Unit 2

Components of Digital Systems

Overview of this Unit

Unit 2 is about understanding that government digital systems are made up from components, and that the choice of which components to use is critical. It also lays out the idea of 'Government as a Platform'.

This material, developed by 'Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age', has been prepared to help university faculty to add digital era skills to the teaching of Masters in Public Policy and Masters in Public Administration programs. All these materials are based on our eight Digital Era Competencies - this unit corresponds mostly closely to Competency 8.

This unit is one of eight units that make up a full semester course. The units have also been designed to be used by educators independently, without students taking the rest of the course. This unit can be taught in either one or two classes.

Learning Outcome 1

By the end of Unit 2 students will be able to explain that digital systems are made of components which are connected together to solve problems. This means understanding that:

  • There are many kinds of components that do different things

  • These components are connected together to solve problems

Learning Outcome 2

By the end of Unit 2 students will be able to understand that components are of different qualities and maturities, and that governments and public servants have to make choices about which ones to deploy. This means understanding that:

  • Components are of different quality and change over time

  • It is often very difficult to change components, especially the components that make up 'legacy' systems.

Learning Outcome 3

By the end of Unit 2 students will be able to outline a vision of Government as a platform. This means understanding that:

  • Governments have produced shared, reusable infrastructure for millennia, which is often re-used in ways that governments don't anticipate.

  • Duplication of systems has been a historic norm in government IT delivery

  • Government as a platform is the provision of re-usable services that prevent duplication and facilitate unexpected new value (just like a road).

Learning Outcome 4

By the end of Unit 2 students will be able to describe the purpose and characteristics of an actual Government as a Platform deployment

Summary of Key Arguments in this Unit

  • Argument 1 - Digital systems are built from separate components

Computer systems are not monolithic. Any useful technology system is made of numerous software and hardware components interacting with each other to create value for users. The combination of several technologies into a whole is called a 'stack' or a 'system'.

Whilst public servants do not normally need to have a highly detailed understanding of what each component is or how it works, they do need to be aware that these components are separable, and can be of greatly varying qualities and maturities. Being aware of this enables public servants to make good choices, especially when procuring systems for public service.

  • Argument 2 - The components in digital systems evolve over time, and have different levels of maturity

The components that are used to make up digital government services are not all equally robust, secure or powerful. This means that the choice of which components to use is very important for the delivery of safe, high quality public services.

Senior public service decision-makers cannot be expected to keep track of which technological components are better, cheaper or more powerful than others - they must rely on specialists to do this for them. Nevertheless, they must be familiar with frameworks that enable them to endorse or challenge recommendations for deploying specific technologies, even when they are not themselves technical experts.

Detailed Class Breakdowns

In this section we offer examples of different ways of teaching this unit.

Option A - Full Class Breakdown by David Eaves, Harvard Kennedy School - Includes Video

David teaches Unit 2 across two 90 minute classes.

Option B - Full Class Breakdown by Ines Mergel, University of Konstanz

Ines teaches Unit 2 in a single 90 minute class.

Option C - Sample Summary Class Breakdown, by the Editors

  1. Assign pre-reading 'The Data Life Cycle' by Jeanette M. Wing.

  2. Before class choose a digital service that all or almost all of your students will be familiar, including coursework systems or shared communications tools.

  3. During the class ask students to break down the operation of the chosen tool into stages on Wing's 'Data Life Cycle', and at each stage introduce students to the sort of component that aligns with each stage (e.g The 'Analysis' stage tends to be supported by analytics packages, like Google Analytics, Power BI or r).

  4. Pick one stage in the lifecycle and task students to find and choose a suitable package or component from a range of competitors they find online, explaining why they chose it over other options.

  5. Discuss what kinds of skills or expertise they would want access to to feel more confident about making a package or component choice of the kind just assigned to them.

Materials to Inspire Your Class Design

We recommend you read or watch the following before you design your own approach to teaching 'Unit 2'.

Read

Read our 'Summary of Key Arguments' (above).

Watch

Watch this video of a talk called Situation Normal, Everything Must Change by Simon Wardley

Read

Read this lecture 'Choose Boring Technology' by Dan McKinley

Read

Read this blog post on smartphone sensors by Manisha Priyadarshini

Read

Read this blog post on government as a platform by Ashley Stephens

Read

Read Explaining the API Revolution to your CEO (2011), by Dan Woods

Suggested Pre-Reading for Students

Deeper Background Reading for You

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