Local digital: SPRINT!

I’ve been reflecting on how the GDS local government sprint goals that Theo Blackwell is leading on and after a conversation with the team there I said I would suggest some practical prototyping which could help right now as we wrestle with Devo / LGR / Planning reform and of course the money….

I’ve just grabbed to goals from Theo’s post here (thanks Theo!)

I think there is a wider question here about the aligning some of the big bits of change that are active at the moment and I think it’s worth coming back at some point to the opportunity to design in much more effective working using a mission based approach to delivery in central government rather than trying to deliver missions from the current very silo’d design for the civil service .

But here are some initial and practical thoughts about how the needs of central and local government could better align right now:

🗺️ how central government supports local transformation

• start to gather digital leaders in a way which marries up to mayoral footprints — current and future. Give these networks status and spotlight them — show the local system that the central system recognises and values what is being done.
• Be selective — this is not about making everyone feel better — its about demonstrating that there is great work going on that when matched with tools which are developed centrally could drive fundamental change
• Get serious about how you look at planning tools, planning reform and planning transformation collectively.
• You could then look at other themes where this kind of full stack redesign process is useful, perhaps aligning with the work being dome in the test and learn programme

📊 reducing IT costs and friction through better procurement

• Help everyone buy better stuff — please read!
• link the concept of procurement and growth together — how we buy stuff could and should drive the development of our local ecosystems in a more specific way than everyone claiming to be the next Silicon Valley, Roundabout, Triangle etc etc

🤝 making it easier to share and use data across local government

• support the massive reorganisation work going on now in local government by creating and iterating an analytical model which will pull relevant data sets together to enable us all to properly and consistently develop options
• THEN look at the data standards and sharing needs that will be illuminated by how hard that is….

🧑‍🎓 helping councils get the digital leadership and other skills they need

• back to the spotlighting of the people who already have the skills in the first question
• Look at skills transition not acquisition — how are we helping people adapt to more digital organisations — not how do we hire new people….this is MASSIVE if we think about the imminent impact of AI on our workforces

💡 giving councils access to GDS products and AI tools in development

Apologies for the slightly scrappy post — driven by the fact I have a real sense of urgency driven by an imminent deadline of March 21st for interim LGR plans and September not being that far away for substantive plans. We really need central government to work at the delivery pace of local government here not the other way round….

Hopefully makes sense and opens up some debate — I am very confident this is not an exhaustive list!

Originally published at https://www.curiouscatherine.info.