Unit 2
Components of Digital Systems
Syllabus > Unit 2Overview 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. You can access them below.
Option B - Full Class Breakdown by Ines Mergel, University of Konstanz
Ines teaches Unit 2 in a single 90 minute class. Here is the detailed breakdown of that class.
Class Option C - Sample Summary Class Breakdown, by the Editors
Assign pre-reading 'The Data Life Cycle' by Jeanette M. Wing.
Before class choose a digital service that all or almost all of your students will be familiar, including coursework systems or shared communications tools.
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).
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.
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 our 'Summary of Key Arguments' (above).
Watch this video of a talk called Situation Normal, Everything Must Change by Simon Wardley
Read this lecture 'Choose Boring Technology' by Dan McKinley
Read this blog post on smartphone sensors by Manisha Priyadarshini
Read this blog post on government as a platform by Ashley Stephens
Read Explaining the API Revolution to your CEO (2011), by Dan Woods
Read Digital Public Infrastructure and Public Value: What is public about DPI? (2024), by David Eaves, Mariana Mazzucato, Beatriz Vazconcellos
Read Government resilience in the digital age (2024), by Keegan McBride, Andres Raieste
Suggested Pre-Reading for Students
Wardley Mapping, Chapter 2: Finding a Path (2016), Simon Wardley
Do we still need systems integrators? (2020), Steve Kelman and David Eaves
Government Digital Services Playbook by Ad Hoc
Deeper Background Reading for You
Digital Government, Open Architecture, and Innovation: Why Public Sector IT Will Never Be the Same Again (2013), Jerry Fishenden & Mark Thompson
A Survey of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps (2020), Ahmed Et Al
Digital innovation strategy: A framework for diagnosing and improving digital product and service innovation (2015), Daniel Nylén & Jonny Holmström
Government as a Platform Playbook (2019), Richard Pope
What can Estonia show the world? (2017), Helen Margetts & Andre Naumann
Government as a platform, orchestration, and public value creation: The Italian case (2019), Antonio Cordella & Andrea Paletti
Government as a Platform: The Value Proposition (2017), New Zealand's Lab + Experiment
What we're working on in Government as a Platform (2017), Peter O’Sullivan
A Comparative Study of Security Features of National Identity Cards in Five Different Countries: India, Brazil, South Africa, Malaysia and the Philippines (2024), Mukti Chavda, Manisha Mann
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We are proud to use the Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age syllabus in our curriculum and teaching. Developed by an international community of more than 20 professors and practitioners, the syllabus is available open-source and free at www.teachingpublicservice.digital