LG/WWW

Standard Sprint #1 was two weeks of work from 6 to 17 June, to both produce guidance for the Local Government Digital Service Standard  and to see if it's possible to work collaboratively, using online tools and resources. Turns out it is. Rewind back to the start of April and LocalGov Digital released the Standard, with help from over 60 councils and the Government Digital Service . The Standard contains 15 points suggesting how to build and manage good local government digital services. Whilst some points are fairly self-explanatory, for example: Make sure that the service is simple enough that users succeed first time unaided. others such as Use open standards, existing authoritative data and registers, and where possible make source code and service data open and reusable under appropriate licenses. are less so and some sort of guidance was needed. As of today, that guidance now exists and we'll continue to revise and add to it. So what did I learn? Collab...

For the past month I've been putting together a paper on the next steps of digital transformation, for the organisation I work for. I'm proposing we look at two capabilities and two business areas, and if approved I'll be writing more about it. It's been a great exercise in gathering my thoughts and helping me to define digital transformation to a wider audience and how it fits into the bigger picture of service improvement. Here's some of the stuff I've learnt or had affirmed: Transformation, digital or not, starts with understanding the needs of the user through research. This should be obvious, but in local government too often I've seen "build it and they will come" approach applied. It's unlikely a commercial operation would launch a new product without first researching the market, so why would a digital service be any difference? A couple of years ago I wrote how the phrase "digital transformation" was hindering digit...

On 9 June I published a draft set of digital principles and asked for comments. Ben Cheetham ,  James Gore , and Rob Miller responded and I'm really grateful for their input. The principles as they stand now are: Traditional Practice Digital Principle In Practice Consider face-to-face, email and telephone as the default channel for delivering services and information. Consider digital as the default channel for delivering services and information. Ensure digital and assisted digital are prioritised over traditional delivery methods and are included in service and communication plans. Deliver digital services on a service by service basis to a varying standard. Adopt a corporate, joined-up approach to delivering digital services to a national standard, focusing on user need. Create a joined-up programme of change with strong support from leadership, and a cross-service team to break down internal silos. Deliver services to the Local Government Digital...