This month the CBI published a major report outlining its vision for the future of public services.For anyone in local government, it is well worth a read.
Not only does it stress the critical importance of getting our public services online but it also points out that while we are making progress, there is much more that needs to be done.
Here there are three clear areas for local government to focus on:
The first is in doing a better job of understanding and meeting the expectations of citizens when it comes to the way services are delivered. While 77% of people go online to find or use services every day, only 41% interact with public authorities in this way. Councils are already falling short of expectations.
The second area for focus is what appears to be a lack of digital literacy among public sector leaders. The CBI’s figures show some 75% of council leaders think their councils embrace technology to improve local services. Ask the public if that is the case and only 29% share that view. Without greater digital literacy among local government managers and leaders, the sector is unlikely to be able to accelerate the delivery of digital services in the future.
The last issue comes from the way the public sector builds digital public services. Here, it is clear that the old ways of procuring services and managing projects aren’t necessarily fit for today’s digital purposes. To reshape local government, we need to take a fresh approach to planning and strategy.
So how can local government leaders address these issues?
A first step is for leaders in local government to ensure they and their teams retain a clear understanding of what digital by default really means for organisational strategy.
A strategy that is focused on simply using technology to cut costs will not be sufficient to deliver digital public services in the long term. Digital by default is about putting technology at the heart of the way councils plan and do business, something which demands deeper change than simply ‘lifting and shifting’ existing services online.
A second area to focus on is in bridging the digital skills deficit at all levels of local government.
At the top of organisations, councils need to make sure their leaders have a full appreciation of the role technology must play. This means giving the chief information officer and technology experts a greater role and influence in the planning and delivery of services so that digital is ‘baked in’ to the decision making process from beginning to end.
More broadly, organisations need to build knowledge among managers and teams who deliver services so they understand what the digital first agenda means for them.
By investing in knowledge and skills, a more ‘digital-centric’ culture will evolve. To support this culture it’s important to remember that transformation of public services and the organisations that deliver them cannot happen without investment in technology.
Here, finance directors, chief executives and those leading service areas or directorates need to look at the kind of investments that the likes of Bristol City Council and Maidenhead and Windsor are making to transform and reinvent the way the organisations work in order to understand the crucial role technology plays in service transformation.
There is no doubt that delivering digital public services will stretch and challenge local government in the coming years. But if there is one thing we have learnt during the past four years of budget cuts, it is that local government is a sector with a track record of rising to and overcoming the big challenges when it matters.
Andrew Hawkins is director of local government cloud services at Eduserv.
