Society for innovation, technology and modernisation

Array ( [0] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 100018114 [post_author] => 1104 [post_date] => 2020-09-25 12:14:28 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-09-25 12:14:28 [post_content] =>

Mark Lumley, Socitm’s newest vice-president, on his career so far and helping Hounslow staff work from home during the pandemic

Mark Lumley, Director of digital and IT for the London Borough of Hounslow

About Mark Lumley

Mark joined Epsom and Ewell Borough Council’s IT service after taking an economics degree at University of Exeter. Having worked in technical roles he moved into management and then set up a shared IT service with its Surrey neighbour, Elmbridge Borough Council. After five years, he moved to head the shared digital and IT service for Kingston, Sutton and partner organisations. In September 2019, he joined the London Borough of Hounslow as director of digital and IT and at Socitm’s President’s Week conference this June he was announced as a vice-president.

How did you get into local government IT?

It was a bit of an accident really, but one that I have never regretted! After my degree I spent a year in the student union and used a lot of different technology, which I really enjoyed. When it came to looking for a ‘proper’ job, it was always going to be something in technology.I hadn’t really thought of working in local government until I got into it. My first role was on the IT service desk at Epsom and Ewell, and once I got settled into it I knew there was no going back. I find the breadth of what you can do in local government, its connection into the community and its ability to make a difference, hugely powerful.The best thing about being in IT is that you get to know and help the whole organisation. I distinctly remember at my first Christmas party at Epsom I pretty much knew everyone in the room, whereas I was conscious that people in the planning department only knew their immediate colleagues.

Why did you move to Hounslow last year?

It was an opportunity to build upon my skills in a new part of London with a very different community and culture. The council wanted to move into more digital ways of working, having just relocated to a new building, rolling out new technology and introducing hot desking...Amazingly, I’ve spent almost half of the time I have been at Hounslow working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, and I’ve been incredibly grateful for the technology that has enabled this....In digital and IT, we have had to support about 1,800 people working at home, rather than the usual 400. Thankfully most already had the equipment they required, but culturally this was a huge shock. We needed to make sure that the infrastructure enabling them to work from home was resilient and reliable as well as provide enhanced support and help people to adapt. Although most had never used Microsoft Teams before, we are now delivering a weekly, interactive meeting for all staff hosted by a senior leader which is regularly attended by more than 400 staff. In addition, all formal council meetings, one-to-ones, team meetings and staff conferences are now being delivered through Teams...There is an ambition, vision and collectiveness at Hounslow which I haven’t seen in other organisations I have worked in. An example is ‘lead with heart’, which is about putting ourselves in the shoes of our residents and having respect for our colleagues as well. We are trying to move IT from being a traditional back-office function that fixes the wi-fi and routers to a department that creates new connections with our community and sets up new ways of delivering services.

Why did you stand to be a Socitm vice-president?

I’ve been a member of Socitm for most of my career and it has helped me improve service delivery through BetterConnected reports, benchmarking and various other services...The reason I threw my hat into the ring to be a vice-president was to make a difference through collaboration. The user-centred service design approach is increasingly important. I think skill levels and experience vary hugely and sharing stories helps to inspire other organisations to be better and change their cultures.This is an excerpt of the full Q&A in issue 21 of In our View. [post_title] => From service desk to leading with heart [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => from-service-desk-to-leading-with-heart [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-09-25 12:15:27 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-09-25 12:15:27 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://socitm.net/?p=100018114 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw )[1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 100017906 [post_author] => 1104 [post_date] => 2020-09-24 10:59:44 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-09-24 10:59:44 [post_content] =>

Many organisations including Socitm are working to provide guidance on digital ethics, writes William Barker

Whether it is the issue of preventing the misuse of Covid-19 technology and data, the need to combat algorithmic bias in the development and design of public services or controversy around discriminatory facial recognition, the issue of digital ethics is never far away from the headlines.Taking a step back can help us focus on the role of ethics. Quite simply, these are moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behaviour and inform decision making. The ethics of digital technology and data cover ethical aspects of technological design and use, together with the ethical impacts of digital technology on society as a whole.

