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Newsletter: Accessibility ahoy

Accessibility Fundamentals

Keep on using your free member events, meetings, resources, and training

Get ready for Accessibility Week‘s daily webinars. Pick just one to join, or rise to the challenge of joining all five!

Last Tuesday, the Cardiff Top Talent cohort concluded their programme and shared their project work and conclusions.

Read their report: The Evolution of Employment and the Technological Implications of Change in Local Government

Are you able to join us all in Brighton for President’s Conference?
The Empowering Women and Top Talent cohorts that started in London last month will finish in June. You and the other alumni can be the best audience for their presentations.

Our next Coffee Hour starts at 1pm Friday 12 May. It’s a handy date for a catch-up, as it’s about a month ahead of this year’s President’s Conference. Will you be able to make it?

Do please scroll down to a) vote for your Partner of Year, and b) to nominate someone to join the President’s Team. Who’d be a great vice-president?

Nominate your next Vice-President

Our VPs are nominated and elected by you.
Propose an outstanding colleague who you think will add real value to Socitm – champion public services, continue to shape our priorities, help to respond to challenges, provide the benefit of their experience and expertise and ensure that we stay at the forefront of innovating and implementing positive change.
Submit your nomination.

NEW Podcast

In the latest episode of Socitm Says, Transforming recruitment and retention report researcher and author SA Mathieson talks to interviewees Matt Lewis and Sam Hall – who offer additional observations to those in the report.
Listen to Matt and Sam

Recruitment and retention – what can work?

Most organisations find it challenging to recruit and retain technology and digital specialists. What works in other organisations?
Log in to read the whole report. Register to make sure you’ve got a user account.
Read this new report

Registered for your free Microsoft training?

The Microsoft and Socitm Change Agent programme is returning in June.

It’s free for the majority of Microsoft Enterprise Agreement public sector customers. 

What is the Change Agent Programme for Local Government?
It brings together training on skills to change and technology to transform. You’ll learn about a range of technology and gain an understanding of the skills you need to support change.
Register for the opportunity to learn from industry experts and peers from other local authorities – helping build communities of practice to collaborate. 

Check out the details

Training with Socitm

This year, you register for training using points instead of places. Not sure how it works? Send any questions to Dominika Szulim-Wronek.

Your current Leadership Academy Advocate of the Month is Eleri Thomas – from the Isle of Anglesey County Council.

Share your training experience with us – fill in the short Q&A.

Training over the next few months

Monday 9 May: Workshop: Valuing diversity
Wednesday 7 June: Programme Change Agent (Manager) ( second day on Friday 16 June)
Monday 19 June: Programme Change Agent (5 days, finishing on Friday 23 June)
Wednesday 28 June: Programme Empowering Women

Once you’ve finished your training don’t forget to claim your CPD points.

Socitm Advisory

Soctim Advisory has recently launched a new range of ‘as a Service’ offerings.

This week we will look at…Testing as a Service 

This is designed to help organisations to deliver quality management through quality assurance and quality control. Test management is offered as a bespoke service through the Socitm Testing Mixology model.

Testing as a Service is already being used by councils to:

  • Assess quality assurance through health checks and remediation packs that identify gaps and provide recommendations 
  • Ensure quality management is embedded into the organisation through quality assurance and quality control, planning the appropriate test activities 
  • Ensure the right governance and controls are put in place 
  • Give confidence through a robust defect management process 
  • Mitigate risks by providing guidance and best practice in all test management activities 
  • Work with you to provide briefings on the test approach, tools, techniques and ‘how’ are we going to test   
  • Lead test activities throughout the project that includes (but is not limited to):
    • Planning and control  
    • Analysis and design  
    • Implementation and execution  
    • Evaluating exit criteria and reporting  
    • Test closure activities  

The Test Manager will work closely with the Release Manager to ensure the control, co-ordination, planning and scheduling of version-controlled release to multiple environments are complete. 

Find out more Testing services | Socitm Advisory or contact us at localgov@socitmadvisory.co.uk

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 socitmadvisory.co.uk

Socitm Awards 2023: Partner of the Year

What do you value most in a partner organisation? Tell us and vote for your Partner of the Year for 2023. The winner will be announced at President’s Conference on Tuesday 14 June. Have your say.
Vote now.

Events from Socitm and partners

May

June

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 the events calendar

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

Enjoy Subpar Parks on Instagram, Twitter and in book form.
“America’s most extraordinary national parks and their least impressed visitors.”

Make sure you connect with us on LinkedIn and on Twitter to keep up-to-date with everything happening.

Photo by Ryan Everett on Unsplash