Digital Leaders Conference Report 2014

Leadership in a Digital Age Digital Leaders Conference Report 2014

Leadership in a Digital Age CONTENTS 1

Chairs welcome and introduction: Mark Thompson, Strategy Director at Methods, Senior Lecturer, Cambridge Judge Business School ___________________________ page 3

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Welcome speech - Hugh Milward, Microsoft __________________________________ page 4

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Keynote: Leadership in a Digital Age - Rachel Neaman, Chair Digital Leaders, CEO, Go ON UK _______________________________________________________ page 5

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Panel Session 1: Leadership in Central Government ___________________________ page 8

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Leadership in Regional Government ________________________________________ page 14

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Panel session 2: Leadership in Regional Government __________________________ page 15

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Chris Yiu, Director of Digital Participation, SCVO ______________________________ page 23

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Digital Hustings ________________________________________________________ page 26

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A Few Comments on Leadership in a Digital Economy, Alan W. Brown, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Surrey Business School ____________ page 30

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Mark Thompson – Chair’s Closing Comments ________________________________ page 32

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Digital Leaders Conference 2014 Leadership in a Digital Age 10th December 2014, Cardinal Place, London

Conference Report 1

Chairs welcome and introduction: Mark Thompson, Strategy Director at Methods, Senior Lecturer, Cambridge Judge Business School

While digital technologies and business models clearly offer significant scope for innovation across the public and private sector alike – following last month’s autumn statement there is a sense that in the coming parliament things are going to become more difficult. The Chancellor revealed that gross national debt stands at over £1.2 trillion and is set to rise further in 2015 – and that the UK is currently less than half way to closing its public sector deficit of £91.3 billion. According to current predictions this deficit will now only be paid off in 2019 as opposed to in 2016-17 as previously hoped.

Since 2010 government departments with non-ring fenced budgets have faced average funding cuts of 8%, rising to up to 25% for some departments. In addition, demographic pressures from a growing and ageing population, combined with lower than expected tax receipts in 2013-14 (£23 billion less than previously anticipated due to a high number of lower income jobs being created) means that further budget cuts averaging at around 21% across departments will be required.

In this continued climate of financial austerity the cost savings associated with digital transformation become increasingly desirable – whilst simultaneously placing the concept of what constitutes effective digital leadership firmly in the spotlight. A further challenge is that the task of navigating the pitfalls and challenges associated with effective digital business redesign is not going to help get politicians elected into government. This is because true progress in this space involves taking people out of their comfort zones, which by necessity requires strong leadership – but which can also sit uneasily beside electoral expectations.

Indeed in many respects, having the vision is the easy part. Ultimately success or failure going forward will crucially depend upon key decision-makers having the leadership skills to explain to people that digital is not just the icing on the cake but a key engineering tool to bring about lasting change across government and the private sector.

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Leadership in a Digital Age 2

Welcome speech - Hugh Milward, Microsoft

Microsoft has been operating in the UK for 30 years. Alongside working with around 30,000 partners and we employ over 3,000 UK staff. Central to our business is capacity of technology to transform people’s lives. That is why Microsoft is working to expand the teaching of computer science in schools in order to nurture the next generation of digital leaders. By extension, this conference is particularly exciting for us as any steps to effectively understand and codify digital leadership by definition supports a process which can transform and improve lives.

Two thoughts on the nature of digital leadership. Firstly, focus on the outcome not the output – and remember that managing for the latter is harder than managing for the former. We need to be more specific and targeted. We need to end up with citizen services rather than government services. Secondly, expect what you know now to be out of date next year! I think Heraclitus got it right when he said: “nothing endures but change”. But this is what digital innovation has led us to - incredibly low barriers to adopting and implementing new approaches and business models, alongside a business environment which is constantly being redefined by successive waves of creativity.

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Keynote: Leadership in a Digital Age - Rachel Neaman, Chair Digital Leaders, CEO, Go ON UK

Many of you know me in my capacity as Chair of Digital Leaders. In line those responsibilities I would like to highlight a few preliminary announcements. Firstly, I’m delighted to report that we have just launched Digital Leaders Wales sponsored by Skyscape Cloud Services, with our first event scheduled to take place on 3rd February in Cardiff. This means that we have now launched Digital Leaders programmes in all parts of the UK. Secondly, we have just launched the 2015 edition of the Digital Leaders 100. Details of the 10 categories and how to nominate are on the DL website. The awards ceremony will be held on the 25th of June at the Hilton Park Lane Hotel.

However today, I am primarily speaking in the context of my new role as Chief Executive Officer of Go ON UK, the independent cross-sector digital skills charity. In a society and economy which is increasingly driven by digital, we want everyone to have the basic digital skills to enable them to benefit from all the opportunities that the digital world has to offer. Whether that be individual financial savings, reduced isolation and increased job opportunities, or businesses working more efficiently and increasing their customer base, or transforming access to healthcare, social services and engagement with civic society.

All of these are relevant to today’s theme of leadership in a digital age. Go ON UK seeks deliver its agenda in 5 key ways.

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We galvanise our corporate partners to invest time, money and energy into digital skills initiatives that create real impact in people’s lives in communities across the UK. We champion the digital skills agenda by calling for greater investment, and by arguing its powerful social and economic case to central and local Government, the commercial and voluntary sectors.

We have a loud and credible voice that we use to influence and impact the digital skills debate amongst policy makers and the media, and assist other organisations that also have a voice in this sector.

We have created our digitalskills.com web platform – for the UK’s formal and informal digital champions - which hosts a wide range of tools, ideas and resources to assist volunteers in helping others to take their first steps online.

We maintain an independent bank of research and intelligence to inform best practice and deliver thought leadership across the digital skills sector.

It’s in these first three that perhaps resonate the most with what we will be discussing today, the challenges leaders face in driving a movement for the benefit of millions, and advocating for the many.

So what does leadership strategy mean in a digital age? I’ve argued before that we need to move on from the idea of digital as an add-on, as a separate element, as a separate issue. So for us this means that is no longer the “digital economy” – it is just “the economy”. It is no longer “digital strategy”, but simply “strategy”. The ubiquity of digital means that we no longer have the luxury of putting it on a pedestal or in its own box, or treating it as nice to have. Digital is an enabler and a means to an end. In the same way that an electric light helps us to see. So when we switch on a light we don’t say “I am doing something electric”.

In the same way when we apply technology to solve a problem to solve a problem, to complete a task or to communicate with someone – we need to stop thinking “I am doing something digital”. Digital is mainstream now.

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Leadership in a Digital Age So in the same vein, many of the challenges faced by digital leaders in the future will be the challenges faced by everyone in the future – whether they work in the digital space or not. So the fact that digital enables greater transparency, accountability, but also personality, will have a massive impact on all leaders – not just those who see themselves working in a digital space.

A CEO needs to understand that what they say on social media has major implications for public perceptions of their business and brand. A tweet or a post is as public as a major press interview – and yet many leaders don’t always understand this. So as technology begins to blur that line between public and private, so strategies and business plans need to reflect this change. Leading any business plan or strategy for your business, your organisation or your department, will require you to take decisions looking through a digital lens. This lens may be focused on meeting customer expectations and user need, or it may be about developing the right internal business model, and how to minimise wastage and improve efficiency.

How do we use digital tools and processes to be as effective organisation as possible? What does being a digital organisation really mean? How do you use digital tools to develop a programme of work? And how can digital be used to successfully promote, evaluate and iterate that programme? These are all issues we are faced with now.

Ultimately digital enablement is becoming the default way of working – and leaders within an organisation will be required to have the digital skills and understanding to inform and develop strategy.

In addition, the whole workforce will need the digital understanding and skills to deliver these strategies.

This demonstrates the fundamental importance of Basic Digital Skills. Indeed, it is worth remembering that of the 10.5 million adults in the UK without digital skills, 43% are of working age.

