Socitm Blog

This item was published in Socitm News, June 2010.

Recession, climate change, coalition government, financial austerity - public services need to reform, collaborate and innovate as never before. ICT will likely be the cornerstone - providing the foundational information systems, modernising delivery, enabling efficiency. We can foresee radically different public services in the next 5-10 years.

IT professionals will need to be seen as trusted 'agents of change', involved directly in policy formulation and service redesign, and less in technology, taking risks and being at the forefront of change, not sheltering in the Data Centre. Our members will have to prove themselves in this, and the Society must provide the right armoury of services and support to help them to succeed.

What are your views? Do you share this view of the future? Where does Socitm need to do more to help you? Where should our priorities lie? For me there are three areas of key importance right now on which I would welcome your comments and your challenge:

·Professionalism - broadening the membership beyond the traditional heads of IT and local government sector. But which areas of the wider IT profession should we be seeking to enrol into membership? How might we go about this? What services and support should we develop for these expanded areas of membership?

·Affiliations - e.g. closer links with the BCS, LGA, IDeA, SOLACE, CIPFA, Central Government, NHS and the private sector: Which of these should we prioritise? Are there any missing from the list? What should we aim to achieve from these affiliations, generally, and individually? How should we engage in these affiliations?

·Wider membership involvement in the work of the Society: what are the strengths and weaknesses of existing member involvement? What new forms of involvement would you like to see opened up? (e.g. social networking.)? How do you want to be more involved?

Tell me what you think please via:

e-mail: jos.creese@hants.gov.uk

Twitter: @SocitmPresident

Socitm blog: This article is posted on the Socitm blog with the facility for you to make and share your comments there - ./blog/socitmblog

Greater member involvement is a priority I set this year. It is hard to get people to do more, but our collective strength will be the measure of our individual success. We have some enormous untapped talent within the Society that is unmatched in similar professional associations.

The rewards can be significant - sharing best practice, gaining experience and profile for you and your organisation. Use the Society to strengthen the competency and effectiveness of IT in your organisation and prove this; Socitm must be seen by public service leaders as the 'IT professional association of choice', helping to drive efficiency, modernisation and successful change. Influence comes through delivering results, not just in having knowledge.

I look forward to the year ahead and working with you and sharing your ideas. I'd like to hear from you on any of the questions asked here about how the Society can best serve your interests and meet the challenges facing the public sector over the next few years.

Jos Creese, Socitm President