Whether you’re a new or long-standing member, your insights are critical in helping shape the future of services, events, and resources. Come along to one of our focus groups in April so we can really know what’s working and what needs more of our attention.
Keep getting everything you can from your membership. You’re the most vital part of this community.
In your membership: content and people
- Read: Institute Director Sam Smith’s article about connected places and sustainable outcomes in the current issue of Government Technology
- Join: a lunchtime webinar this week
- Wednesday 25 February | From AI trial to council-wide confidence. How Renfrewshire transformed their customer services
- Friday 27 February | Transform your services without the transformation headache
- Speak: your mind at a focus group in April
- Thursday 6 April | 13:30 to 15:00 | Teams
- Thursday 23 April | 11:00 to 12:30 | Teams
- Free: for public sector WARP members:
- Tue-3-Mar | 09:30 to 16:00 | ISfL Annual Conference 2026: stronger together: building cyber resilience through collaboration [London WC1N 2AB]
- Make: LGR work for you. Come along to a workshop with CCS and the MHCLG Local Digital team
- Wednesday 25 March | 09:30 to 11:00 | Teams
- Book: your next online core skills course
- Managing and motivating hybrid teams | Tuesday 28 April and Tuesday 12 May | 09:30 to 12:30 Teams
- Watch:
- Protect the business. Achieve the cyber assessment framework from within
- Autonomous IT: Secure, compliant and cost-effective
- Add in Friday’s Silktide webinar when ready
- Did you miss this? Public Sector Digital Trends 2026
Browse your members-only resource hub.
Share what’s working for you
If you were at an in-person event, that thing you’ve been working on (or have already done) might have been exactly what the person next to you needed to fix a problem or project they’re working on. The next best virtual alternative is sharing that thing in a case study or blog post.
Your experiences and perspectives matter, so please share them with members.
In your membership: Courses
Bring your favourite course in-house
Which course have enjoyed the most? With slight adjustment, could it meet the requirements of your whole team or organisation?
We can personalise training for you and deliver it in house.
Please just ask about it and how much it might cost on hello@socitm.net
Registering for training
Read your guide to using training points. Log in for the current number of available points. Don’t have enough or you’ve run out? Let us know.
Things happen. If you can’t make the date of your training course let us know ASAP and we’ll get you onto the next suitable one available. And your training points will transfer with you.
Please note: non-attendance without letting us know will mean training points getting deducted from your organisation’s annual total.
In your membership: events
Lunchtime webinars this week
| Wednesday 25 February | From AI trial to council-wide confidence. How Renfrewshire transformed their customer services After a controlled customer service AI trial, Renfrewshire launched Millie. Supporting residents around the clock while ensuring complex cases are handled by human advisors. It’s already managed >390,000 calls, demonstrating how AI can operate safely and effectively at scale; reducing pressure on teams, and building confidence to explore wider AI opportunities. Could it work for you too? Friday 27 February | Transform your services without the transformation headache Every FOI request, service inquiry, and complaint represents a real person who needs help, and another person working hard to deliver it. But outdated systems create friction for both. Watch the live demo of Gov360. An integrated platform managing everything, creating that one version of the truth record for a citizen. |
President’s Conference 2026
Socitm at 40: From legacy to leadership
Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 June | London SW6 1UD
Book your place for bold thinking, practical insights and the space to reflect.
Chief Executive Nadira Hussain invites you to join her in London for our annual conference – this year marking Socitm’s 40th anniversary. It’s the biggest event in our calendar and a real opportunity to step back, reconnect, and focus on what matters next.
Partners’ events and updates
February
- Mon-23-Feb | 16:00 to 17:00 | Ethical AI in action
- Tuesday 24 February
- 09:00 to 16:30 | Cyber Security 2026 [Glasgow]
- 09:30 to 13:30 | Workshop: AI in the workplace [Cardiff]
- Wednesday 25 February | 08:30 to 16:30 | Showcase London 2026
- Thursday 26 February | 16:00 to 17:00 | Document Accessibility in 2026
March
- Tuesday 3 March
- 09:00 to 16:00 | CyberNI Conference 2026 [Belfast]
- 09:30 to 16:00 | ISfL Annual Conference 2026 [London]
- 13:00 to 14:00 | Hybrid teams don’t fail because of where people work… they fail because of how people work
- Wednesday 4 March
- 10:00 to 12:00 | Microsoft Local Government Innovation and Collaboration Forum
- 14:00 to 15:15 | Explore the LGR Toolkit
- Thursday 5 March
- 09:00 to 16:30 | LGC Summit: LGR Special [London]
- 09:30 to 13:30 | Workshop: AI in the workplace [Cardiff]
- Monday 16 to Friday 20 March | AI Public Sector Week
- Tuesday 17 March | 15:00 to 15:30 Ingredients of local authority success: What 208 councils reveal about AI readiness across the UK
- SOLD OUT Tuesday 17 March | 09:00 to 16:00 | Think Women in Digital Government [London]
- Wednesday 18 March | 10:00 to 16:15 | Public Sector Data & AI Summit 2026 [Edinburgh]
- Thursday 26 March | 16:00 to 17:00 | Accessibility is going in the wrong direction where I work. What can I do?
April
- Tuesday 28 to Wednesday 29 April | 08:00 to 17:45 | LGPN North [Manchester]
Chaired by VP Alison Lincoln (Blackpool)
Government Technology Magazine
Institute Director Sam Smith’s written about connected places and sustainable outcomes in the current issue. While you’re there look out for 👀
- Why location data will matter more than ever
Ordnance Survey predicts 2026 will be a pivotal year for turning location data into actionable insight - What are the benefits and risks of AI in healthcare?
- How mobile technology is revolutionising social housing services in Wolverhampton
- Demystifying digital ID: the truths behind the misconceptions
- The UK’s geospatial skills shift
- New national street lights data from Ordnance Survey shines a light on Britain’s brightest and darkest road to support safe travel
- Tackling the Cyber Skills Gap
Thank you for reading (or scrolling) this far! Just one more thing…
A few of the things I’ve been looking at (and sharing with colleagues) this week:
- Blog post from the Digital Planning team at MHCLG: Stress-testing an AI tool to explore its potential for faster local plans and greater citizen engagement
- Q&A with the University of Exeter’s Impact and Research Fellow Diego Bermudez, PhD: Why the future of AI is physical – and what governments must do about it
- From IPPR North: Making the most of it: Unitarisation, hyperlocal democratic renewal and community empowerment
- Future Sheffield: How one city council is upskilling its workforce
- From UKAuthority: Identity is the new cyber attack surface
Take care. I hope you can have a great weekend when it arrives.
Best wishes,
Alex.