As digital leaders we absolutely need to lead from the front, whilst ensuring everyone in our organisations are aware of why we are doing what we do. We have a duty to ensure that everyone can make informed digital strategic decisions – and we need the best evidence base and user insights to inform our delivery. The proliferation of open-source, big data and the democratisation of information that the internet has allowed will mean that your delivery and success can be seen and measured by anyone. So, whilst digital will mean much greater accountability, and bring with that new pressures, it also means we have an ever expanding body of knowledge, best practice and learning that can better inform us to lead on key delivery projects.

We need to make sure we harness this resource for the benefit of the sector, those that work in digital inclusion like myself, but also to the digital sector at large. Leading on delivery, and delivering effectively also means knowing who you are delivering to, what their needs are, and what they look like in terms of geography, demographics or socio-economic groups.

As an organisation that works through partners to deliver, our role as leaders is to ensure that they have the best possible information to do this as effectively as possible. For Go ON UK, this means supporting partners with a repository of data, metrics and research that they can use to support and inform their programmes. It also means being at the forefront of research in the sector – in particular working with partners the BBC and Lloyds Banking Group to benchmark the digital skills deficit amongst individuals and organisations throughout the UK. Without that evidence base activities can become ad hoc, not joined up and potentially ineffective. This is about culture change. Increasing basic digital skills isn’t just about IT training – it is about nudging the needle of cultural awareness of the benefits of digital skills. According to the Lloyds Digital Business Index, nearly 30% of SMEs say that being online is not relevant to their business.

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Leadership in a digital age means challenging assumptions, accepted truths and entrenched processes.

Earlier I spoke to the fact that everyone will be impacted by the forces of change that digital will have, not just those that see themselves as working in the digital sector, this will mean that a much greater cultural change will need to take place in organisations across the UK. Alongside this is the issue of motivation, one that is becoming increasingly prevalent as the offline and under skilled population becomes a shrinking pool of hard to reach individuals. We need to show that you don’t need to be a digital business or a digital leader to gain the benefits of digital – and ideally we could wean ourselves off using the D-word!

We need to look at how these barriers operated simultaneously. When motivation is lacking – it is a major barrier – but when motivation is present it is an extraordinary enabler.

Leadership in a digital age means very different things. One common feature of leadership and change in a digital context is the capacity to continually adapt to new developments, business models and environments. Leadership for Go ON UK means that we work as a catalyst for our partners and delivery partners and encourage them to share, collaborate, deliver and learn from each other so those without digital skills can benefit. I hope something that everyone can take away from today, is a set of common principles; that leadership in digital is farther reaching than ever, that whilst there are huge challenges associated with greater transparency and accountability, there is also the potential for us to have greater understanding of shared knowledge, best practice and inspiration.

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Leadership in a Digital Age 4

Panel Session 1: Leadership in Central Government

4.1

Rural Payments – digital exemplar, Joe Broomfield, Programme Director for CAP, DEFRA

Rural Payments is one of the most complex of the GDS exemplars. Every seven years the EU reviews the rules governing Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Rural Payments aims to introduce a digital by default service which is easy for farmers to use going forward. We have about 100,000 farm businesses in England which claim funding under these schemes, distributing around £2 billion of EU funds every year. These are of real importance to our rural economy.

Validating a user’s identity is of course an essential part of any digital service. Gov.uk Verify represents a good option for authenticating users, but we also need a plan which caters to the needs of users who are not able to use this service. Once someone has registered for the Rural Payments – they need to get onto the service and check their land. Customer feedback has been that some of the operations (sketching the outline of a field) is not as easy and user friendly as we would like.

Of these 100,000 farm businesses, about 70% already use an online form based service. There are around 13,000 customers with whom we have never had any digital interactions. We have written to these customers asking if they need assistance, and 4,000 replied saying yes.

We have constructed an assisted digital offer designed to help customers learn how to use the service, using trusted intermediaries, families, friends or even a registered agent. Alternatively, – customers can come in to physical DEFRA offices around the country and be personally taken through the process.

These 13,000 customers tend to be located in the most rural parts of the UK (e.g. hill farmers) where there is a deficit of connectivity, access and computer skills. We have engaged very strongly with the National Farmers Union to develop a programme of engaging with local farming communities.

One key lesson we have learnt – when we have been developing functionality in stages we have tended to seek iterative feedback – but this often misses the importance of focusing on the entire customer journey from start to finish.

On the digital inclusion piece – of the 4,000 customers who responded saying they needed help to use the new Rural Payments service, so far only 230 have taken up offer to come into our offices.

We have also noticed that there is frequently a tension between developing service functionality within required timescales and simultaneously ensuring this is easy to use. Stakeholders also want assurance, particularly when similar projects have gone wrong in the past.

In a context where the service involves a complex system of components the use of automated testing is essential. We thought cloud computing would be easy – but actually the adoption process has been difficult and it has taken a long time to get the right capability in place. We couldn’t have got this far without support and input from a broad range of public and private stakeholders. In particular GDS has played a key role in helping us to develop the right strategic approach.

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4.2

Neil Barlow – Digital Transformation in Action: Implementing the DVSA’s MOT Modernisation Programme

DVSA deal with practical on the ground stuff relating to vehicles, for example the MOT scheme. In fact the MOT Scheme is not that digital. It involves 22,500 oily garages of which 17,000 are all small relatively nondigital businesses. However, this does not mean they don’t use technology. It just means that they don’t tend to see themselves as digital businesses. The real focus of what they do is fixing and servicing cars.

Looking back there have been significant challenges around getting the website and interface right.

However, the major challenge which remains is getting all these businesses to use new digital services. To be successful we need to understand how our users see themselves and describe their businesses.

Research we have carried out that most garages describe their business in non-digital terms including words like “family, customers, services and local”. They do not usually see themselves as digital businesses – and we need to cater to that perception.

It is easy to get overly focused on the technology – but the MOT scheme isn’t about digital – it is about cars and members of the public driving safe cars. Therefore our focus needs to be not just on digital itself – but on using digital in supporting these processes to achieve those outcomes.

Without understanding what the service is about and the user needs it has to satisfy, we cannot create an attractive digital version. What this process has helped us to do is to focus on where we should concentrate our efforts. It won’t miraculously get everyone testing vehicles correctly on its own – but it will give us a fighting chance of getting closer to that objective.

Our aspirations for the MOT scheme is to work in partnership to deliver an MOT modernised MOT industry which is empowered to use the best technology to deliver high quality tests. This will support a competitive and profitable industry which improves public safety, delivers value for money and ensures consumers are confident in the service they receive.

Some of customers are companies like BT (who happen to run about 45 MOT garages). They are pushing us to help them use tablets and other technologies in their garages. We also need to recognise that we are working in a wider digital world. Whatever we do as government, industry will often take a different approach and individuals will do the same. In this context it is important to appreciate that government is not the singular authority on digital, and that we need to leverage best practice and learnings from all other sectors.

To summarise, we are building a digital service (which is a part of the end picture) – which is also about understanding what the service is about, and part of an on-going exercise to help these MOT garages understand and exploit the digital world around them.

4.3

Using GPS Technology to reduce crime, Chris Miller, ACPO Lead for Tagging 2011

The focus of this presentation is around using GPS satellite technology to reduce crime. In 2014, an estimated 8.9 million crimes were committed in the UK, of which 3.7 million were reported to the police.

Home Office figures from 2009 suggest that prolific offenders will usually commit an average of 120 offences per year. This means that 5,000 individuals are responsible for 10% of all crime in the UK.

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Leadership in a Digital Age Research also suggests that generally speaking, if you start offending as a teenager you will often keep on doing so until your mid-40s.

All this evidence suggests that if we genuinely want to reduce crime we need to target our efforts. One option here is to exploit GPS tracking technology to target the most prolific offenders. In 2007 we trialled an initiative which offered offenders the opportunity to voluntarily confess to every crime they had committed in return for a rehabilitation package tailored to their specific needs. GPS tagging was a vital component of this scheme, and was part of the terms and conditions of the rehabilitation package on offer.

