Guidance

Share, reuse and collaborate

Avoid duplicating effort and unnecessary costs by collaborating across government and sharing and reusing technology, data, and services.

Published 6 November 2017
Last updated 22 May 2019 — see all updates
From:
Government Digital Service

To meet Point 8 of the Technology Code of Practice you should consider whether your project or programme can share and reuse technology.

If you’re going through the spend control process you must explain how you’re meeting point 8 or any limitations you’ve encountered.

Benefits of sharing and reusing

Before you start your technology project or programme, consider whether sharing your work could benefit other teams in your organisation, or other government organisations.

By sharing your work you can benefit from:

  • easier collaboration with other organisations
  • a larger pool of experts who can help you find solutions to any issues more quickly
  • more integration between government technologies

By reusing existing technology you can benefit from:

  • avoiding duplication and unnecessary spending
  • speeding up initial project or programme phases
  • better value for money

How to share technology and collaborate across government

It’s easier and cheaper to plan how you will share your technology solution from the start of your project or programme. Clear documentation will help your project or programme, and make it easier for you to share your work.

There are several ways you can work in the open and share your technology, data, and services.

Communities

There are communities in a variety of channels, such as Knowledge Hub, Google Groups and Slack. You will need to create a free account to join. Examples of the cross-government communities you can join include the:

You can join these communities to explore which emerging and mature technologies other organisations are using before you commit resources to a project or programme.

Government APIs

The API technical and data standards and API design guidance can help your organisation provide data for government services in a consistent and shareable way.

Combine requirements with other government organisations

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) provides information about current and future opportunities to combine buying requirements when purchasing technology.

This service is free and you:

  • could increase your savings
  • can use the customer team for support and advice
  • can join procurements run by CCS that combine buying requirements for everyday items such as audio conferencing and WAN connectivity

How you can reuse technology

There are several technology resources and common government platforms available to all government organisations. These will help you to reuse government services, information, data and software components.

Government platforms

Consider using common government platforms and services where appropriate. These include:

Common technology

Common technology guidance and services include:

Government code

You should publish your code in the open and use open source technology. Some examples of open government code include:

Published 6 November 2017
Last updated 22 May 2019 + show all updates
  1. Restructure and clarification of content. Some link updates and changes.
  2. First published.
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