Hitachi Solutions recently sponsored the UK Local Gov camp in Birmingham and what an event the folks at UK Local Gov continue to put on! And on reflection of this great event, I decided to pen some thoughts.
Anyone who knows me and the team, knows we are still deeply rooted in our heritage and love of, Public Sector. Only trouble is that despite the years rolling by, the level of actual change we see doesn’t seem to have matched the ambition.
The sector has slowly continued to evolve, as a necessary coping mechanism to deal with the challenges it’s continually faced with (of which they are many and varied), but it’s this evolutionary approach however that’s probably the one thing that continues to hold them back from wholesale service change. One of the great things about Local Gov camp is that it’s not a day full of telling people how to do things differently – it’s a coming together of those who are doing things differently day in, day out.
The format is designed to bring together councils with interested suppliers of all shapes and sizes, and to break down walls so everyone contributes freely and openly – without agenda. As you can imagine this lead to some lively debate and discussion – and from these, my three key takeaways would be:
- Don’t just sign up to the principles of the Local Government Digital Declaration, embed them deep into your working practices across the organisation and allow them to become your moral compass for future investment decisions.
- Technology isn’t just for the technologists. Better alignment and understanding at the top table of the necessary core technology pillars that are universally required by and across the organisation is key to driving and achieving transformation properly.
- Revolutionise your thinking, do not evolve it. Council officers need to shift their thinking from COTS solutions always being the answer, to strategic platforms that provide business process aligned universal case management. You’d be truly surprised what your beloved systems are not doing for you.
Crack this lot and you’re able to tackle disjointed customer journeys, access inaccessible siloed data and revolutionise historical service models to reduce cost and provide better outcomes. Easy right?
Tim Kidd joined Hitachi in 2018 with 23 years experience of working within Public Sector services.
With roles in Microsoft’s Public Sector Division, and Local Government as Head of service, he now supports organisations with programme delivery and strategic decision making.
In his role his mission is to enable transformational change, streamline operations, address budgetary pressures and improve the lives of citizens, businesses and employees.
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