As a result, crime was reduced and detections increased. For example, if someone burgled your house three years ago, the scheme allowed them to confess their crime and send you a letter of apology – which is far more reassuring than knowing that they haven’t been caught and are still out there. We also found that offenders participating in the scheme made more sensible decisions, and were deterred from engaging in further criminal acts due to the certainty and speed of detection made possible by GPS tagging. We also found that ensuring the presence of a capable guardian was a major factor for young offenders.

In terms of the history of GPS tagging, the first UK programme was initially launched in 1998 overseen by the Ministry of Justice. The current programme involves a mandatory curfew for participants, costs around £100 million per year and tags about 100,000 individuals on an annual basis. The average length of stay for participants in the tagging scheme is 74 days.

However, the programme is affected by a number of ongoing challenges. These include, lack of coordination between the Ministry of Justice and Home office, prevailingly high unit costs (£4k per tag per year), alongside a lack of competition between tagging providers, and a general sense that the scheme is consistently failing to realise its full potential. For example, under the current system relatively few prolific offenders are being tagged.

The key operating principles of GPS tagging require that offenders wear the tag which collects location data which is regularly transmitted to the police which can then be compared with crime data from other sources.

In Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, the police are working with a GPS tagging supplier which is outside of the current Ministry of Justice contract. This scheme is funded by the local police authorities and focuses on attracting offenders to voluntarily participate in the programme.

In Barnet and Hackney, both London boroughs have launched GPS tagging pilots funded by the third sector which involve close collaboration between the police, the Probation Service and local Councils. It is worth noting that the unit cost of this programme is 15% of the unit costs achieved under the Ministry of Justice contract. The key objective of this scheme is to get 100 prolific offenders tagged in Barnet and Hackney by 2016 and leverage this to achieve significant crime reduction. If successful this scheme could contribute to the development of a pan-London tagging programme, and increase the diversity of supply of tagging services in the current market.

To conclude, the challenges of the current Ministry of Justice tagging scheme can be summarised with the analogy that the government has designed a Mercedes of a programme which is presently being pulled by a horse!

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4.4

Leadership in Central Government: Tim Daley, Head of Customer Solution Delivery, DVLA

Digital is not really about technology. Technology is just an enabler. Any successful process of transformation needs to start with people. You need to start with genuine insights from customers and users – what do they want to do and what are the outcomes they seek? Based on this information you can then begin to design services which are fit for purpose.

At the DVLA we are responsible for delivering three exemplar digital services identified by the GDS transformation programme, alongside administering 60 other customer facing services. This represents a significant and ambitious programme for change.

Unsurprisingly there are a range of challenges which need to be addressed. There is still substantial fear and uncertainty of what digital means in terms of service transformation and user experience. We need to engage with our customers to ask them what they want – without being scared of the answers they may supply in return! As an agency the DVLA is grappling with the task of transforming itself into a service oriented organisation as opposed to simply an executor of government functions. We are changing the whole fabric of what we do.

Indeed, implementing these kinds of large-scale changes can provoke significant quantities of fear and panic across our organisation and users. As leaders we have the responsibility to support people successfully navigate this process. Indeed, throughout this process it is vital to understand that digital transformation is not just the responsibility of the IT department – it is a shared challenge for everyone across an organisation. This is important as sharing knowledge and power is not always second nature to public sector organisations.

There are also additional issues around rapidly implementing these changes whilst simultaneously meeting user needs and expectations. In many respects we have already picked off the easiest people to get to. And yet there are still a lot of people not using the service – why is that?

It is also critical for us to successfully blend agile approaches with traditional methods and mechanisms for change such as investment decisions and policy making. We need to encourage and motivate our staff to experiment and take calculated risks.

A further key question around service transformation is around skills – specifically how can an organisation best identify, acquire, expand and retain digital skills and digital capability? How do we maintain an environment which attracts capable people within our ranks to continue solving the big challenges which lie ahead?

4.5

Panel Q & A

Question:

at Age UK we are looking to transform our own organisation – how are you thinking about the drivers of digital maturity in your own organisation – and how do you benchmark digital maturity itself?

Answer: Look at who does use your services – and who doesn’t – and why they don’t. We spend a lot of time on user insight and customer experience as this is key. It is also important

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Leadership in a Digital Age to try to expose staff from non-IT backgrounds to new experiences to help grow their expertise and enhance our organisation.

Question:

are we now moving from a situation where producers define how our information and services are structured – to a new paradigm where users define how this process is designed?

Answer: initially the focus at DEFRA was more on the production end – but we have realised that we need to raise the priority of listening to customer voices within our organisation. It is of course often difficult for those who are personally invested in an existing service for an extended period to see the benefit of asking users. A harsh reality in this context is that there is frequently considerable benefit in changing some of the staff and bringing in some new blood. Doing what we’ve always done isn’t going to deliver the change we are seeking. It is also essential to get users involved as much as possible in the service design process.

Question:

is voluntary tagging being considered across other parts of the public sector?

Answer: the Scottish government has looked into a voluntary tagging scheme. The Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire scheme has also been picked up by others. Generally speaking, the problem with police/probation service is that they don’t like to be first with a new supplier and new technologies. Tagging is effectively telephone technology which has become increasingly expensive for government over the last 18 years.

Question:

are there other complementary sectors which might apply tagging technology?

Answer: Mental health trusts in South London have successfully used GPS tagging technology.

Question:

Over the last 6 years there has been significant research into collaboration with EU funding to engage with CEOs about their approach to social media. Three factors emerged from the research – trust, momentum and curiosity. We found that the CEOs working with all three were very successful in communicating – but less so when these factors were found in isolation. How are you managing the relationship between these three factors?

Answer: DEFRA is increasingly using social media and we have expanded our confidence in terms of engaging with other groups organising debates on social media. We are also seeing the rise of social networks across the farming community. We are not there yet – but trust is starting to build. We have now begun to overcome the initial issue that people were afraid of civil servants communicating through social media. However, many public sector agencies use social media, but not always in a particularly agile or modern way. There is also a distinction between individual and organisational use of social media. People often use social media because it is slightly anarchic and offers the chance to engage in people you are interested in around topics you care about. By this logic we need to consider to what extent people want to banter with local government and the police using social media channels? In addition, in the context of the police there can often be significant tension between the corporate agenda and content of lower level dialogue via social media with citizens.

However, in other instances customer feedback and communication via social media can be incredibly valuable in assisting organisations in refining their delivery process and in setting their immediate, short-term and long-term priorities.

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4.6

Buzz session – table feedback

Question: is leadership in a digital age different? What are the three biggest changes needed to leadership style and strategy?

Leadership is different in a digital age and needs to be viewed through a different lens. There needs to be greater emphasis on metabolising and digesting the sheer volume of information you are confronted with. Success and failure are more quickly and easily measured. Why is digital different – because of the current economic environment. As well as information coming in, there is emphasis on information going out. Customers have a greater voice than they have had previously.

In the past leadership behaviours would operate in a safe zone dictated by a command and control environment. The latest wave of digital development is innovative, and defined by trying new things within an open culture, reinforced by a focus on outcomes and independent working. The biggest changes are triggered by moving from a closed culture defined by hierarchy to an open culture driven by outcomes. The great thing about delivering in an agile form is that you can achieve a paradigm shift by delivering fast, failing quickly and iterating and learning.

People still want to collaborate but trust is increasingly important. There is a question about whether the services we are providing are building better relationships? Some say we are empowering people to do things for themselves. However, do we need to consider digital as “a choice” and the people should always come first? Paradigms tend to move in three steps – first a change in thinking, then a change in practice and then finally a change in technology. Without those three steps in that order a paradigm shift will not be easily or effectively achieved. We need to manage data in a way that allows us to draw wisdom from it. Indeed perhaps “big wisdom” is more important than “big data”! Trust and collaboration must be at the forefront.

4.7

Chairs comments

From this Q&A session it sounds like a lot of activity is moving in the right direction. However, we need to remember that while it is all very well to fail quickly and be agile – this should not be seen as a continual excuse for sloppy thinking or poor strategy.

