Nov 6 2005, transformational government

The long-awaited strategy for "Transformational Government" came out this last week. It's positive to see Jim Murphy participating in an online blog at Ideal Government. Along with some other enthusiasts, I posted a few initial thoughts as a contribution to this welcome online interaction, which include the following:

It’s very positive to see an open discussion and dialogue taking place in this way. I’m still reviewing the detail of the document, which overall takes a positive and aspirational tone and approach. It’s good to see a clear marker like this being set down that we can focus on.

A few immediate observations in the interim:

• I think it would help make the strategy concrete – and give it some clear outcomes to aim for – if it set out some scenarios (or “a day in the life of”) to illustrate the way public services will be working at various points in the future. This is not only useful to help ensure that the necessary step changes can then be mapped and worked on to deliver those outcomes, but also to help engage a wider audience than the “techie” one in understanding the significance of this strategy and the impact it will have on their lives. This is not just about IT and that message needs to be clearly communicated.
• on which point, perhaps we could ask the industry as a whole to temporarily set aside our natural competitive instincts and support the Government in running a few open showcase days where we really show the best highlights of IT-enabled transformation projects that have already happened? This would help open many eyes to the art of the possible and also help the debate include a far wider audience.
• to help drive through significant cultural change of the type implied by the strategy, I believe the Civil Service risk/reward model will need changing (based on the recognition that all too often rewards drives behaviours) to help encourage and support the transformation required. So-called “IT projects” are fundamentally major business change projects: and often it is the change programme itself at the root of the problems that can arise.

One key problem we can witness already. I have not seen much (if any) mention of this document in the mainstream media. If we want IT to truly be recognised for the transformational change agent it can be, then it needs to break outside the silos of the technical and trade press. This will be a key test for this document, the strategy that underpins it and the success of its realisation.

One of the reasons I have suggested some kind of cross-industry event to showcase the reality of projects that have brought about transformational change is so that the mainstream media, politicians, senior civil servants and policy-makers and indeed the general public really begin to understand the role that technology could be playing in making the UK the best place to work, learn and live. We need to think in new ways: why not, for example, have interactive exhibits at events such as the Ideal Home Exhibition?

We need to bring alive the ways in which technology can be a great ally in the ongoing reinvention of the UK and our future prosperity. And (as I have made clear before) we should also be responsible enough to point out the shortcomings that technology can have - and the role of our wider society in deciding where, how and for what purposes it is used.