Everyone in the UK can have their driving licence on their phone by the end of the year, the Science Secretary has promised ahead of the launch of the new Government app on Tuesday.
The public rollout of the app, available via the Apple and Android app stores, is intended to allow all citizens quicker access to state services such as benefits, travel advice, and renewing official documents.
Within months, it will be backed up by a gov.UK chatbot, built using Anthropic’s AI technology, which will help individuals receive quicker answers to their queries.
And from the autumn, the app will link up with a “gov.UK wallet”, which can contain digital versions of key documents such as driving licences, passports and proof of welfare eligibility.
Peter Kyle, the minister in charge of the technology, said it would eventually make the state more efficient and save money by moving more services online.
Around 1,300 users have been testing the app since the start of this year and it is now being launched to the public as part of a large-scale beta test designed to iron out any further faults.
Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Photo: Teri Pengilley/The i Paper)The home screen of the app can be optimised with the services that an individual user is most likely to access, such as “retirement”, “studying and training” or “money and tax”, and also link to a local authority.
Initially, the only function of the app is to direct users to the relevant pages of Government websites, but its functions will ramp up in the coming months.
Kyle said: “One of the services that is really important to people who are benefits claimants is having a letter of authorisation to show that you are on benefits, for example if you use a food bank, if you get some of the discounts that go with being on benefits, or some of the rights and entitlements.
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“This will be one of the first services that are onboarded in to the app, in addition to the ones that are there already. So that means you will be able to very rapidly press one button, a couple of clicks, and it will generate an electronic version of the letter you need.”
He added that the wallet would launch in September with the veteran’s card, which allows those who have served in the military to access certain discounts, and promised that driving licences – allowing people to prove their identity and age without a physical card – would be added by the end of 2025.
Kyle has been accused of getting too close to Silicon Valley, although he is adamant that greater use of technology in public services can prove revolutionary.
Asked by The i Paper if the app could boost the public finances by making the state work better, he replied: “If you think about the impact that apps have had on banking, for example, you can see it’s been transformative. It has forced banks to rethink the way they deliver their services, and I think you can think of the same scale of ambition for the gov.UK app.”
The app will be able to send notifications, including reminding people to renew their documents or register to vote, although progress on building local government services such as bin collections into the technology will depend on co-operation from councils.
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