[The Chair asked for a show of hands as to whether our public sector leaders have grasped what digital leadership is all about – the result was a single vote in favour]

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Leadership in a Digital Age 5

Leadership in Regional Government

5.1

Keynote 2: Leadership in a Digital Age - Cllr Peter Fleming, Sevenoaks District Council

One of the challenges faced by local government in particular is how to work with those who are not connected digitally. I was at a conference last week where we were talking about pensioners. Over 70% of over 65 year olds have never been online. That’s not never done a transaction online – they have never engaged with the online world. So when we talk about how we are going to provide services in a digital age, we are going to have to consider this massive chunk of people who have never even come in to contact with digital.

As the world becomes hyper-connected – what does that mean for local leadership? What does it actually mean to be a leader in a digital world? Particularly a leader of a place – in my case a small place with 114,000 residents?

We also need to be careful as digital can also hold us back instead of pushing us forward. There is a danger when we entirely focus on digital that we may have a tendency to drop all the other good ideas we might choose to implement. Digital is a tool – it is not the answer in itself. For our residents – there is a big gap between those who are digital natives and those that aren’t. It is about outcomes not outputs. It is better to be quick and dirty with digital – testing and getting things out there – rather than bringing a solution to market in a showroom condition. The beauty of digital is that it can enable stuff to happen quickly. If we take forever to try and get a perfect end result then we risk falling behind and failing to meet user needs.

The world is getting smaller and more connected – but so are our places. The opportunity to use digital to speak directly to communities of interest, rather than the old fashioned knocking on doors approach, is very valuable. We’ve got a Café Nero in Sevenoaks. From 10:00am in the morning this is the place to go to speak to young mums. But I can also speak to lots of mums online at Sevenoaksmums (forum). So I can speak to them in reality – or I can speak to them digitally.

So my final thought is that actually this isn’t about digital leadership. What we are talking about is about how to do with digital today what we have done forever – which is leadership.

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Panel session 2: Leadership in Regional Government

6.1

Caron Alexander, Director of Digital Services, Northern Ireland Civil Service

For my first case study I’m going to take you back in time to 2003 to prove that we were doing work in this area early on. In 2003 the Civil Service in Northern Ireland launched an initiative to improve public service and operational excellence through the introduction of an online planning system. However, by 2010 it was clear that the 2003 project had not delivered as planned with a project overspend by 400%. As a result the project was now under close NI Executive scrutiny, media criticism and the planners were disillusioned and disgruntled.

It was in this challenging context that I was asked to grasp this potential poisoned chalice! In the event, I accepted the challenge, and took control, gave clear direction, made difficult decisions, empowered staff, built relationships, managed expectations and changed behaviours.

This enabled me to show tangible progress and start delivering results. Throughout this process I believed it was essential to keep the citizen at the heart of the service design and its objectives.

My second case study will focus on the NI Digital Transformation Programme from 2014 onwards. Our vision was to transform and modernise the delivery of public services so that they meet the demands of the public.

In terms of the skills I needed – the reality is that people haven’t changed that much in terms of what you need to do as a leader. Leadership has always been about taking control and providing strategic direction.

However, some things are definitely different in a digital context. Citizens are telling us now that they are ready for digital. Traditional waterfall approaches to project development and delivery are no longer effective. In contrast, agile development approaches allow early products to demonstrate early success, whilst offering the chance to integrate feedback and refine the service in question.

This isn’t about delivering perfection. That is how we used to try to deliver new services and systems. This about delivering services which actually have a value and make a difference – and then iteratively improving on them based on user experience and feedback.

It’s not about government it is about people now. Trust in government services is increasing. Research by Deloitte around which institutions and organisations are trusted by the public demonstrates a higher level of trust in government than in banks or telecommunications companies. It is a myth to say that digital and government won’t work. Let’s push on, be transparent about what we’re doing and deliver new and better services.

A key question here – is the public sector ready for the change? This is about changing the behaviours of people in the public sector delivering services. Under the current financial climate money is tight, and we have to do more with what we have. Therefore, digital is an essential part of that process of service improvement going forward.

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Leadership in a Digital Age 6.2

The Tao of Digital Leadership - Hayley Lewis, Head of Communications and Engagement, Croydon Council

In 1985 John Heider published a book called the Tao of Leadership which has since been used as a management manual for many fortune 500 companies. Mr Heider’s work has inspired my choice of presentation title - the Tao of Digital Leadership.

Look up, look down….look ahead, look around. We live in a 24/7 world. It’s exciting but also sometimes overwhelming. I think this requires leaders in a digital age to have their wits about them in terms of processing the sheer volume of information coming their way.

The operational aspect of keeping digital services going 24/7 is challenging. I also think it is about being humble enough to find out about what others are doing – and comparing your progress. I also don’t think there is a finish line with digital – run fast, run slow – but always run! You need endurance – e.g. building relationships and momentum in that background. Digital leadership used to take place in dark rooms and ivory towers – now it takes place out in the open. We need to start asking ourselves which services need to be brought online, along with “when?” “why?” and “who for”?

True strength comes from collaborating – working with a wide variety of stakeholders – sometimes with opposing or contrasting views. One of the most exciting and fascinating parts of the new Croydon website which we will be launching soon is the work we have done with our residents alongside elected members and council staff. This has not been built by our web team and TSO sat in a darkened room with flannels on their heads! We have built this with the people we are here to serve. We couldn’t have done it without them – and nor should we.

Is it hard work engaging with a broad array of people with very different experiences and points of view?

Yes. Do I think our customers will gain a better service experience as a result of this process? Absolutely.

I am extremely passionate about talent management and nurturing existing talent in local government while attracting the next generation. This is no mean feat! We are not necessarily seen as the digital go-to sector (shock, horror!) let alone the sector to learn your trade in around digital design and delivery. So digital leaders need to be the bridge between the generations. Human translators if you will. We need be able to speak to and understand everyone from baby boomers to Generation X’s (like myself), Generation Y, Generation Z – and those that haven’t been born yet.

Part of this about understanding our own biases and preferences when it comes to taking decisions. Our user experience sessions here at Croydon ensured that we had participation from residents ranging from 16 years old to those in their late 80s (and everyone in between). In terms of talent attraction – as digital leaders we have a lot to do to make local government seem like an attractive sector and an attractive proposition for those leaving full-time education or seeking apprenticeships.

And now a quote from Star Wars! When Princess Leia was being held captive by Imperial forces on the Death Star she said: “The more you tighten your grip [Governor] Tarkin, the more the star systems will slip between your fingers…” This is one of the most profound lessons I’ve learned as a leader, digital or otherwise. It is about knowing when to let go. It is about knowing how to be comfortable and accept less control and go with the flow (be the water not the rock) – and also knowing when to stand firm.

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Ultimately it is about trusting your teams, trusting that they know what they are doing, and knowing they are going to do their best.

Whilst there are some non-negotiable requirements, for me primarily it is about our customers getting on to our website, doing what they need to do quickly and getting back to their everyday lives. Whether we like it or not they really don’t want to spend that much time with us! The rest is up for debate and I value that debate. We still have some way to go in my organisation. The next step is applying the same approach to how we handle social media. We still have some control issues there, but we are taking things one step at a time.

Finally, if there is one thing I have learnt it is that digital leadership is a marathon not a sprint – and it is time for us all to limber up.

6.3 Lessons from the Camden Digital Strategy – Cllr Theo Blackwell, Cabinet Member for Finance and Technology Policy, Camden Council Camden Council has created a Cabinet level digital strategy. By way of background, Camden serves 220,000 people. Its latest Kings Cross development is the largest brownfield development in Europe located in an urban area. Google’s main European HQ is scheduled to move there, alongside a significant number of other large international firms. Understandably it is very important to us that Camden citizens can take advantage of the new jobs and employment opportunities associated with these developments.

