Georgina Maratheftis, associate director for local public services at techUK, looks at the processes local public services should follow to innovate.
Set against a backdrop of rising citizen expectations and financial constraints, local government and the wider public sector are no stranger to doing more for less. The real reward, however, is how they can do things differently and better for their citizens. This is where innovation comes in.
The opportunity innovation presents goes beyond transactional and efficiency. Meaningful innovation is driven by collaboration.
Specifically, collaboration between teams and citizens and technology suppliers. We saw this at the height of the pandemic where place-based working became the norm, with departments, agencies and industry working together on digital responses to specific challenges. With a drive for integrated services, it’s now about pivoting to place-led innovation and local public not being afraid to take risks and innovate.
Innovation doesn’t have to be flashy or era-defining. It can be found in small advances that free us from the established ways of doing things.
Breaking down the barriers to collaboration
To innovate we need to collaborate across both the public sector and the supplier base. We shouldn’t look at this as a clash between buyers vs suppliers. We all ultimately have the shared ambition to make things better for citizens.
The fast pace of technological change often makes it difficult for local government to be on top of what the latest innovations are that can help them reimagine the delivery of local public services. It can also be confusing and difficult to understand the true value against a blizzard of competing solutions.
Technology suppliers have a key role to play in driving and delivering innovation into local government, especially when it comes to the ‘unknown’. techUK’s Local Public Services Innovation: Creating a catalyst for change report outlines how public services can make the most of their existing and new suppliers to drive real innovation.
By engaging with the technology market early, local public services will be able to interrogate the problem first to ensure they are procuring for the right outcome. Local government will be able to access the latest innovations and workshop through with partners what the art of the possible is.
A great example of this is a recent techUK workshop held together with North East IT council leads to inform suppliers of the region’s strategic priorities, helping to foster greater collaboration by identifying opportunities towards achieving the North East’s digital goals together. It was fantastic to have the North East councils come together and speak so openly as a collective on their digital ambition and share their key asks to industry. The tech industry then had the opportunity to shape thinking around the digital ambition when we broke into roundtables to interrogate the six pillars further. techUK invites other regions to follow suit and get in touch as this is a great way to validate thinking and interrogate challenges in a neutral and safe space.
Bureaucracy can stifle innovation and the procurement rules often make it difficult to allow for engagement with industry. More can be done to change mindsets and provide confidence to engage the market early and legally.
Hopefully the new Procurement Act, together with the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Playbook will provide the confidence to digital and procurement officials that you can engage suppliers early and meaningfully.
Working with the local community and tech suppliers to develop new ideas and drive innovation
Kurt Frary, deputy director of IMT, CTO, Norfolk County Council shared a great example of place-based innovation as part of techUK’s Catalyst for Change report. Norfolk County Council has been at the forefront of innovation in the public sector for a number of years working with the community, technology suppliers and its services which has brought about new thinking and a refreshing risk-based approach.
Norfolk has worked with the local Hackspace community to understand and take part in what the community was exploring; to understand opportunities, new technology and new ideas.
This has led to taking a risk by purchasing and installing equipment to introduce new technology in the region which had the potential to develop new digital startup businesses in the area, enhance existing business with digital connectivity technology, increase digital skills, and an opportunity to explore improvements of public services.
This one small step has brought forward positive change for innovating proof of concepts, discussions in services, pilots and change for the council.
The narrative with suppliers has also changed from a service delivery conversation to how partners can support the delivery of digital Innovation. Norfolk has had success innovating on highways with winter gritting using sensors by changing the way we monitor road temperatures which has helped show the art of the possible and by taking this risk has also helped a startup develop in the region.
This case study demonstrated that it is possible to innovate, take a risk, at minimal cost to show the possibilities through proof of concepts and ideas which led to other many other Innovations in other services.
The tech exists, it’s about creating the environment for innovation to flourish
The technology is the easy bit but the challenging part is ensuring that public services can make the most of it and understand what is possible. Early market engagement allows for testing and making sure that the tech going to be procured actually meets a need.
Take artificial intelligence (AI), for example. There is no escaping the hype of AI and public services need a safe space to be able to understand what it really means and how it can solve their problems. To do this requires a mindset shift and one where senior leaders empower colleagues to invest in early market engagement.
Making the time innovation
TechUK is committed to supporting public services understand what the art of the possible is by convening innovation workshops to market briefings and by providing them with the latest thought leadership. Councils can access the latest content on innovation via our Local Public Services Innovation week campaign.
It takes a village to drive real innovation and the sector has a lot to be proud of in what they have delivered over the last decade. We invite public sector and industry to join techUK’s flagship Building the Smarter State Conference on 10 September where we will reflect on the past ten years of digital government, from what has worked to what more needs to be done to create a smarter state that delivers meaningful digital outcomes for citizens.