Case study
Hack to work with DWP
Opencast people are committed to sharing their technical expertise – especially where there is a positive impact on society. Technology has the potential to be a real force for good.
Challenge
Pandemic challenge
The pandemic outbreak had a major impact on the UK jobs market, leaving millions unemployed, with almost two thirds below the age of 25.
In July 2021 we joined DWP Digital, responsible for digital transformation at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), on ‘Hack2Work’, helping to hack new tech tools that could have a real impact on helping people back to work in the post-pandemic economy.
We want to help open up opportunities for citizens returning to work after the pandemic – and were proud to add our know-how to the Hack2Work effort to help create solutions for those out of work.
Response
Work hack
We ran a hack workshop, sharing the lessons from our recent work at DWP Health to help design a service supporting UK employers in preventing health-related job loss.
By sharing how we helped tackled this challenge, we were able to show hackers how user-centred design shapes our roadmap for delivering services.
Improving support for military veterans and their families
The Office for Veterans Affairs (OVA) partnered with Opencast in 2024 to make it easier for veterans and their families to find the right support online. Veterans often faced an overwhelming mix of services from government, armed forces networks, charities and other providers. The project streamlined information into a single, accessible place and explored ways for OVA to connect veterans directly with services. The result was a new Finder tool and support guidance, launched on GOV.UK in September 2024, giving veterans a faster, clearer route to the help they need.
Case study
Working together at HMRC
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) urgently needed to provide new digital services to support people and businesses as the Covid pandemic took hold in 2020. Opencast played a significant role in helping it to deliver.