At the same time we also face significant challenges. Like all councils we are under pressure to implement £160 million worth of cuts from 2012-2018. As a result, organisational change and transformation is the name of the game. However, this is not just about austerity. Residents of Camden are experiencing the digital revolution which the council needs to respond to.

As a Labour authority we have a duty to tackle inequality and alienation, foster economic growth and deliver services based on user need. We also need to position ourselves to effectively solve problems that cannot be resolved on a council by council basis. We need to act together and reach beyond our boundaries. Issues like public health and jobs and skills cut across borough boundaries. For example if we invest to train a Camden resident who eventually gets a job in Croydon. Ultimately we cannot deliver this without substantial innovation, a realisation that has driven us to rethink our approach to technology.

In terms of our digital strategy – we set up Camden plan in 2012 and mapped the digital opportunity and digital delivery to our five main objectives. These included, developing “Right First Time Services” delivering value for money, supporting sustainable neighbourhoods (making sure no one is left behind), tackling inequality through new solutions, and harnessing economic growth whilst demonstrating democratic and strategic leadership.

So we are looking at channel shift, developing our work force skills to provide services more efficiently, maximising our income through digital, and supporting local businesses through digital skills. We have got an after-school code club which operated in 75% of our local primary schools with volunteers from local technology firms and with links to UCL University. This is not only valuable for the children participating, but it also sends a strong message to our business community that this is a place you can come and invest because we have a council which cares for the talent of the future.

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Leadership in a Digital Age We have also set up a public Wi-Fi network which operates in all of our high streets so that visiting tourists can get 30 minutes free public Wi-Fi. Hopefully in the future this service will be offered free of charge. In addition we are doing a significant amount of work around tackling digital inequality and the digital divide. For example, when we are building new council homes we are making sure that they are digitally enabled. We are making sure that our website is much more searchable and accessible to residents of all digital skills levels. Finally, we are creating a new civic dashboard, not just for internal use, but for external use so that the outcomes that we have decided with the people of Camden can be monitored and challenged by the people of Camden in an easily searchable way.

There are many more things to do. We have built a very strong in-house team using open systems and open data. These are people who are aware of the challenges of IT and digital – as well as its previous failures. Ultimately, the future of local government is frighteningly bleak unless you look at it as local public services joining up together to holistically serve local needs across boroughs.

In terms of enabling transformation and making things happen – Senior Management Team buy-in to the wider view was crucial. IT and digital technology is not just in a box somewhere – it is fundamental to our core purpose. It is also important to ensure that digital is woven into your existing corporate strategy (as it is with our Camden Plan). In addition, instead of annual and departmental budgeting, we have now migrated to a budgeting approach which focuses on outcomes. There is a continual need to investigate integrating key services (e.g. health and social care) and expand your ability to develop in-house solutions with in-house teams. In order to exploit the looming potential of open systems we need to have a willingness to experiment and take risks.

Ultimately, I think that technology used properly in local public service can drive a new level of democracy and debate around decentralisation. I believe that the proper use of technology and data by local authorities to join public services together can fix problems – not just at a council level – but on a regional and sub-regional level. This approach has the potential to break the sterile deadlock around devolution in favour of focusing more on government by subsidiarity. In other words, determining the level of government that we need to solve a problem that faces our residents and how we can work with technology to solve it at that appropriate level. This can bring us beyond the traditional adversarial debate between Whitehall and local government and I think that is a really interesting proposition for our future.

6.4

Sophie Payne, Head of Communications, Buckinghamshire County Council

As digital leaders we all have to wear many hats – so I thought I’d talk about what I see as being the most important hats that digital leaders have to wear. The first digital hat is translator. I’m not just talking about the ability to engage in “geek speak” and engage with your ICT teams. That is of course important for doing the job – but I’m thinking more about the fact that the most effective translators in the purest sense always work with a deep understanding of the broader context in which they operate and apply that to make themselves more effective.

So what does that mean in practice? Well, we need to be translators of what digital transformation means for your organisation. For us in in Buckinghamshire we developed a digital strategy which was published internally and externally. Employees are hearing about digital transformation, digital by design

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and digital first – but what does that mean for employees? One of the most simple yet powerful things we have accomplished to respond to this question was to prepare a single slide which shows what it means to be a digital role model in Buckinghamshire County Council. This gives people something really tangible to digest and appreciate the types of skills and behaviours we would expect to see from somebody operating effectively within a digital organisation.

I also believe that strong governance can be your friend. We have a Digital Implementation Board chaired by a Cllr who themselves has monthly visibility on our Chief Council Board. Effectively understanding and diagnosing user needs is about making sure that these user needs do not get lost in translation as you move forward. This process can sometimes mean difficult conversations.

My second digital hat is – talent spotter. This is really about keeping your eyes peeled and scanning across your broader organisation to identify individuals who already have their hands to help you even if they don’t really know it yet! One of the most inspiring and exciting aspects for me has been about how you can harness and nurture the passion and drive which already exists in your organisation. In Buckinghamshire we have established a senior level digital champions network along with a network of digital innovators to support them. Their objectives and competencies have been designed with full buyin from our Executive Board. Some of the digital innovators are self-nominated, others are put forward by their managers. Together they have created a monthly programme of informal digital skills surgeries for council staff. They regularly communicate across the organisation using both digital and face to face channels, and represent a valuable source of ideas and new thinking.

I would also encourage digital leaders to look beyond the wider teams. For example the scope for improving the performance of a customer analyst who is focused on customers, but lacks existing digital credentials or skills. And if we look beyond our own organisations, there are also a huge number of good ideas out there which you can pinch and build upon.

My third and final digital hat – be a team builder. Given the current financial outlook and pressures operating across local government, we do not always have the chance to create a truly multi-disciplinary digital transformation team. However, that isn’t necessarily a critical barrier. If you get a good mix of people and skills you can still achieve some powerful outcomes and results. You can also align other teams within your organisation to broaden the base of your institutional support. Digital leaders need to ask themselves, what are the specific skills you need at each level of your organisation?

Our libraries team is very important on the digital inclusion agenda side. They have assisted nearly 150 people to complete the Tinder Foundation learn my way programme. Indeed, libraries in general represent a really rich route to reaching many user groups – and a huge untapped resource in terms of communicating and engaging with our local communities.

So to conclude, I’d like to extend my guiding analogy by ending with a quote from Irish designer, Philip Treacy, “how a hat makes you feel is what a hat is all about”.

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Leadership in a Digital Age 6.5

Panel Q & A:

Question:

Adult and children social care requires time and resources – and social workers spend 80% of their time locked to their desks. Currently digital equipment keeps them at their desks – but could digital equipment be used to empower them to leave their desks?

Answer: In Croydon we are rolling out new kit for adult social care services (Ipads….etc).

Best route – identify people who are already champions of digital in those services. We have identified these people in adult social care services – and are seeking to empower them (rather than merely sending someone from corporate centre).

Answer: big statutory services with the higher level of professionalisation and legal duties to government – targeting towards higher/moderate need people. Sharing data to identify problems before they happen. Most of the cost is associated with the most vulnerable and in need people. Acute needs are presented at the last stage – rather than addressing the problem through earlier interventions. It is also imperative to engage with internal users, whilst simultaneously ensuring that new devices and software are compatible with existing back end systems.

Question:

How do today’s digital leaders deal with the collapse of distinctions between different areas of delivery, such as for example health, social care and transport? We need to think about process and how we should be doing things differently – but local government also has elected members – how can we encourage them to engage digitally?

Answer: take-up of digital tends to be higher amongst local government officers than elected members – and this take-up itself is higher across local government than it is in Westminster! There is also a noticeable time lag between those individuals occupying cabinet roles and those who are aware of the latest technological changes.

Answer: NI currently benefits from a strong digital advocate in the Minister for Finance and Personnel.

Answer: There is also an issue around the demographic profile of elected members (regardless of party) in terms of a high representation of certain genders and age groups (e.g. white middle class males!). Until we start to see more of a mix of elected members across the UK this will continue to hold us back to some extent. Generally speaking, there tends to be a broader range of ages and genders represented across local government officers.

