Use Digital Trends to shape your conversations and strategies. This year’s trends are not technology initiatives. They’re leadership issues. Log in for the summary and then dive in.
Keep getting everything you can from your membership. You’re the most vital part of this community.
In your membership: content and people
- Read: Maximising social value in procurement: Measurement and evaluation for buyers
- Watch: The Data (Use and Access) Act starts with one thing: knowing your data. Want to try the free GDPR Risk Assessment? Email Kim kan@safeonline.dk for the details.
- Share: how you’re using (or not) Python and R
- Mon-9-Feb | 14:00 to 16:30 | Improving access to Python and R
- Join: a lunchtime webinar in February
- Wed-11-Feb | Grant management within digital transformation: From isolated programmes to a unified council capability [with Suffolk]
- Fri-13 Feb | Protect the business: achieve CAF from within
- Book: your first 2026 online core skills course
- How to be an Effective Coach | Thurs-5 and 19-Feb | 09:30 to 12:30
2 points | Non-members’ cost: £774
- How to be an Effective Coach | Thurs-5 and 19-Feb | 09:30 to 12:30
- Book: your first 2026 in-person leadership course.
Both start in March and end during President’s Conference in June. So, you get a course and a delegate’s pass in one go. They also include a team project. Got something specific you’d like to work out? Let us know hello@socitm.net- Top Talent | Starting on Tue-3 and Wed-4-Mar | London
6 points | Non-members cost: £2,074 - Empowering Women | Starting on Tue-17 and Wed-18-Mar | London
6 points | Non-members cost: £2,074
- Top Talent | Starting on Tue-3 and Wed-4-Mar | London
- Extend: your knowledge of Digital Twins on a 4-week online implementation course (with Cranfield University and the Digital Twins Hub).
- Did you miss these ones?
- Browse Socitm at 40. Have we missed something? Emailhello@socitm.net with subject Socitm@40. Thank you 🙂
- Listen to the serendipitous and accidental creation of a technologist and IT pioneer in the Socitm Says podcast with Mary Wintershausen.
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
Registration is open for 2026 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 from 13:00 to 14:00
| Mon-9-Feb | 14:00 to 16:00 | Roundtable: Improving Access to Python and R | Teams | Host: Matthew Fraser Tell us how you’re using (or not) advanced data processing tools such as Python or R. Your perspective is crucial in exploring how IT and data teams can collaborate effectively to streamline processes. To join email matthew.fraser@socitm.net. Wed-11-Feb | Grant management within digital transformation. From isolated programmes to a shared council capability | Teams | Hosts: Submit (with Suffolk County Council) Often overlooked in digital transformation programmes, grant management is one of the clearest opportunities for you to move from fragmented, manual processes to a unified, data-driven digital capability. Wed-18-Feb | Autonomous IT: secure, compliant and cost-effective | Teams | Hosts: Tanium Discover what autonomous IT means in a public sector context; how risk-based patching reduces cyber exposure without disrupting critical services, and practical steps to evidence compliance and procurement readiness. |
Lunchtime webinars from 13:00 to 14:00
- Fri-20-Feb | AI is friend-shaped. Guard rails for your brain (not the machine)
- Wed-25-Feb | From AI trial to council-wide confidence. How Renfrewshire transformed their customer services
- Fri-27-Feb | Transform your services without the transformation headache
President’s Conference 2026
Socitm at 40: From legacy to leadership
Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 June | London SW6 1UD
Registration is open for this year’s annual conference. Get it into your calendar now. Review the past 40 years with us and carry on the search for what works best now and next for our local public services.
Wanted: your Socitm memories, milestones and photos for our 40th birthday.
Partners’ events and updates
February
- Tuesday 3 February | 10:00 to 16:30 | Public Sector Cyber Security Scotland 2026 [Edinburgh]
- Wednesday 4 February
- 10:00 to 12:00 | Microsoft Local Government Innovation and Collaboration Forum
- 10:00 to 16:30 | Public Sector Cyber Security West 2026 [Glasgow]
- 11:00 to 12:30 | GovSpec end user device aggregation: all public sector
- Thursday 5 February
- 11:00 to 12:00 | Data Centric AI: Public Services and AI
- 11:00 to 12:00 | How Somerset created a single front door through their unitary organisation
- 13:30 to 15:00 | GovSpec end user device aggregation: health
- Tuesday 10 February
- 13:00 to 14:00 | Beyond job titles: Designing high‑performing teams with Belbin
- 13:30 to 15:00 | GovSpec end user device aggregation: infrastructure, energy and transport
- Thursday 12 February
- 09:00 to 16:30 | HETT Leaders’ Summit [Leeds]
- 10:30 to 12:00 | Cyber security in the public sector
- Tuesday 24 February | 09:00 to 16:30 | Cyber Security 2026 [Glasgow]
- 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]
- Thursday 5 March | 09:00 to 16:30 | LGC Summit: LGR Special [London]
- 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]
- Thu-26-Mar | 16:00 to 17:00 | Accessibility is going in the wrong direction where I work. What can I do?
Ready to get to grips with end user device (EUD) aggregation?
The Crown Commercial Service is hosting a webinar series setting out the opportunity and benefits of procuring at scale and providing improved value for money.
- Wednesday 4 February | 11:00 to 12:30 | GovSpec end user device aggregation: all public sector
- Thursday 5 February | 13:30 to 15:00 | GovSpec end user device aggregation: health
- Tuesday 10 February | 13:30 to 15:00 | GovSpec end user device aggregation: infrastructure, energy and transport
Whether you’re new to the service or looking to deepen your understanding, these sessions will guide you through everything you need to know.
Read more about: GovSpec end user device aggregation 2026
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:
- LGR Camp | Wednesday 1 April | London
A 1-day, highly interactive event for people navigating LGR – focused on delivering the best possible digital and service transformation journey to vesting day and beyond. - From Public Digital: Finding the Opportunities for Transformation in Local Public Service
- Deloitte State of AI 2026: Agentic deployment outpaces safety
- AI Skills Boost for everyone everywhere
Take care. I hope you can have a great weekend when it arrives.
Best wishes,
Alex.
Start creating positive, lasting changes in the place you live and work
Photo by Melody Zimmerman on Unsplash
