McLean Public recently held one of its Local Government Leadership Roundtables where digital leaders across local and regional government met up to discuss the issues of the day and share best practice. Our most recent one was on the ‘Challenges and Opportunities Ahead for Digital Transformation’ – a particularly apt topic at the moment given the pending Local Government Reorganisation. Contributing to this session the wide range of combined experience was extraordinary with attendees having worked for a diverse array of organisations: EY, Barclays, PWC, Oracle, ITV Digital, Visa International, Capita, British Transport Police, DWP, Accenture, KPMG alongside several local authorities and also the Government of Jersey. Here’s what they had to say:
Blockers to digital transformation have many disguises
Hurdles to digital transformation can come in many shapes and sizes it seems. Common and unsurprising, perhaps, is a generalised resistance to change. This can come from a genuine fear of technology, but also can have a far more challenging guise: the protection of status quo or in some cases the siloed nature of some workspaces. One roundtable attendee spoke of the “professional protectionism” they had seen in many organisations they work in. This was an expression that resonated with others present. More practical challenges present themselves, too. These include complex legacy systems and processes which are often hardwired in organisations and also poor quality, and poorly managed, data. Evident to all organisations is the need for consistent high-level leadership sponsorship for digital transformation. Public sector organisations suffer particularly from the fact that the time required to realise lasting digital transformation is often longer than the political cycle, often leading to a familiar ‘stop-go’ approach. More longstanding are organisations’ self-proclaimed ‘uniqueness’ – often the killer disguise for avoiding real collaborative digital transformation with others.
When it works, it works
Examples of real digital transformation, accordingly, are often marked by their strong senior (or political) sponsorship. Where there is a political imperative, results follow. Moreover, where there is a more pressing and time sensitive requirement, risk considerations can turn 360 degrees and results can happen in a fraction of the time once considered the norm. The Government of Jersey’s rapid multi agency response to Covid testing is a great example of this. Others include health and social care transformation in many parts of the UK and digital transformation in Ireland, Spain, Germany, Norway and Denmark which some consider to be way ahead of the UK in terms of automation, ML and AI. All roundtable attendees agreed that key to digital transformation success is starting with the process and designing the technology around this (rather than the other way around). This sounds simple enough but is not as common as we would like to hope for our public services. When digital transformation works, though, this is usually a central factor.
Local Government Reorganisation – Time for step-change?
Despite fears that the forthcoming local government reorganisation will be driven by the need to reduce costs, the biggest change to hit local government in a generation offers a real opportunity for local authorities to truly deliver resident-orientated delivery and meet head on the increasing citizen demand for more digital and intuitive services. Sharing data and sharing ideas will be key for success in achieving this, particularly in integrating complex systems and also the opportunity to consolidate and upgrade technology platforms and…dare we say it… encourage more radical thinking on resident-centred design. If ever there was an opportunity for local government to fully collaborate on digital transformation, now is the perfect time to start.
If you are struggling to secure digital leadership talent for your organisation, please do contact Jonathan at jonathan.swain@mcleanpublic.com.