Question:

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across the public sector space there tends to be discussion about problems – but in Shoreditch we have debates about technical approaches. Is this a concern – or is this normal? Ultimately, it seems like the best solutions will be found in the middle ground between these two perspectives. Is more action required to help both sides understand each other’s languages?

Answer: It is not just about the developers sitting in the room anymore – this is about total collaboration with users – getting all the right people in the right place at the right time all the way through the process.

Question:

During this section I didn’t hear anything about APIs, web applications, the Internet of Things. If these are part of the range of future solutions –why are we not referencing them now?

Answer: The Camden Plan presentation did reference APIs. Instead of big software houses selling to local government we want to commission suppliers and products in an agile way.

Answer: we are not here to talk about technology specifically – but to focus on the key elements of digital leadership. However, I would say that we do need to attract innovative private sector talent to work with local government. Ultimately it is a great environment to work in – and we can really solve problems which affect a lot of people.

Question:

Collaboration across councils is important for driving costs down. How much collaboration is there across councils to build common platforms and common services?

Answer: in Camden we are looking to partner with another local authority to develop a shared service platform. It sounds common sense but we should remember that we are dealing with organisations which were created in 1965. Any private sector organisation which has kept the same culture for 40 years would exhibit the same institutional challenges. However there are drivers which are breaking down these barriers. So collaboration around common platforms and services is definitely in the pipeline – but it is taking longer than expected. There is definitely a common appetite for this, but it is still early days in terms developing how such partnerships should operate in practice.

Answer: In NI central government shared services work well. Now the local government is knocking on the door saying – “please let us in”! This trend will continue compounded by current financial pressures and cost saving incentives.

Answer: in London there are six Boroughs who created a shared HR and finance platform.

Two other London Boroughs who have a shared web team (but not a shared website).

Ultimately we would like to see one website for local government instead of a couple of hundred. We are all delivering the same services. Of course the delivery of these services will need to include local nuances – but they essentially remain the same types of services.

GDS has achieved this kind of digital rationalisation in relation to Whitehall department websites – and local government is learning from this. In addition, we need to remember that most of our users don’t care about the different structures and processes of central and local government – they just want one place they access everything from.

Comment from Chair: in some ways there is the sense that we all like the concept of shared services, providing you share my service!

Answer: £160 million pound savings in Camden – enhanced use of data and technology will need to be used to enable this to happen. This represents a significant transformation.

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Leadership in a Digital Age We are many years away from a truly public sector approach to digital transformation – specifically in terms of linking health and social care.

Answer: if we take the example of the video games industry – they need to develop new business models very quickly or they will die. Similarly GDS has iterated very quickly on its initial delivery. I get at least 5 emails a week from the private sector offering to help us navigate the challenge of digital transformation.

6.6

Buzz session

Question:

is leadership in a digital age agile, incremental and about getting stuff done - or is it still as much about policies and planning?

Answer: it is a blend of the two. In terms of leadership you have to shape the vision. You also need to accept that things will change along the way – and you will need to engage with your organisation’s existing culture, people and resources to rise to meet this challenge.

Answer: do you need a digital strategy – or do you just revisit your business strategy?

You’ve got to just get out there and start doing things – but that requires flexibility. Do we need flex in our governance?

Answer: An organisation’s appetite for risk can be relevant here – particularly if deploying agile approaches impacts that organisation’s risk profile. Also a key element is failing early.

Risk appetite for failure is low in policy circles – particularly in our presently challenging climate for funding. In the end, if you sit and plan all day long you will never achieve anything – but you do need a plan to address and mitigate risks.

Question:

is the governance layer (elected members) less likely to countenance risk taking or failure?

Answer: Change needs to be implemented whilst preserving accountability to our elected members and transparent standards of governance. You can’t really do one without the other. We should be doing both agile and bottom-up development – but we need sensible top-down strategy as well. It is about providing some exemplars – not trying to do everything all at once. GDS isn’t changing all of Whitehall overnight – they are choosing some lead example services to prioritise.

Answer: Similarly, we don’t see democratic accountability and genuine transformation as mutually exclusive. There needs to be a skeleton of policy and an agile focus shaping the vision. Need a solid core strategy with as much flexibility as possible around it.

Answer: in NI we have implemented a digital first strategy with a dedicated permanent secretary sub-group. But to support the bottom-up part of the equation we have created an Information Governance and Innovation Board (IGIB).

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7

Chris Yiu, Director of Digital Participation, SCVO

Digital is a tool – not the outcome. What does it mean to be a leader in an increasingly digital world where the tools are constantly changing? I was thinking about the kind of impact that the leaders that I know have on the people around them. I was reminded of a famous quote by Larry Senn – “organisations become shadows of their leaders”. Now this is not about leaders forcing their style upon an organisation or being aggressive about dictating the agenda (although of course you do get that occasionally). It is much more about the fact that in any organisation people look up to those in leadership positions and take their cues from them about how to behave and what is important. As leaders in a digital age, the organisations we work in become shadows of us and the ways we choose to behave will have a tremendous impact on all of those around us.

I’d like to focus on a few key aspects of leadership in a digital world. Firstly, I’d like to focus on the importance of committing to this agenda – and I mean really committing. For someone in a leadership position – all of this digital stuff (if you buy all the arguments about how important digital is for doing business) then even if you aren’t a computer scientist, a data scientist or you can’t code to save your life – you need to commit to this agenda. It is not enough for a CEO to say I have a web team, an IT team and some digital guys over there – so I don’t need to engage with this. Actually if digital leadership is as important as we all think it is then it is incumbent upon people in leadership positions to commit to this agenda and to make an effort to participate, understand and to set an example to others. The idea that you don’t need to understand digital because someone else can do it for me cannot in my view be right.

I don’t think this means that everyone in a leadership position needs to go off and do a PHD in something frightfully complicated. But I do think they need to know enough to ask the questions and interrogate the answers that come back to them. You wouldn’t think it is acceptable for a Chief Executive to say that they can’t read their organisation’s accounts or they can’t understand part of their annual report, or that media training isn’t for them. You expect all those things to be in the portfolio of things that a modern leader can do – and my view is that digital is one of these things.

However, on the plus side the barriers to entry in terms of developing digital skills and building digital understanding are lower than they have ever been. Right now you can pick up a Raspberry Pi for £20 or go on an online learning platform and teach yourself a bit of coding. Such things can now be done at very low cost, with a minimal time commitment. So it is now possible to pick up the outlines of how things work without understanding the detail – and once you know what is possible you are in a much stronger position, both to advocate for change within the organisation, and to work with and lead those around you who are steeped in the detail.

And for those of us who aren’t sitting at the top of our organisations yet – there remains the question, what is our duty to the leaders that we work with/for? Is it enough if people push responsibility down to us – do we merely faithfully execute those instructions – or do we recognise that we have a duty to use our digital skills and knowledge to support, educate and enhance the skills of the leaders you work for as well as those who work for you.

When I worked for McKinsey we described this as the “obligation for dissent”. This is the idea that everybody, no matter their place in the hierarchy, has the responsibility to speak up if they have a sense of

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Leadership in a Digital Age how things might be done better, how things could be improved or how the organisation could make more of a difference. So there is a real and critical importance of properly committing to this agenda.

Whether you are a leader or a digital leader – it doesn’t really matter – you are leaders and the digital world isn’t going to go away.

A big part of digital leadership is also about being the best person you can be. Digital is really exciting for leaders because it offers an incredible range of new tools to help you become the person you want to be.

We now have an amazing ability to listen to our users. In ways that were previously impossible we can now connect with the people who are consuming our services, we can understand their user journeys, and use the tools at our disposal to do a fantastic job for them. What can digital do for the people who work with and for you? Again with all of the tools that are available to us there are exciting opportunities to empower your staff, your volunteers and the people around you.

