Skip to main content
GOV.UK
Blog: Defra digital, data, technology and security
Organisations:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Environment Agency, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Natural England, Animal and Plant Health Agency

Making performance management better

Posted by: Jac Broughton, Posted on: 22 August 2017 - Categories: Defra digital, Smarter working
Poster saying "Think big, do small things" on the wall in the Defra office

Regular readers will know about Defra's “smarter working” initiative, as explained by our COO Betsy Bassis in a recent blog post. It means adopting a user-centered approach to the processes and services our staff use every day. One of those …

Read more of Making performance management better

Flood digital: user-driven service design and agile working

Posted by: Dominic Burton, Posted on: 18 August 2017 - Categories: Defra digital
Flood road closed image

A couple of weeks ago we published a short film about the flood digital service. This second film shows how the service team works and how they put users at the heart of what they do to continually improve how …

Read more of Flood digital: user-driven service design and agile working

What we learned about our users when we went fishing in their shoes

Posted by: Phil Baird, Posted on: 17 August 2017 - Categories: Defra digital, Defra services, Digital transformation
Members of the rod licence team on a fishing trip to learn more about users

Being a Product Manager is about championing the needs of the users of a service. Our team, responsible for the “I want to fish” service (of which buy a rod...

Read more of What we learned about our users when we went fishing in their shoes - 2 comments

What we’re doing to make video more useful across Defra

Posted by: John Seglias, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Posted on: 16 August 2017 - Categories: Defra digital, Digital transformation, Smarter working
Defra is unblocking access to online video

We're committed to smarter working in Defra, and we are starting with small fixes that make people's lives easier. One of those is about opening up access to online video.

Read more of What we’re doing to make video more useful across Defra - 3 comments

What we've learned about preparing for discovery

Posted by: David Thomas, Posted on: 7 August 2017 - Categories: Defra digital, Defra services, Digital transformation
Animated gif with the words "Pre-discovery" replaced by "Preparing for discovery"

...discovery, which leads into alpha, beta and then live. My own recent experiences make me think that while the preparation work done during 'pre-discovery' is incredibly useful, the name “pre-discovery”...

Read more of What we've learned about preparing for discovery - 4 comments

Why we care about data architecture

Posted by: Sarah Burnett, Head of Data Architecture, Data Transformation Programme, Posted on: 4 August 2017 - Categories: Data Transformation, Defra digital
Head of Data Architecture for the Data Transformation Programme, Sarah Burnett,

We’re beginning to tell the story of how critical getting data architecture is to 'getting data right' for the Defra group.

Read more of Why we care about data architecture

A film about the flood digital service

Posted by: Dominic Burton, Posted on: 3 August 2017 - Categories: Defra digital, Digital transformation
The flood digital service is used by the public to check for local flood warnings by location as well as current river and sea levels

The Environment Agency’s flood digital service is used by the public to check for local flood warnings by location as well as current river and sea levels. We spoke to the agile team that developed the service about how they are continually …

Read more of A film about the flood digital service

Time to talk, time to think, time to help

Posted by: Betsy Bassis, Posted on: 2 August 2017 - Categories: Defra digital
A poster about health and wellbeing in the Civil Service

...coat it: there’s a lot going on at the moment. Political changes. Organisational changes. People changes. Change has become the new business as usual. That’s why we’re working to become...

Read more of Time to talk, time to think, time to help - 2 comments

Better access to data to tackle Bovine TB

Posted by: Steve Wilkinson, Head of Innovation, Defra Data Transformation Programme, Posted on: 1 August 2017 - Categories: Data Transformation, Defra digital, Digital transformation, Software tools
Cows

Bovine TB is a complex and costly disease in cattle. Bringing Defra’s data together and providing better access and tools will really help us to tackle it.

Read more of Better access to data to tackle Bovine TB

Related content and links

Defra digital, data, technology and security: our story

This blog is about our experience of transforming Defra digital, data, technology and security services and information.

Find out more about what we do.

We're hiring

We’re always on the look-out for great talent.

Visit our recruitment hub for more information about the current roles on offer.

Find out more about our people.

Follow Defra digital, data, technology and security

  • Join our Defra digital, data and technology LinkedIn community
  • Follow Defra digital, data, technology and security on X

Recent blogs

  • How a ‘Hackathon’ approach can accelerate the implementation of digital solutions 25 February 2026
  • How meeting our users in person changed everything  12 February 2026
  • Defra’s T Level pilot: investing in young people and building digital capability in government 6 February 2026

Sign up and manage updates

  • Email
  • Atom

Pages

  • About Defra digital, data, technology and security
  • Blog comment and moderation guidelines
  • Subscribe
  • A guide to agile communication
  • Our people
  • Working for us

Recent Posts

  • How a ‘Hackathon’ approach can accelerate the implementation of digital solutions
  • How meeting our users in person changed everything 
  • Defra’s T Level pilot: investing in young people and building digital capability in government
  • Defra group transformation: mapping the whole service landscape
  • Grief in the workplace: supporting each other during National Grief Awareness Week and beyond

Recent Comments

  • Tom Parry on Identifying the environmental impacts of digital services: lessons from the 'Get air quality data’ service
  • Simon Johnson on Building a shared understanding of services
  • George Watkins on How Defra is leading the way in sustainable technology
  • Ryan Bark - Closing the Loop on How Defra is leading the way in sustainable technology
  • Amy Jennings on Improving Customer Experience in APHA – Delivering Outcomes with commercial “off-the-shelf” products

Useful links

  • All GOV.UK blogs
  • All GOV.UK blog posts
  • GOV.UK
  • All departments
  • Accessibility statement
  • Cookies
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated
© Crown copyright