WIREDGOV

The Local Government PSN Programme Board (LG PSN PB) - a collaboration between the Local Government Association, Cabinet Office and Socitm - is pleased to announce thatMark Brett, Socitm's information assurance advisor, will be facilitating the new PSN Solutions group in the Socitm Network on Knowledge Hub: the public service collaboration platform. Mark has a wealth of experience in dealing with PSN policy and compliance issues and will work closely with the board to identify good practice case studies, provide news and updates of relevant information and help with any specific PSN compliance issues that are raised.

Stephen Baker, CEO of Waveney District and Suffolk Coastal councils and chair of the LG PSN PB said: "We welcome Mark onto the team and, with the Knowledge Hub group now set up, we hope to be able to reach a wider audience and encourage sharing of issues, ideas and benefits so that PSN will be an important building block in providing better services to citizens."

Nick Roberts, immediate past president of Socitm and newly-appointed London Borough of Croydon head of ICT, explained: "The LG PSN PB has been instrumental in creating an important interface between local government, local public services and the PSN team. Shortly after the board began its work the PSN team was moved to the Government Digital Service (GDS) and we have worked very closely with Mark Smith (GDS head of compliance for PSN) to help his team to understand our issues, working with him as GDS reshapes the Code of Connection (CoCo) into a mechanism to manage connections to the PSN that is much more fit for purpose.  Mark Brett's expertise now gives us all a focused pair of hands to help authorities through the changes, help interpret their impact, and provide broad guidance to Socitm members and local public services towards getting the most out of PSN for data sharing and collaboration activities.  At the heart of the PSN is a trust model built on good security practices and Mark is a recognised expert in this field, having drafted the Local Government Data Handling Guidelines."

To further help councils ensure good levels of security and manage their PSN compliance, Socitm has established a Knowledge Hub group for sharing work and collaborating on common issues. The creation of this group and providing some of Mark’s time to facilitate it is supported by the crowdfunding contributions that so many organisations have made.The PB encourages all to join the PSN Solutions group and to collaborate in taking PSN forward.

Please join the group at: www.khub.net/web/socitm-psn

Best regards,

The Local Government PSN Programme Board