There’s a lot in the world to shake all of us. Our local public sector professionals are no different. They have had to manage the social pressures created by the pandemic; a global economic downturn; environmental and climate change issues; and a skills shortage. These factors are more extreme for the public sector than they have been for years.

Despite these pressures, we found much optimism among the digital leaders we surveyed. For Socitm’s sixth annual report, our analysis found similar priorities and IT opportunities across the public sector and in different countries, with a notable shift in focus from 2022.

As Huw McKee, Socitm president and head of IT and Digital Transformation at Conwy Council, commented: ‘The pressure on CIOs and CDOs has never been greater. It has also never been a more exciting time for digital leaders at the heart of public service modernisation, impacting every function, policy, and ambition.’

The new local normal is just normal now

In many ways 2023 feels like a new era for digital public services. We’ve moved beyond the pandemic as the main driver and are concentrating on exploiting digital possibilities. Digital transformation is an organisation discipline, not a project. It’s for everyone, not a single team or department.

Adaptability and connectivity

A ‘connected places eco-system’ of digital services and local infrastructure kept cropping up in our conversations. So did joining data, teams, systems, and infrastructures around local needs irrespective of organisational boundaries.

At the same time, significant concerns for IT teams implementing these places continue to lie in areas such as legacy IT, problems with skills recruitment and retention and ever-changing cyber threats.

Flexibility in planning, as ever, will be important. This will involve revisiting and realigning corporate, digital and IT strategies, with a heightened need to be able to show organisational benefits from these investments.

This is what’s driving public service digital priorities, with a growing focus on local connections and devolution from central government. Every public service organisation involved in our research is prioritising digital and the necessary IT investment, as well as the associated change management.

Slow down, you move too fast

Increasing speed to digitise everything does carry a risk of fragmentation and cyber vulnerabilities. During our research, some CIOs have reported that it is still just too easy to bring in new applications that bypass IT management. Digital policies and controls must protect data and mitigate cyber risks.

Leaders’ attitudes

The sponsorship and advocacy of senior leaders and politicians to promote digital practice and solutions, technologies, and improved data insight is essential. Equipping them to champion digital practice and delivery will be fundamental to achieving successful outcomes.

Digital expansion

This year will also see a big step forward in health sector digital deployment that will have implications for related services such as social care, housing, and education. Innovations, such as introducing artificial intelligence, come with responsibilities.

It is important to all public service organisations to focus on these in 2023, particularly to ensure that digital trust is earned, and that the public are protected from inequality, unintended bias, or exclusion in digital development.

The case studies in our report show true innovation. Far from being a ‘digital backwater’ local councils, in particular, are taking the lead in exploring and harnessing digital possibilities for the benefit of themselves, their residents, communities, and places.

Our global local community

Different organisations, regions and countries all share a common ambition of using digital means to help local populations to thrive.

Every country can learn from others. The way that councils in New Zealand are developing digital services is relevant to solving some of the problems being faced worldwide. This is where the strength of wider collaboration through organisations, such as Major Cities of Europe, the Linked Organisations of Local Authorities IT Associations (LOLA), and the shared international work of Socitm, are particularly relevant.

Whichever public service you are working in, and in whichever part of the world, your digital foundations are key to success. The outlook for 2023 is then nothing short of exciting for public services’ digital developments.

Alexandra Murphy is marketing and communications assistant at Socitm.