Organisations working to provide guidance

Given the global nature of this challenge, international bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) have identified broad principles and standards on digital ethics. These principles have been adopted by the G20 group of industrialised countries and have recently led to the creation of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence which the UK, US, EU and other partners have established to champion responsible AI and data governance.Alongside this, official bodies like the Office for Artificial Intelligence, Centre for Digital Ethics and Information Commissioner’s Office are working closely with Digital Ethics Lab, Alan Turing Institute, Open Data Institute and Digital Catapult in championing digitally ethical practice across the UK public sector.

Framework of core values

As a result, we are seeing an emerging digital ethics framework, build around the following core values:

1. Beneficence: do good Benefits of work should outweigh potential risks. Digital, data and technology that interact with people’s wellbeing, finances, relationships and health particularly require robust ethical principles.
2. Non-maleficence: do no harm Risks and harms need to be considered holistically, rather than just for the individual or organisation. Privacy and security risks require social and organisational design, not just technological.
3. Autonomy: preserve human agency To make choices, people need to have sufficient knowledge and understanding. It is important to involve stakeholders and interest groups in ethical risk assessment and design.
4. Justice: be fair. Specific issues include algorithmic bias and equitable treatment. Consider whether a technology could produce or magnify unequal outcomes, and if so, how to mitigate this.
5. Explicability: operate transparently Be ready to explain a system’s working as well as its outputs. Make all stages of the implementation process open to public and community scrutiny.

Socitm is developing a digital ethical practice collection on its resource hub, built around these five core values to help leaders, policy-makers and practitioners bridge the divide between theory and practice and embed digital ethics at operational and place-based levels. This aims to increase awareness amongst political and executive leadership in organisations to encourage them to dedicate more resources to identifying and addressing relevant digital ethics concerns, across not just their organisations but the wider communities which they serve.It also aims to educate policymakers and those in legal and policy teams on how to build governance structures that incentivise organisations to address digital ethics issues and address the needs of local people and communities in inclusive and just ways, as well as technology practitioners, data analysts and developers on techniques to address, detect, and mitigate ethical concerns with AI and big data projects.William Barker is an associate director of Socitm and its practice lead on digital ethics.Read more:

• Digital ethics guide for professionals
• OECD AI Policy Observator
• IEEE ethical work 
• UK guidance landscape 
• ICO guidance

This is a feature in issue 21 of In our View. [post_title] => Bridging the ethical divide [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => bridging-the-ethical-divide [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-09-24 10:59:44 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-09-24 10:59:44 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://socitm.net/?p=100017906 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw )[2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 100017520 [post_author] => 887 [post_date] => 2020-09-23 10:20:24 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-09-23 10:20:24 [post_content] => Socitm’s digital ethics policy briefing addresses the ethical issues arising from the use of emerging technologies and data analytics across the local public sector. It provides thought leadership, tools and practical insights to support local public service organisations champion leading-edge ethical practice as part of their wider digital placemaking and service transformation activities in support of the people and communities they serve. [post_title] => Digital ethics: the ethical use of emerging technologies and data [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => digital-ethics-the-ethical-use-of-emerging-technologies-and-data [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-09-24 12:37:17 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-09-24 12:37:17 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://socitm.net/?post_type=wpdmpro&p=100017520 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => wpdmpro [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw )[3] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 100017715 [post_author] => 887 [post_date] => 2020-09-23 09:00:40 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-09-23 09:00:40 [post_content] => Attempts to use algorithms to calculate grades for pupils have highlighted the importance of ethics in technology. This issue of In Our View focuses on ethical practice in areas including algorithms, artificial intelligence and blockchain, accompanying Socitm’s Share National event on this topic. It also covers how local authorities can make virtual council meetings work effectively and Socitm’s research on the development of homeworking, as well as new vice-president Mark Lumley discussing his career. [post_title] => In Our View, issue 21: Adding ethics to computing [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => in-our-view-issue-21-adding-ethics-to-computing [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-09-23 09:00:40 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-09-23 09:00:40 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://socitm.net/?post_type=wpdmpro&p=100017715 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => wpdmpro [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ))