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Newsletter: 42 hours of meetings and training in 1 week

Head of a tabby and white cat (can't see the rest of it) in an undecorated Christmas tree.

Get everything you can from your membership

Your events, training and resources

Slowing down for Christmas season? Not quite yet. You still have plenty of chances to make the most of your membership before the holiday and new year reset. And the first week of December is one of the busiest all year!

It’s Change Agent Week, Cyber Security Week and Member Week. You really will be ready for a festive holiday.

Your feedback has shaped next year’s events calendar. In trying to balance how we can all get the best and most from our community, you have three in-person national conferences in 2024.

Planning for all of them is underway. And the whole events calendar for next year will be published soon.

Your first diary date is: Wednesday 28 February: Service Design and Transformation 2024 (in Sheffield)

Some numbers:

  • 3 in-person national conferences in 2024
  • 42 hours of meetings and training the w/b Monday 4 December. It’s not possible to join them all :p
  • 147 of us (so far) are taking part in the final Change Agent ( https://socitm.net/calendar/change-agent/ ) programme of the year. We’ve got 1 week to go from a maximum snooker break to a dart’s 180!

    Do pass on the info for Change Agents. It’s free for local government attendees and you don’t need to be a Socitm member.

Your alumni day is coming to you this year. Register to join everyone online on Thursday 7 December. We’ll be celebrating our shared experiences and exploring the latest developments in diversity, equality, and inclusion.

This week’s highlight from your LinkedIn group:

Iftaz Hussain and Tass Smith met back in 2016 on a Socitm leadership programme and the LocalGov Application Managers’ Network (LGAMN) was borne out of their conversations.

If your council isn’t a member of the LGAMN yet, then your Apps/DevOps Managers are missing out on some great conversations, collaboration and (moral) support.

Head over to their blog for more information, a list of current member councils and the membership form.

I hope you can have a lovely weekend,

Alex.

Benchmarking at Worcestershire

You had a fireside chat on Wednesday with Sandra Taylor (Assistant Director of IT and Digital) sharing why she benchmarks and how it works.

Skip to these highlights/chapters (with approx. timings):

  • 02:25 Quick benchmarking modules overview
  • 04:16 Why I’ve benchmarked ICT
  • 05:16 Independent, external and cost effective
  • 08:02 Using 1 or more modules together
  • 13:03 How did you find the process?
  • 15:26 User satisfaction data
  • 19:19 Cost, delivery, and performance

Browse some of the 2023 data highlights.

Watch this week’s webinar

Next week’s webinar: Generative AI and Copilot ecosystem for transformation

Enabling local digital outcomes

New member-only research

Who’s using which tech to do what? See how other local public service providers are using IoT, local data, digital twins, and intelligent automation to get the best and most from people and resources. And at the same time improve place-based outcomes.
Log in to read

Training

Reflect on the Leadership Academy training experience with Sam Collins Top Talent graduate [Class of London 2019]. He’s found it easier to be an authentic leader.

How was your course? Tell us 🙂

December’s CPD certified workshops (and 1 meeting)

Training places are included in your organisational membership – subject to availability and membership level. If you have any questions or would like further information, please email Sara Razon.

On completion of training, don’t forget to claim your CPD points.

Browse all training

Socitm Advisory

Getting started with service design

As budgets come under more pressure, service design is an area where the benefit of getting it right is saving money. Look at what you should consider when it comes to service design, in identifying savings and designing services that delight customers.
Read more

Are you making full use of your membership?

As part of your membership you can receive between 2 and 12 hours of FREE consultancy advice per year. To make use of your inclusive consultancy hours, get in touch or log in to My Account.
Visit Socitm Advisory

Events from Socitm and our partners

Meet up with your Socitm colleagues for great networking opportunities.

Next few weeks or so…

Missed a webinar? Past recordings are available to watch in the resource hub. Also, make sure to check out our regional events. There’s a mix of online and in-person meetings, so please feel free to join any that are outside your area.

Browse all events

Accessibility at Northumberland

Michelle Williams (IT Training Team Leader – Digital and IT) talked about the project she’s leading at Northumberland County Council to create inclusive documents.

Skip to these highlights/chapters (with approx. timings):

  • 03:42 Steps to building an accessibility culture
  • 11:13 Are my documents accessible? [Download PDF Accessibility Checker]
  • 15:18 What problem did we need to solve? [>16,000 documents!]
  • 17:05 Our journey and project team
  • 21: 55 Now and next
  • 23:26 Questions

Watch last Friday’s webinar

The partnership has now delivered over £6 million cost savings

Canon’s strategic digital partnership with Fife Council has supported a cultural change of adopting a digital first operational environment while positively impacting their sustainability footprint. Making them the first UK authority to achieve the Carbon True Standard.
Read more

Thank you for reading (or scrolling) this far! Just one more thing…

Follow Dave Briggs on LinkedIn? He always has interesting things to share on there. Am interested to know what you think about his Local Government Digital Quality Model.

Photo by Jessica Lewis.