UK plans email sorting system for public service

The UK Cabinet Office has launched a request for tenders for a new platform designed to help sort and file emails sent to public servants.

The listing on the UK’s Digital Marketplace — the digital services procurement platform after which Australia’s Digital Marketplace is modelled — is seeking a supplier capable of working with a small team from the agency to develop an alpha prototype of the email sorting tool.

According to the listing, the planned tool will need to be capable of tagging and organising emails based on their level of importance, as well as criteria for retention and topic area, based on predefined taxonomies.

“Too many important emails that we need for the business of government are hard to find. We risk damaging our productivity and reputation by not addressing our information management issues,” it states.

The platform will also be designed to help public servants discover and access filed emails relevant to individual tasks, and allow knowledge and information managers to transfer historic emails to the national archives.

No individual technology approach has been specified. The project has a total budget of between £200,000 ($359,000) and £300,000, and is being conducted as part of the government’s Better Information for Better Government program.

Most UK public service email is hosted in the cloud and most civil servants use cloud-based email tools. There are some archived physical Exchange and Lotus notes servers in operation.

If the project results in the development of a successful prototype, there is a strong chance Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency will take note and look to adopt a similar platform for the APS.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/NAKHARIN

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