Import and Export controls within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) enable in excess of £12 billion worth of UK trade annually. BIS were the first department to create a web based application for licence applications but across government there are still many manual processes.
Discovery is a chance for industry to tell government what the issues and pain points are for companies and individuals trying to import and export controlled goods with the UK government. Work began with a presentation to important stakeholders at the Export Group for Aerospace, Defence and Dual-Use (EGADD) annual meeting; a positive reception has seen plenty of volunteers to help formulate our initial findings. The team has been in place since the 30 November and quickly began making themselves familiar with all matters relating to import and export, as well as receiving expert help from across government and industry.
The process
Discovery is due to run for 8 weeks and will finish on the 5 February (due to the Christmas break). For those unfamiliar with an agile development process, there is a large emphasis on visual representation and testing theories with users. Discovery is the first project phase to understand the needs of all users of the service.
This will help to prepare the team to create a prototype and launch an alpha as quickly as possible, It will represent a thin slice of the future system and help to prove the concept. One big advantage to this is that we can get functionality to users as soon as possible to understand where the system can be improved and use their input to ensure the service provides maximum value to its users.
What next?
Throughout the coming weeks the team will be posting weekly to provide updates on progress and also to look for feedback from across the user base both within government, Industry and anybody associated with the import and export of controlled goods. We look forward to your participation and the chance to create a service that will better suit user needs.
Any thoughts on agile? Want to volunteer to help the team gather user research? The comment section will be reviewed regularly to ensure we gain feedback from all channels.
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