What we want from government transformation programmes

Although many of the current portfolio of transformation programmes in all sectors are at various stages of completion, transformation is a continuous process and the work that needs to be done is evolving constantly.

Transforming the citizen experience of government is one such area that will continue, at each stage making best use of leading practices and technologies as they develop over time; and? while current programmes are very challenging and need the full support of wider government partners to be successful, a proportion of time always needs to be spent beginning to plan the work that will be carried out in the future, whether by the same government or by a newly elected one.

Transformation programmes typically have a long lead time, so it is critical that we are always exploring the work that will be conducted over the next 5-10 years so we can take advantage of progress in technology, not just today. In all sectors, including government, this will put organisations in a much stronger position to maintain the momentum on transforming services and the way they operate, in line with the policy priorities of the government or the business priorities of the investors.? In government, of course, the citizens are the investors and the shareholders.

Nobody can predict what the world of 2030 will look like. Technology moves quickly and changes constantly. However, we do expect what we term as ‘digital’ to be even more mainstream by then.? Rather than thinking about specific technologies, in these circumstances we need to act now to continually become more adaptable to change and respond quickly to rapidly changing circumstances.

So, what do we, as citizens, want as outcomes from government transformation?

• we want a focus on our needs, but with an increasing focus on providing services that are personalised to meet the needs of individuals;
• we need digital transformation to build trust in government’s use of our personal data to enable service transformation;
• we need to see the reuse of more standard components, platforms and capabilities across the whole public sector using common technologies helping to save time and minimise the duplication of spend;
• we want to see good quality data used to make decisions, both to inform policy and to iterate rapidly the way services work;
• we want to see the effective tracking of emerging security threats and any security issues raised by new technologies;
• we want new and emerging technologies to be researched and for us to build a better shared understanding and demonstrate how they can help government continue to transform services;
• we want potential ethical and privacy implications to be researched up front and not as an after thought;
• we want effective gateway processes that mean we don’t simply jump on to the latest technology bandwagon – a real risk with AI – but implement new technologies when they are proven to add value and offer value for money;
• we want to see flexibility in the way things are organised to respond more quickly to a changing world - this means having the tools to work effectively across boundaries and ensure that we collaborate..(think ambulances getting access to patient data on the move from the multitude of service providers and data controllers);
• we want to see skilled, experienced leaders who understand how to effectively plan, implement, and deliver real benefits from transformation programmes;
• we want to see staff trained in the skills needed by the new systems and processes so we can transform our workforce into one that is skilled for the new digital world;
• and we want programmes to learn from past experiences, be run well and to have a far greater chance of success.

These are just a few ideas of what some of our expectations might be.? I’m sure we have a lot more but hopefully it’s a reasonable start.

Find the best transformation leaders and talent with Malikshaw Interim & Executive...

Malikshaw Interim & Executive work closely with organisations to deliver real world outcomes from transformation and change programmes.? Whether it is about people, process, technology, data or product, our talent pools contain the very best leaders and domain specialists that can help to drive your organisation's next stage of growth and transformation.