and 'over-specification'
These are systemic issues, and no single organisation can resolve them alone – they need multiple actors working together at the table. We're working with partners across councils, Government, and industry to identify practical interventions.
We’re focusing on the levers at our disposal, including mandates, incentives, commercial policy and legislation. We’ll be exploring common data and API requirements, consistent procurement practices, collective supplier engagement, stronger exit and data-portability terms, and better use of government-wide supplier relationships.
We are working with councils, suppliers and government partners to explore where greater consistency could make the market easier to navigate. This includes looking at common data and API requirements, more consistent procurement practices, collective supplier engagement, stronger exit and data-portability terms that help councils move their data or change providers. No single intervention will solve these issues, so the next phase will test which approaches could be practical and proportionate.
So, what next? Turning strategy into practical change
Alongside our technology vision and market shaping work, we’ve collaborated with councils and GDS teams to understand the opportunities and challenges to digital product adoption.
"Like turning an oil tanker. Painful. Challenging. Exciting."
That's how local government teams have described adopting a new digital product. Successful adoption goes beyond good products, also requiring evidence, practical support and the right conditions.
The local authorities we’ve spoken to have been clear about what they need: common technology for shared challenges – like identity and data sharing – so they’re solved once, earlier involvement in designing solutions, trusted guidance and peer learning, and economic evidence and adoption blueprints that build confidence and capability.
This is where all three strands of work come together.
- the LGAM identifies common capabilities and where fragmentation creates unnecessary complexity
- market shaping establishes the standards, supplier relationships and procurement conditions that make adoption easier
- supporting common component adoption provides a practical mechanism for delivering change
As councils continue to navigate financial pressures, technology debt and local government reorganisation, there is an opportunity to rethink where technology should be locally unique and where consistency could benefit councils, suppliers and residents.
That is the shared ambition behind our work.
If you’re interested in following or getting involved in GDS’s work in this space, sign up to the GDS Local newsletter – we'll be sharing more updates in the coming weeks, such as our upcoming webinar series to explore each strand of the work and help shape what happens next.
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