In my current role we recruit bright new people all the time who bring in amazing ideas about the tools and platforms they want to use which can get the job done in ways we couldn’t previously imagine. So I see it as a responsibility for myself and others in leadership positions to enable new staff to exploit those new digital opportunities. Unlocking the potential contributions of those new staff members can be a welcome antidote to the traditionally glacial pace at which change is delivered across many organisations.

It is also essential to celebrate success, given that digital can operate to magnify this. Once upon a time your team would do a good job and you would congratulate them in person. Nowadays you can do this via social media and the whole world can see, participate in, and engage with that success. If you do this well it can have a phenomenal impact on morale and motivation.

The last thing I want to mention is that there is a flip side to digital leadership. A leader armed with platforms and armed with data – there will sometimes be significant temptations to not do the right thing. We’ve all heard the Google motto “don’t be evil”. As leaders we will increasingly be offered opportunities to cross ethical lines in terms of monetising data or compromising privacy. Therefore, it must be incumbent upon those in leadership positions to say “no – there is a better way, there is a more ethical way, there is a way that is more inclusive”. And I think if we as leaders can hold on to that – whilst setting a great example to the people around us and remaining committed to the fundamental importance and relevance of digital – then we stand a pretty good chance of being able to reshape government, civil society and the private sector. In a digital world with effective digital leaders – it is all up for grabs.

7.1

Q&A

Question:

are new moral dilemmas raised by digital?

Answer: in terms of the interface between big data analytics and the public sector – all this digital activity generates a lot of data through interactions with customers and users. The old model involved putting our arms around the data and content to further the aims of organisation – and this is not always the right thing for the user. Should we build systems based on open data and open API’s – or lock it all down and flog the data to the highest bidder? We need a proper debate about this – and if this is not going to be driven by the people in this room – then who is it going to be?

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Question:

in relation to monetising data – in the digital inclusion field there is a big issue with trusted intermediaries. What about the older person living alone who has never been online – who is their trusted intermediary? Is it a zero hour contract carer?

Answer: there is something here around what do you let go of. In the world of digital services – there is the temptation to say that the state has always delivered this end to end – so we are going to continue to do that. And yet the advantage of the digital environment is that you can unbundle these components and partner with others.

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Leadership in a Digital Age 8

Digital Hustings

8.1

Chi Onwurah MP

At last year’s Digital Leaders Conference I announced that Labour was going to conduct a review of digital government. The reason I did that was that I want to make the world work better for everyone – not just for the few. When it comes to digital government there is a huge opportunity to empower and democratise – but also with significant risks around digital exclusion and the costs of digital investment.

Digital government should be done for people by people – not to people. During our review we commissioned experts from all sectors, technical, non-technical, specialist, consumer…..etc.

Our review generated three key recommendations: 1.

Digital inclusion – this government announced a digital inclusion strategy after 4 years (in April 2014) which is aimed at getting 90% of adults online. We believe that a strategy which ignores 10% of the population is not a proper digital inclusion strategy.

2.

Data sharing – the current government approach is chaotic. Recently scandals have obscured a huge opportunity to improve services and make them better and cheaper. We will deliver an ethical framework for data use in the public sector.

3.

Skills – digital citizenship is not a Tesco’s loyalty card for government – the whole public sector needs to be digital champions, to improve skills, to create centres of digital expertise. GDS has done great work – but we need to drive that change out across Whitehall as well as across local government and local authorities.

So in conclusion, digital government is a huge prize which can deliver cost savings, better services and more citizen engagement with government and the public sector - via a digital democratic revolution.

8.2

Tom Brake MP

Speaking as a Liberal Democrat, digital has amazing potential for job creation, innovation, empowerment and economic growth. However, digital also presents significant risks as demonstrated by the recent Snowden affair. The previous Labour government had a keenness on large government databases which is not shared by the Liberal Democrats. This is why we have pushed the concept of a Digital Bill of Rights to enshrine in law regulations around data sharing, privacy and freedom from surveillance.

I regularly hold Facebook surgeries – and I believe I was the first MP to do this. These surgeries allow constituents to raise issues with me in a low cost and immediate way. I need several members of staff and volunteers to process volume of Facebook posts – which highlights the issue with managing online input and feedback. However, there are also certain drawbacks when using social media to communicate.

Twitter is a fantastic communications tool – but I must admit that I often experience severe difficulties explaining complex aspects of government policy in 140 characters!

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8.3

Q&A

Question:

you are both clearly committed to the digital agenda – which is more than can be said of the great majority of our political leaders. I’d like to offer an open question – how can we increase engagement with politicians with digital issues?

Tom Brake MP: there is an appetite for expanding digital government and digital engagement – if only because government for the next 5 years will be under very strong financial pressures. Effective digital transformation can make a big contribution towards reducing costs. For Parliamentarians the appetite for digital will rise following the general election. My prediction is that in this election social media will play a more enhanced role in campaigning – particularly as it offers a free alternative to direct mail.

Chi Onwurah MP: politicians are supposed to be representative of the UK population – and in terms of digital expertise we probably are fairly representative! I am co-chair of the Parliamentary Internet, Communications and Technology Forum (PICTFOR). Last year we launched our Parliamentary Twitter Awards – and we had a huge turnout of MPs who were interested in learning more about digital communications. One person said to me that IT had become the third rail for a civil servants career (touch it and you die!). These kind of perceptions will not assist the process of digital transformation. We need to improve the knowledge and skills of civil servants – as well as those of Ministers and MPs. Digital is one of the few areas where you can cut costs and improve the service in question – which has politician’s eyes lighting up (and not just in the shadow treasury team)!

Question:

is the current digital strategy just about moving offline services to online? Or is it more than that? Tom mentioned social media. What is more important for your base – for them to talk to you about their problems or for you to use digital to address those problems so they don’t need to use social media to contact you?

Chi Onwurah MP: digital transformation is definitely not just about moving offline services online. The key to digital is in empowering citizens and people so they can use and get the kinds of services they want. If you just apply old world approaches to a new world environment then you are not going to realise the true benefits of digital. Instead you will merely digitize existing analogue services. For example Government prioritised the 25 largest transactional services by volume. Instead I believe that they should have prioritised health and social care – which is where we spend the most money on the most vulnerable people. In Newcastle we have piloted an adult social care programme called Chain Reaction where personal budgets are used not for individualised day care but shared activities – like a trip to the cinema – co-producing care based on sharing preferences and capabilities. There are so many areas in which service users can harness their own data to help define and improve their service and yet more where data sharing can improve service experience. There are huge opportunities here. However digital transformation needs to be accomplished by leaders who understand the potential as well as the pitfalls of new technologies.

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Tom Brake MP: I use social media as a means of providing information to constituents and they use it as a means of providing information to me. Interestingly I have received an award for being both the most on message Lib Dem MP via social media – and also the most responsive to constituents!

Question:

What are you going to do to be more supportive of civil servants who make mistakes using agile iterative techniques? How can you stop the blame culture which is holding a lot of departments back?

Chi Onwurah MP: that is a really good question. I think the best approach is to fail fast and fail cheaply. In the context where someone on unemployment benefit receives £73 per week – losing that can destroy them. But we do need a culture which supports evolving services and functionality. I have heard that many civil servants live in fear of being called before the Public Accounts Committee to account for yet another big IT mess up. We need to move away from a blame culture and accept that within certain parameters failure is an integral part of digital development and developing ever more adaptable and responsive public service Tom Brake MP: the government have put an emphasis on trying to empower smaller providers to deliver government IT projects. Many pre-existing principles of management apply here – which can be effectively translated to a digital context.

Question:

this week we had the D5 conference in London – are the current structures and competences of government compatible with being a leading digital nation?

Chi Onwurah MP: my short answer would be – no. We are a leading digital economy but the transformation of the private sector hasn’t yet been replicated across the public sector.

We need a digital revolution in the way that government works – cutting across the silo based approach of individual departments. We are a Parliamentary system which has grown out of the 12th century – and not must has changed in the last 100 years! So it would be surprising if there wasn’t scope for improvement here!

