Broadcasts
March 2011
Weekly Broadcast Thursday 31 March 2011
Government ICT Strategy still too focused on central government
The Government ICT Strategy published on March 30, remains too focused on central government and falls short of embracing the sort of pan-public services approach that Socitm would like to see.
Our press release responding to the Strategy says that aspirations to IT-enabled business change, service efficiency and technology consolidation maybe compromised by continuation of top-down, big-IT, technology-led approaches.
Commenting on the Strategy, Socitm President Jos Creese remarked: 'There is much that central government can learn from local government about agile, low-cost and citizen-focussed ICT. Our approach is set out in the The Routemap for ICT enabled Local Public Services reform that will be presented at the Socitm Spring Conference on 11 May, when I am looking forward to a lively debate.
Socitm Insight calls for shared services to boost self-service
Councils looking to improve their websites and accelerate development of cost-saving self-service models of delivery should be thinking about their sharing web resources with other public services.
Better websites: sharing content, applications and resources points out that the current budgetary crisis means that more and more organisations are realising the importance of self-service. Shared services are also recognised as a key means of reducing costs. But few councils are putting the two approaches together in a way that could speed an improvement of council websites that is much needed, according to Better connected 2011
The briefing, published at the end of March, is available free of charge to Socitm Insight subscribers, and can be downloaded from Socitm.net
Weekly Broadcast Thursday 24 March 2011
Watch Martin Ferguson and other senior Socitm members give evidence to PASC Inquiry
Martin Ferguson and two other senior Socitm members - Mark Adams-Wright, CIO at Suffolk CC, and David Wilde, CIO at Westminster Council - gave evidence earlier this week to the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee which is running an inquiry into the way Government develops IT policy.
Topics covered were wide-ranging and included the G-cloud, central government approaches to IT strategy, differences between central and local approaches to procurement, the PSN, outsourcing, value for money and supplier management.
Sessions are recorded and you can watch a video of proceedings on Parliament.tv. Socitm also followed the session and recorded a series of comments on Twitter, which can be found at http://twitter.com/Socitm. Socitm's written evidence to PASC submitted earlier this year can be found on the Socitm policy documents page.
New Socitm Premium Partner
Socitm are pleased to announce CSC as their newest premium partner. For more than 50 years, CSC has developed smart, technology-enabled business solutions to solve their clients' toughest challenges. Whether it is sharing services across authorities, improving customer service, or protecting secure information, CSC brings business perspective, decades of experience and practical ingenuity to every engagement.
To find out more about how you can benefit from becoming a Socitm premium partner please contact karl.grundy@socitm.net
Plenary Speaker Update ...
Brigitte Giles, Head of Resources Strategy and Amanda Wilde, Customer Strategy
& Liaison Manager (East Riding of Yorkshire Council) are to present the
plenary session on Customer and Channel Management. Click
here to view the full conference programme and book your place
Cloud versus outsourcing
The Strategist invites strategic commentators to discuss key issues of the day and in this issue (Issue 4 Spring 11, pages 34 - 40), Chris Middleton challenges Socitm president Jos Creese about Cloud versus outsourcing. To read the full article, subscribe here www.professionaloutsourcingmagazine.net
Budget misses IT/digital opportunity says Socitm
Yesterday's Budget was a missed opportunity to use investment and incentives in IT and the digital sector to boost the economy and support public sector efficiency and reform. In our press release, Socitm expressed disappointment that the Budget offered no incentives to encourage developments like home and flexible working, telehealth, shared services and digital inclusion, and that there appears to be no additional investment in super-fast broadband apart from within the 21 Enterprise Zones.
You can read more in our press release on the Budget.
Weekly Broadcast Thursday 17 March 2011
Public Sector Efficiency Expo Jos
Creese, Socitm's President, yesterday presented a session on 'A
Revolution in Local Public Service Enable by IT', on the main stage at
the Public Sector Efficiency Expo. His powerful message to the audience being "If
there is a 'silver bullet' to deal with the massive cost cutting and
modernisation of public services it is technology. But, only if IT is
seen as an 'agent of change', a source of innovation and customer
service and, not just seen as a cost centre, a support service or an
avoidable cost". Socitm's
Head of Policy, Martin Ferguson, also delivered a seminar on "ICT
strategy for Local Public Services", at which he provided a walkthrough
of the proposed routemap for local public services reform enabled by ICT. Such topical issues will be tackled further at this year's Socitm Spring conference
on the 11 May and, with key influential speakers presenting on
'Enterprise, Austerity and Pubic Service Reform', this is an event not
to be missed!
Jos Creese with team Socitm at yesterday event.
Socitm to give evidence before Public Accounts Select Committee
Socitm
Head of Policy Martin Ferguson will be giving evidence to the Public
Accounts Select Committee enquiry in to Government IT, on Tuesday 22
March. PASC is conducting an investigation into the way in which
Government develops IT policy, and the strategy for its implementation.
In January, Socitm submitted written evidence to the enquiry - you can review it at Socitm.net
The technology challenge in 2011
This report provides guidance from a technology perspective on response to the unprecedented funding crisis facing the public sector. The report, written for CIOs and heads of IT, provides general guidance as well as advice on a number of key topics of greatest important in the current climate. The report is free of charge to Socitm Insight subscribers, and is not otherwise available.
Download The technology challenge at Socitm.net
Printed copies of Better connected 2011...
...will arrive in the Socitm office on Monday. Every Socitm Insight subscriber will be sent a copy. Non-subscribers can buy copies of report at £495 each (£475 Socitm members) but are not able to access the e-version or the supporting spreadsheets. Order print copies at Socitm.net.
Weekly Broadcast Thursday 10 March 2011
The Routemap for Local Public Services Reform - enabled by ICT: let us have your input!
Socitm is inviting its members, and stakeholders from across the public, private, and civil society sectors, to take part in a public, online consultation on the Routemap for Local Public Services reform - enabled by ICT. The Routemap, which will provide a practical, local public services perspective on the Government ICT strategy, will be launched at the Socitm Spring conference on May 11.
Read more in our press release
Access the online consultation
Access the document on the Socitm website
The Routemap will be launched at the Socitm Spring Conference on May 11, where its key strands will be focus of the day's programme.
Weekly Broadcast Tuesday 1 March 2011
Better connected 2011 - out now
The report identifies good practice in the development of local authority websites and is based on extensive research. As well as all UK local authorities, we have assessed websites belonging to another 49 public sector organisations that subscribe to Socitm Insight.
Overall, the report concludes that most councils have still not recognised that digital delivery is faster and more convenient for the public as well cheaper for the taxpayer.
Spreadsheets, reports and presentations on the results of Better connected 2011 are now ready to download from www.socitm.net
Can't access Better connected 2011?
You will only be able to access Better connected 2011 if your organisation has renewed its Socitm Insight subscription and you are personally registered on the Socitm website www.socitm.net.
You can check the former by going to the list of up-to-date Socitm Insight subscribers. To register as a user on the Socitm website so that you personally can download publications as an employee of a subscribing organisation, go to https://www.socitm.net/register.
Join in discussion of the Better connected 2011 results
We anticipate lively discussion on the results - if last year is anything to go by - in our Web improvement and usage community, hosted on the Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID) platform for Communities of Practice (CoP). If you are not one of the 1000 plus people already registered in the community, please register now and start posting at www.communities.idea.gov.uk
If you want to join discussion of the report on Twitter, use the hashtag #BC11.