https://dataingovernment.blog.gov.uk/the-queens-awards-for-enterprise-self-certification/
The Queen's Awards for Enterprise - Self Certification
The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise is a replacement service for an existing 100% digital service that enables UK businesses, including those based in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, to apply for a corporate award recognising their outstanding achievement in:
• Innovation
• International Trade
• Sustainable Development
There is also an award for individuals, The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion, which individuals are nominated for to recognise their outstanding role in promoting the growth of business enterprise and/or entrepreneurial skills in others.
The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise competition is run annually and applications and nominations can be made from April to September. Following this, entrants are assessed and shortlisted, with recommendations made by the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee. Winners are decided by Her Majesty the Queen and announced each April.
Department / Agency:
BIS
Date of Assessment:
17/12/2014
Assessment Stage:
Alpha
Lead Assessor:
M. Fairhurst
Service Manager:
L. Stephens
Digital Leader:
T. Knighton
Assessors Summary
The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise service has been reviewed against the 26 points of the digital by default service standard at the end of the Alpha development.
After consideration the assessment panel have concluded that the service is on track to meet the service standard at this stage of development.
Areas of good performance against the standard
User needs
The assessment panel were pleased to see that user needs are being considered, with a good understanding of the service's user demographic. The panel were impressed that feedback from a number of sources including the existing service, user research, surveys and usability testing, had been used on a daily basis throughout the alpha to iterate the service.
The team
A good multi-disciplinary team is in place, using the development services of an SME but being driven by an empowered service manager.
Open source
It was pleasing to see that the code base was in open repositories on GitHub, although they need to be moved from the supplier to a secure repository for BIS.
Recommendations
The team
The team are working in an agile way with weekly iterations and collaboration across sites. They have tried to use collaborative tools such as Trello, but browser issues have made this difficult. The team have overcome these problems with the use of email, telephone contact and face-to-face meetings. They are aware that a collaborative tool would aid delivery and are actively looking into a solution that they can all use. The panel recommend that they make this a priority as they move into the beta phase, which will involve greater collaboration with internal staff within BIS.
User needs
It was agreed that during the Beta phase, users on the lower spectrum of the digital inclusion scale would be identified and the service tested with them, which would also be instrumental in agreeing the assisted digital (AD) strategy.
Security, privacy, tools and standards
It was agreed that the infrastructure in place today was sufficient for the alpha, but a more robust and scalable infrastructure will need to be put in place before moving to private beta. It was also acknowledged that performance testing and penetration testing will need to be performed once the supplier of the infrastructure is identified and their services procured.
Assisted digital
The team have started to define the AD strategy which will need to be put in place for the Beta phase. Conclusions need to be reached on options such as:
• The ability for a member of BIS staff to complete over the telephone.
• On-site visit to the BIS office to complete.
Analysis and benchmarking
More robust analytic tools will need to be employed for the Beta phase and the plan to use Google Analytics would be deemed a necessity by the assessment panel. Further consideration should be made on the use of the existing service analytics and how they can be compared with the new service, particularly in the area of user satisfaction. This will provide evidence that the service has been improved, whilst being a source of insight into where further improvements could be made.
Results Against the Digital by Default Criteria:
| Criteria | Passed | Criteria | Passed |
| 1 | Yes | 2 | Yes |
| 3 | Yes | 4 | Yes |
| 5 | Yes | 6 | Yes |
| 7 | Yes | 8 | Yes |
| 9 | Yes | 10 | Yes |
| 11 | Yes | 12 | Yes |
| 13 | Yes | 14 | Yes |
| 15 | Yes | 16 | Yes |
| 17 | Yes | 18 | Yes |
| 19 | Yes | 20 | Yes |
| 21 | Yes | 22 | Yes |
| 23 | Yes | 24 | Yes |
| 25 | Yes | 26 | N/A |
| Details of criteria that are not applicable to this service |
| 26 - not applicable to service with fewer than 100k transactions p.a. |
