tom symons, principal researcher, policy and research, nesta
TRANSCRIPT
Connected Councils –
a vision of digital
government
Tom Symons
@tomwsymons
30th June 2016
Investments - in early stage
companies, social enterprises and venture
intermediaries
Research & Analysis -understanding how innovation happens and how
to support it
Innovation Skills –supporting abilities to innovate via tools,
training, networks
Innovation Lab - supporting
innovation in governments, local authorities and
civil society
Digitisation of local government
is not about paying bills online.
It’s about working differently
with residents, business and
service providers to solve social
challenges.
Digitisation in the UK has been ad-hoc, with little support from central
government
Summary of 2025 Vision
1. Seamless online services
2. Collaborative and preventative relational services
3. Ambitious place-shaping role
4. New ways of working and using resources
1. Seamless online services
• Digital platforms enable residents and businesses to access services and connect to other users
• Personalised content (jobs, democracy alerts, services); algorithms tailor language and medium
• Fully digitised back office with all data shared
Personalised portalsenabling people to see transactions with all services
Designing services for accessblend of offline and online touchpoints, smooth pathways, jargon-free
Algorithmic contentusing location data to provide hyperlocal information about events, services
2. Supporting relational services
• Self-management. Digital technology allows people to manage their own conditions
• Social action. Greater reliance on people and communities – and digital tools to incentivise social action
• Prediction. Earlier intervention aided by greater diagnostic and predictive tools, such as predictive risk models
Encouraging social actiontimebanking and other tools to incentivise volunteering and mobilise local people
Predicting problems and making timely interventionsusing data to spot anomolies, indicators, and target interventions
Helping people manage their conditionstools to help people monitor their health, draw on wider social support networks, support carers, and change behaviour
3. Place-shaping: local governance and economic growth
• Procurement. Procurement platforms and online exchanges have opened up public procurement
• Business support. Councils offer analytical and mapping tools to support local businesses
• Civic engagement. Councils engage citizens in everyday decisions on budgeting, planning, contract management
Driving economic growth tools to open up public contracts, connect businesses, map networks or plan start-ups or expansions
Local governancetools to inform and consult, involve and collaborate, or engage people in deciding how budgets are allocated
4. Transforming how councils work
• Councils look like tech start-ups: lean, agile and data-driven
• Large web of innovative partners; blurred lines between insiders and outsiders (more staff are freelance, part-time)
• Problem-solving. Multi-agency working norm; use full toolbox of RCTs & experiments, predictive algorithms, data analytics
• Sharing assets. Fluid use of public space, tech, workforce; ready for sharing, reorganisation or change
Skills for the digital agebringing in external expertise, training up staff, encouraging more flexible working
Smart use of datasharing data with services and partners; open data and innovation; performance data and deep visibility; feedback loops
Sharing space and assetscloud-based software, tools to help staff work remotely and improve meetings; digital platforms to share public space, equipment
1. Digitise transactional services and back office by 20202. Define and continuously update data standards3. Create a market for new digital products if not met by off the peg solutions4. City regions establish Office of Data Analytics
More infohttp://www.nesta.org.uk
/publications/connected-
councils-digital-vision-
local-government-2025
Comments, [email protected]
@tomwsymons