Driving success through digital adoption

Rhian Hopkins

Digital adoption can often seem daunting, not just because of the technology itself, but also because of the changes it brings. People naturally prefer what they are used to, and a constant influx of new tools and processes can leave teams feeling overwhelmed. That's why empowering users to use different software and adopt new products and software can be a challenge. It is as much about managing human emotions as it is about implementing new tools. 

At the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), empowering users, helping colleagues to adopt digital tools like our central Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, Data Hub, is essential for capturing information and supporting our business engagement efforts. This aligns directly with DBT’s objectives: enabling teams to share information, work efficiently, and make informed decisions. 

Importantly, successful product adoption is as much about focusing on people, their needs, emotions, and ways of working, as it is about the technology itself. 

The challenge 

Our team, the Engagement and Strategic Adoption team, were tasked with sharing our expertise on digital adoption to raise awareness of Data Hub. The project focused on business-facing staff, who are our key contacts linking to businesses across the UK. We worked to encourage these staff to capture valuable insights. This in turn helps to support ministerial briefings, inform policy development, and guide investment decisions.  

"Data Hub is my go-to reference for essential company information before meetings or when researching new contacts. Good data hygiene – ensuring information is accurate, timely, and relevant – is crucial. Data Hub is our corporate memory, and the data we input is used for insights that can inform government policy.” 

- Wayne Hall, Senior Business Services Strategy and Programme Delivery Manager

Our goal was to help embed Data Hub usage into daily workflows. This proactive approach helped identify and overcome barriers to adoption, tailor training, and drive engagement, allowing every team to fully use Data Hub’s capabilities. Without any dedicated adoption efforts, even the best technology risks being underused, resulting in missed opportunities for growth and innovation. 

Implementing change 

As part of the project, we undertook a range of activities to help drive adoption, including: 

establishing new on-demand training for Data Hub that is easily searchable and accessible  communicating with users by creating email journeys, guiding them through the adoption process. These were embedded on the intranet so that users can always access it. Additionally, we presented to team huddles helping to encourage adoption  providing training and support to ensure smooth onboarding and ongoing engagement with Data Hub tools. We also created a toolkit and team workshop slide deck  streamlining metrics by developing the Data Hub performance dashboard with the Monitoring and Evaluation team. This helps us to report on adoption metrics regularly to see how teams across the department are interacting with Data Hub. We use this feedback to continuously improve our approach  

Throughout, we focused on making the benefits of using Data Hub clear and aimed to show users that it could benefit their workflow, making their lives easier.  

Digital adoption means more than simply using new tools; it represents a shift in how teams operate. When adoption is successful, teams gain access to real-time data and collaborate more effectively, regardless of where they are located. This transformation increases workflow, supports informed decision making, and saves valuable time for employees to focus on work that directly supports objectives.   

Results  

Our efforts led to: 

increased awareness of the tool by presenting to teams across the department about Data Hub, sharing best practices, and onboarding instructions for the tool with them  an increase in adoption from our target audiences across these users on Data Hub since our campaign started  

These are important first steps in encouraging adoption and usage of the tool. We continue to work with teams to embed these changes and drive the continual improvement we want to see in Data Hub adoption. 

By supporting teams with guidance and toolkits for adoption and regular reviews of metrics, we can help everyone understand the benefits of regular usage as a way of achieving their own objectives. It will also support their teams and wider DBT. 

Summary 

Ongoing adoption of Data Hub is vital for DBT’s mission to support UK businesses. By focusing on people, providing practical support, and championing digital solutions, we can ensure that our business engagement efforts are more successful, empowered by real-time data, collaboration, and innovation. 

What approaches have helped drive positive digital adoption in your team? If you’ve found any effective tactics, challenges, or insights, let us know in the comments. Your experiences can help shape and improve ongoing adoption. 

https://digitaltrade.blog.gov.uk/2026/02/17/driving-success-through-digital-adoption/

seen at 11:59, 17 February in Digital trade.