Ranging from new technology adoption such as AI, to personalisation of services and faster and deeper automation, the ‘pantheon of possibilities’ revealed by our research a fast-paced and an exciting time for public sector organisations and their digital leaders in 2024.
But we also expect it to be a tough time, with significant pressures on IT and digital capacity, skills, resources, growing cyber risks and a need to act collaboratively.
Collaboration and joint working will be increasingly important in redefining digitally-based service models in connected places. Public sector organisations that resist changing old ways or remain insular will find it progressively difficult to solve their digital and service problems.
‘Whole system’ working in connected places will depend on significant change to organisational structures and their governance. We identify a dependence on national and local leadership working together in this respect.
We also see 2024 as being a turning point. The watershed shift to ‘digital by default’, or however else it may be described, occurred as a result of Covid. The challenge for public service organisations in 2024 will be to set a lead in how this digital momentum can be harnessed to ensure no one gets left behind, human interaction exists when needed, and that digital operating models work collectively to combat problems facing modern societies, their economies and the wider environment.
These fundamental shifts will demand political and executive leadership. Public sector digital leaders in 2024 will understand the distinction between ‘digital’ and ‘IT’, ensuring that these two important activities work closely together. They will show how to work across traditional organisational boundaries in how future digital services are designed and delivered while creating the conditions for sufficient IT investment that is astutely prioritised to ensure resilient infrastructure and systems. With new data insight and analytic tools, they will navigate a complex environment and build best practice examples that others will be able to follow.
In particular, the leaders in 2024 will have a strong grasp of how to manage technology, data and digital services for public good, not just for organisational efficiency, or following IT fashion.
