techUK Congratulates the New Metropolitan Mayors on their Election

8 May 2017 01:00 PM

The new Mayors must put digital at the heart of their vision and plans for transformation.

Last Friday was a historic day for local government with the election of six new metropolitan Mayors. The new Mayors will be responsible for setting out the city regions economic growth strategy, and will have certain powers over issues such as housing, transport, policing and skills depending on what was agreed in their devolution deal. Each will have considerable power and influence of budgets and on what should be prioritised.

Responding to the Mayoral elections, Julian David, CEO of techUK, commented:

“techUK congratulates all the new Mayors on their election. Each Mayor will be setting their own agenda to inspire and accelerate the pace of transformation. Whilst the new Mayors face a large task, this is also a huge opportunity to do things differently in public service reform.”

“With their direct and convening powers, the Mayors can re-shape and integrate services, creating better places to live and drive regional growth. To do so they must adopt a digital first mind-set. That is why techUK has produced ‘Digital Devolution: A Guide for Mayors’ as a tool to support the new Mayors in their first 100 days to engender change and build capacity across the ecosystem.

“It also includes recommendations to appoint a Chief Digital and Innovation Champion, supported by an Innovation Unit and to use their influence to boost smart procurement, open data and digital skills. The new Mayors should also note that London is currently on the hunt for its first Chief Digital Officer and also place a vision for digital at the heart of their administration and strategy.

“The Mayors have an enormous opportunity to redefine what a successful and modern city region could look like and techUK looks forward to working with them at this crucial juncture.”

Further reading

Digital Devolution: A Guide for Mayors

techUK welcomes Mayor of London's Commitment to Appoint First Ever CDO