Tom Loosemore helped create the UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS), and is now its deputy director.

GDS is forging a new path for the public sector, building digital by default online services based with user needs rather than government whims.

In just two years, it has replaced dozens of disparate departmental websites with a single award-winning site at www.gov.uk, saving £50m in the process. It has also begun wholesale digital transformation of government services, tackling the biggest and most important ones first.

Prior to GDS, Tom was head of 4iP, the digital innovation arm of Channel 4 Television. He devised the BBC‘s online strategy between 2001 and 2007, after launching its first sport websites.

Tom’s passion for using the internet for public good started even earlier than that, when he was one of the team that built e-democracy charity mySociety and its early projects, including TheyWorkForYou.com.