How we can re-imagine public services?

7 Aug 2019 12:14 PM

Come along to Building the Smarter State 2019 to help us tackle this question!

How to re-imagine public services to harness the transformative power of emerging tech, deliver increasing value for taxpayer money, and increase accessibility? That’s the question we’ll be asking on the 18 September when we convene the range of the public sector and tech industry for our flagship public sector conference, Building the Smarter State.

Our speakers and exhibitors will be showcasing how technology is shaping today’s and tomorrow’s public services. However, for transformation to be effective people, technology and processes must be aligned, and users need to be empowered to adopt new and emerging technologies. That is why at the heart of this year’s conference are the twin themes of people and place. We will be exploring how emerging tech and societal trends will transform how public services are designed and delivered, the workforce that will be delivering them and the citizens they're designed for.

Our senior Government speakers will be outlining their vision of the future of the civil service, and explaining how they are empowering their workforce and equipping them with the digital tools they need. We will explore how the public sector is improving it’s access to innovation, and trying to foster a collaborative ecosystem of tech industry partners. It is increasingly accepted that in order to deliver end-to-end services there needs to be a diverse, inclusive and innovative ecosystem of suppliers. And so government is working to create a culture that facilitates collaboration between all suppliers and government to ensure that the right service outcomes are achieved.  

This encompasses both partnership in delivery and also growing capability and skills in government and wider public sector to drive innovation. Initiatives like our TechConnect programme

The challenges public services face cut across both agencies and localities. More and more public services are recognizing that a multi-agency approach is needed, and we are seeing a growing trend towards a ‘place-based approach.’ Ultimately it is about putting the citizen at the heart of the service, cutting across boundaries with a shared endeavor to improve outcomes for the people and place. Technology has an enabling role in making a place-based approach a reality. Digital is instinctively designed to assist collaboration. Technology can enable seamless integration of services to improve quality of processes and outcomes, allowing greater self-service and empowering citizens to manage their own situation. A data enriched place can enable services to be more targeted to the needs of citizens. For this to be successful the data needs to be of the highest quality and be shared in an effective and secure manner. We are seeing regions develop offices for data analytics to bring together local public service agencies. The Worcestershire Office of Data Analytics (WODA) was recently set-up with the aim to change the approach to data sharing across the county. It brings together partners across the local government public service landscape to introduce innovative ways to address the challenges of the place and use data to bring frontline insights that will create a data-driven culture and drive digital transformation. We will be hearing about WODA and similar initiatives at the conference.

Ultimately the aim of the day is to articulate a shared vision from industry and the wider govtech community of what the Smarter State will look like, and what we need to do today to make that future a reality. Share what you think the smarter state looks at @techUK #techUKSmarterState and we hope you can join us on the 18 September to hear and share what the future of public services will look like. If you haven’t already, you can register here!