Tom Brake MP: I agree that we have fundamental problems to address in how government operates in relation to breaking down the silos Chi referred to across central and local government. We need more flexibility to enable this to happen. One thing that is likely after the Scottish referendum is that we will see more fluid governance arrangements in England.

Question:

do you agree that until you change the silo based approach to data SMEs can’t provide solutions because they don’t have access to the data?

Chi Onwurah MP: if you look at the example of care.data – this is a good idea – but people got scared. People need to be part of the debate and discussion about what happens to their data. Many people are happy having their data shared within the NHS – but they really hate the idea of that data being shared by the private sector. I agree that there is a huge opportunity in terms of improved service, but we can’t impose data sharing on people. There needs to be an ethical framework which allows people to feel confident and in control of their data before we can unlock the benefits.

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Tom Brake: the government have put out a lot of information on how they are trying to get the data out there – if you want more information just email me at info@tombrake.co.uk Chi Onwurah MP: I just want to conclude by saying that our Digital Government Review is available in open format – and that we would be happy to receive your comments.

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9 A Few Comments on Leadership in a Digital Economy, Alan W. Brown, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Surrey Business School I would like to begin with a quick question to our audience – does the next government need more leadership or management of digital transformation? Is government’s role to offer strategic leadership or to manage and curate the efforts of others closer to the users they serve? [In a show of hands about half the audience called for more leadership from government – and the other half said that more management was required] This presents us with an interesting dichotomy in that it would appear that government has both the responsibility and duty to both lead and manage simultaneously.

A few reflections on the day so far. I thought the analogy of government building a Mercedes to be towed by a horse was a fascinating one! I think the concept of putting people first and allowing them to be “digital by choice” is interesting. I also feel the idea of “being the water not the rock” has important implications in terms of flexibly working to facilitate and enable change rather than becoming a barrier to change. Finally, the proposition that digital leaders need to simultaneously become translators, talent spotters and team builders reflects the multiple demands of our evolving digital environment.

Now a key question we need to answer is why Digital? Today we’ve talked about the importance of customer journeys and citizen power. In many instances the rationale behind digital transformation can fall across a number of key categories. Digital can be approached as a technology upgrade, which accompanies an internal focus within the organisation concerned. Alternatively digital can be enlisted as a channel upgrade, alongside an external focus on the importance of engaging and connecting with people more effectively. At other times digital is adopted as an opportunity for business transformation – or as a means of enabling behavioural change and social transformation.

In terms of understanding digital transformation I like to reference the 4E model – expectations, execution, environment and enablement. Expectation refers to the attitudes and perspectives of people, communities and clients. Execution focuses internally on the organisation and its delivery mechanisms.

Environment concentrates on the existing data, technical capabilities and interfaces available.

Enablement is about the infrastructure and technology that underpins this process.

I’d like to refer to a book published by Steve Denning in 2010 entitled: A Leaders Guide to Radical Management, which charts the evolution of management principles from the 20th to 21st century. In the 20th century traditional management communications involved top down commands whereas in the 21st century communication is more focused on conversations. Similarly, the traditional role of managers was about controlling individuals, whereas in the 21st century it is more about enabling individuals.

In the context of the principles of 21st century radical management - how do we start to manage in a different way and promote certain behaviours and priorities? Digital Transformation demands a different management style. We need to change the culture of government to embrace new management and delivery models. Instead of producing goods and services we need to delight clients and stakeholders.

Instead of structuring ourselves along bureaucratic and hierarchical lines, we need to empower selforganising teams. Rather than developing one single big organisational plan – we need to be guided by customer or client-driven iterations. Instead of centralising access to information and only telling people what they need to know – we need to introduce radical transparency. Instead of just telling people what to do, we need to foster interactive conversations and a culture of constructive criticism and questioning.

Finally, instead of only fully engaging 20% of our staff, we need to engage 100% in a journey of continuous innovation and rising productivity.

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In previous paradigms for business transformation, employees were seen as the object for change, where the ultimate objective was to successfully transmit the commands of leaders in terms which are understood and implemented by their employees. In a 21st century context, employees are now seen as the drivers of change and the role of leaders becomes focused on how they can enable and empower their employees to solve problems on their own.

Ultimately we need to remember that people make the difference between successful and unsuccessful outcomes. In an environment of on-going change, agility is by far the greater driver of performance than effort or responsiveness. A survey of 1579 employees in large organisations which examine the drivers of employee performance found that extra effort from employees tend to yield an average increase in performance of 5%. Enhanced employee responsiveness – in the form of following directions and changing when directed to do so yielded no significant change to performance. In contrast, increased employee agility, in the form of proactive adaptation, learning from others, seeking feedback and supporting peers tended to result in a 17.1% increase in performance.

This perspective is reinforced by many studies, including Dan Pink’s work on “What Motivates People”?

Pink’s study identified that the key factors which motivated individuals and employees were autonomy (empowered to take decisions), mastery (the opportunity to perfect a particular skills set) and purpose.

This approach suggests that traditional motivational drivers such as financial rewards or fear of punishment may be less relevant and effective than previously believed. Certainly within the hierarchical structures which still define many companies and much of the public sector providing employees with the autonomy to take their own decisions is a significant challenge.

So in conclusion, there a number of key areas for us to focus on in relation to leadership in a digital age.

Our first challenge is to open up our structures and processes, delivering transparency in terms of the data we acquire, store and manage, developing open APIs, embracing the opportunity to co-create with citizens and customers, alongside the prospect of working with new ideas, solutions and suppliers. Our second challenge is around joining up our strategic activity and thinking – cutting across internal and external silos, forging effective public-private partnerships and measuring performance against outcome-led KPIs. Our third challenge is about smartening up, investing the necessary resources, energy and time to develop the necessary skills, processes and technical infrastructure to exploit the digital opportunities which are unfolding around us.

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Mark Thompson – Chair’s Closing Comments

According to the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development league table from 2010 only 30% of public servants were engaged in their jobs. This suggests that the remaining 70% were not committed to delivering anything more than the automatic discharge of their responsibilities without considering additional opportunities to add value.

I think today has demonstrated that digital has the potential to make life a lot better for those who work in public service. But there is clear message that we need to focus on outcomes not inputs. We need to concentrate on the end result we want to achieve, and be less distracted or preoccupied by how it is achieved.

This has implications for outcomes which require joint working between government departments or public agency structures, where the ongoing need to justify budget allocations can make these organisations less likely to contribute towards an outcome they cannot claim exclusive ownership of.

We have also talked a lot about what real digital leadership means - taking the messages of unpalatable business change to traditional sectors and interests. And we’ve recognised that there can often be a significant tension between digitally enabled responsiveness to users and the demands of serving hierarchical corporate and organisational agendas.

We have learned that true digital transformation is about more than just digitally tarting up existing analogue processes and services. There is also ongoing friction between top-down strategic policy and bottom-up, feedback-led iteration. Digital decision-making environments tend to be more compatible with horizontal platform based structures than traditional vertical authority and delivery systems.

Indeed, in a context where digital challenges existing hierarchies – how do digital leaders manage institutional resistance without shrinking away from the difficult key decisions which have to be made?

Finally, we’ve also heard in this afternoon’s digital hustings that there is a significant gulf between new digital business models, our parliamentary system which is based on a 12th century model of political representation, and our civil service which is based on a 1918 service delivery model. And yet, in a challenging financial climate in which further public funding cuts are likely to remain on the agenda regardless of the outcome of next May’s election – it is clear that digital transformation and digital leadership will remain essential ingredients in any attempts to successfully address these challenges.

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Civic Agenda T: 020 7129 1179 E. laura.saunders@civicagenda.com E. eleanor.radford@civicagenda.com London: Trampery, 239 Old Street, London EC1V 9EY Brussels: Rue du Trone/Troonstraat 61, B-1050 Brussels Johannesburg: Jozihub, 44 Stanley Ave, Johannesburg 2092