It’s been a big summer for the UK Government in many ways. Not just in terms of how it’s ambitiously planning to shape the digital future of the UK economy but also when it comes to how it wants to transform the public sector itself, so that it can provide better services to citizens at both a central and local level.
But, while the government’s ambition for a new digital strategy should be commended and encouraged, it’s starkly apparent that lots must change, if their digital transformation agenda is to succeed over the next three years.
As Paul Willmott, executive chair of the UK Government’s Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) says himself: 'We need to address years of uneven progress and siloed development in individual departments which have led to varying levels of digital maturity across government. We need to deal with the costly issue of legacy IT that has been allowed to build up over multiple financial cycles and is now a barrier to the delivery of great policy and services.'
But, rising to meet these challenges is not just an “IT thing”, it’ll require an organisational step change. Particularly in a public sector context, transformation requires people to be open to new ways of working on a scale that has never been seen before. Most importantly it will require greater, more effective collaboration. Not just between governmental organisations internally, but between central and local government, as well as more effective partnerships with private and third sector organisations.
Encouragingly, we’re now seeing this in action, with the Local Government Association, collaborating with industry bodies, Solace and Socitim, to launch a new framework to improve and support local government digitalisation programmes.
The framework is calling for 12 strategic outcomes, which will be crucial if local authorities are to deliver on their digitalisation agendas and meet the needs of local communities. These improved digital transformation goals are around: connectivity, data, democracy, ethics, inclusion, leadership, local productivity, organisational capability, partnership, security & resilience, services, and value.
Not only can this help support the design and delivery of modern public local authority services. But, where appropriate, it can also encourage better integration with central government services, leading to better efficiencies. Not only that, but steps like these are also a big leap forward in terms of having a shared language for local government when engaging with central government about the components needed to create impactful outcomes for residents, businesses and communities at a local and regional level.
Without doubt, the changes needed are going to be extremely challenging, particularly for local government where the Local Government Association estimates English councils will collectively see costs rise by £2.4bn this year, and by £3.6bn during the 2024-25 financial year, as unprecedented inflationary and cost of living pressures take their toll.
But, despite the challenges local councils face today, the benefits of replacing IT legacy systems could be staggering in terms of the financial savings and improved productivity that can be achieved. More effective flows of data that joined-up SaaS-based enterprise resource planning systems facilitates, can also help councils drive intelligent digital services and better decisions on investment.
The government estimates that an impressive £1bn in savings could be achieved by replacing outdated IT systems, and by switching to digitally transformative cloud-based services, within central government. This will eliminate unnecessary costs of paper-based services and processes. I believe similar transformative savings and productivity gains can also be delivered in devolved, regional and local government, as well, if similar approaches and policies are adopted.
Many councils that we work with are already starting to harness these innovations and are delivering real, positive impact on the lives of local people and businesses. But the more the government can do to help councils make this transition, the better.
Leo Hanna is executive vice president at TechnologyOne
