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Deputy Director in the Home Office鈥檚 UK Central Authority, Andy Cooke-Welling leads a major digital project that could transform the way law enforcement operates internationally.

Yet despite his team鈥檚 successes, he was among the first civil servants in the country to sign up for Government Campus鈥� Digital Excellence Programme.

Overcoming digital nervousness

鈥淭here鈥檚 still nervousness about digital developments like artificial intelligence and big data,鈥� he said.

鈥淪o I felt I had a responsibility to get the knowledge I needed to be able to understand the technology, the risks and opportunities in order to reassure and educate our people.

鈥淭he programme gave me the confidence and context to explain the benefits and opportunities of digital technologies. So if聽 I were to lead the same projects again, I鈥檇 be able to articulate our aims more simply and do a better job of bringing all colleagues - not just the technical ones - on board.鈥�

A former head of the UK鈥檚 International Crime Bureau responsible for INTERPOL and EUROPOL in the National Crime Agency, Andy has spent his career in law enforcement - starting out as a police officer in 1995. In his current role, he leads the organisation that considers聽 extradition and evidential requests to the UK from countries across the world.

Supported by a brilliant digital transformation team, UK Central Authority (UKCA) under his leadership has聽 launched a new system that allows UK authorities to collaborate on cases with international partners using an encrypted, end-to-end digital messaging system.

Global collaboration through digital platforms

More recently, his team has launched an online service which means partner countries can submit requests for extradition and evidence from the UK via the gov.uk website.

Together with a new case management system, the UKCA now has an integrated, world class digital platform to securely and efficiently input, process and share requests for judicial cooperation.

鈥淭his represents the most digitally advanced capability of any central authority in the world. It is a genuinely groundbreaking service which improves international, judicial co-operation鈥� he said.

鈥淚t will help us share evidence with partners globally efficiently and securely ,聽 ultimately,聽 making the UK a safer place.鈥�

The impact of the Digital Excellence Programme

It took Andy just over four hours to complete the Digital Excellence Programme which has been designed for senior civil servants as well as Grade 6s and Grade 7s. The programme also signposts learners to further reading and learning opportunities they can do.

鈥淭he programme is incredibly intuitive and you certainly don鈥檛 have to be a technical expert to do it,鈥� he said.

鈥淔or me, it opened my eyes to the strategic opportunities聽 of innovation and balancing risks聽 which enabled me to be confident about how to use data and technologies in a safe way.

鈥淟eaders in central government need to be able to understand the opportunities of digital technologies so they can help demystify them for others. I certainly felt it gave me the context and confidence聽 to lead digital transformation and bring people along with me.鈥