How to build progressive public services with data science and artificial intelligence

The new government faces an urgent challenge: revitalising the UK's crumbling public services without major increases in public spending. While technological change holds promise, UK digital government initiatives have failed to reach their full potential over the past twenty-five years. This article argues that the latest generation of ‘data-intensive’ technologies, including data science and AI, can succeed where past efforts have faltered. We provide a roadmap for how to harness the power of recent technologies for a more productive and equitable public sector, and pinpoint the organisational changes necessary to develop progressive, technologically enhanced public services.