Holyrood Connect conference 2016 report: the business of transformation

Digital will transform our lives for a generation, Lorraine McMillan, chief executive of East Renfrewshire Council and chair of the Scottish Local Government Digital Transformation Board, told delegates at the opening session of this year’s Holyrood’s Connect public sector ICT conference, as she provided an update on the local government digital strategy.

“Digital is no longer an innovative trend, it’s no longer something you do on top of your business, what it is, is the core of your business.

“Now, if you’re working in an environment where the business has never been about technology that is quite a difficult message to get across. People are quite scared. But it is absolutely key that digital is just part of how we do policy and how we do business.”

Digital isn’t something for the ICT team, she said, but about communications, data and about how you transform the business.

“I say that digital is a policy issue not a technology issue now. A big part of local government is preventing bad outcomes for residents, so digital has a big impact on us being able to do that, to use data, to use sensors to actually help people before the problem starts.”

“You’ll notice there’s not any word digital there,” said Emma Gillies, head of the Scottish Government’s Digital Transformation Service, of the service’s vision statement, which refers instead to working collaboratively to deliver business change.

“We did that very consciously because we don’t view digital transformation as being any different to business transformation.”

Gillies explained: “The way we look at it is that you would determine what users need, then determine the service that you provide and how you organise yourself to deliver that service and it’s only then that you should consider any technology that will enable you to provide that service.”

The shared service, which works with Scottish Government departments and arm’s-length bodies on their digital strategy, business cases, moving towards a more agile approach and digital recruitment and talent, grew from four to 34 staff in the last year, showing the increased need for this support.

Stuart Wilson, a partner in PwC’s digital and emerging technology group, who also leads on digital capability across local government, noted that he still encounters opposition from some leaders for a move to digital delivery of services, but tells them “inertia is not an option”.

“The risk is not failing to connect with those who are not digitally connected; the risk is failing to connect with those that are or will be,” he said.

However, he noted that this is not an easy process for public sector organisations. He said: “Everyone talks about digital and all this modular technology and how easy it is to spin up opportunities.

“It is if you’re a new organisation. When you’re a local authority with a lot of legacy applications, a lot of legacy technology, the challenge here is not insignificant.”

“It must have been nice being an IT manager five or ten years ago before all this digital stuff happened,” said Claudette Jones, chief information officer at The City of Edinburgh Council, “because you updated desktops and upgraded the finance system every three years. It’s not like that anymore.”

In a refreshingly honest account of the highs and lows of the council’s recent digital transformation that debunked some myths about what digital transformation is, she joked: “Someone once said to me, ‘Digital transformation’s like teenage sex. Everyone’s talking about it, but nobody’s doing it!’”

Jones noted that the biggest change for her department was that it had become much more outward focused than it used to be.

“We don’t want to be the IT team that’s okay doing the finance system every few years. We want to be thinking about how can we benefit and influence the city in which we work.”

Conference chair Dr Jim Hamill responded by reading out a recent blog post of his on the same subject: “Have we agreed a clear definition of what the term digital transformation actually means as it relates to the public sector? Has the term become overhyped and overused?

“Does the provision of public services online or through an app constitute digital transformation or should we be restricting use of the term to refer to more fundamental and revolutionary changes in the modus operandi of public sector organisations?” he asked.

However, Neville Cannon, research director at Gartner, provided some encouragement for those who feel they’re not yet where they want to be.

“How many of you would agree that despite all the hype, we’re still pretty embryonic in the journey to digital government?” he asked delegates. Most put their hands up.

“So that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Because it means you’re not last. It means you’re not out of the game. It means you’ve a got a big opportunity in front of you.”