Cyber Incident Response: Your last line of defence - get better prepared

Newsletter: Local government’s big book of ideas

Authors and contributors: Alexandra Murphy

Keep getting everything you can from your membership

Your events, training and resources

Worked out some figures (accuracy not guaranteed) around the event schedule for the rest of the calendar/Socitm year. In no particular order, in the rest of 2024 there are:

  • 5 local meetings = 19 3/4 hours of potential listening and talking time – this does include at least 2 AGMs (remember that unguarantee of accuracy)
  • 1 in-person training course [Place-based Leadership in Manchester btw]
  • 5 online training courses [2 of which are fully booked and 1 of which is free
  • 10 webinars = 660 minutes [got this number wrong in the email version :)] of how to better use and apply technology to your advantage

Membership

Details about 2025’s memberships are being sent out now. Make sure you’re getting everything you can from and with Socitm. You’re invited to Members’ Connection Hour (from 13:00) on Thursday 31 October

We’re also of course happy to arrange individual meetings with you or your leadership teams. Or invite us to your meeting! If you’d prefer any of these let us know and we’ll get that sorted out.

Keep on using Socitm as part of your work creating positive and lasting change in your place.

This week there’s a top 6 of useful/interesting things for you

  1. Catch up with what you missed at LocalGovCamp24 with attendee blogs and workshop outputs.
  2. H/T to NILGA for this one: Bloomberg Philanthropies 2025 Global Mayors Challenge calls on mayors to work with residents and entrepreneurs to radically reimagine their most essential municipal services, from public transportation to waste management, housing and shelter, emergency response, and more.
    Each winning city will receive $1 million, dedicated project staff, and multiyear support from Bloomberg Philanthropies to help bring their ideas to life.
  3. My pick of the events list this week is West Berkshire’s ASC AI Policy Assistant Show and Tell at 14:00 on Wednesday 20 November.
  4. Our colleagues at PUBLIC have updated and published their Evaluating Digital Projects: Evaluation Methods Guidebook. It’s focused on the technical methods of evaluating your digital and technology projects.
  5. Don’t forget your free 90-minute training workshop: Simplify Your Tasks: Copilot Basics for Microsoft 365 Users. You have not missed it, the workshops run again on Wednesday 6 November and Wednesday 4 December.
  6. techUK’s local government procurement survey is open for another couple of weeks. Their Local Public Services Committee want to understand how you find current processes, what good looks like, and how industry can better fulfil requirements. Complete it before Friday 8 November.

Take care. I hope you’re able to have a great weekend.

Best wishes,

Alex.


Simple Socitm logo surrounded by drawings of headshots with different coloured hair

Membership in 2025

The pressure you’re under to do more with less and less is intense. But your Socitm community is here to support you and help.

Connect: tap into our network of professionals to solve your wicked issues, find solutions and share best practice.
Learn: develop you and your team with our CPD-certified training.
Explore: access practical resources to drive your decision making and avoid reinventing the wheel.

The pressure you’re under to do more with less and less is intense. But your Socitm community is here to support you.


Illustration of a woman reading an oversized book, entitled, 'Local gov's big book of ideas'.

In Your Resource Hub

People make places

Ahead of next week’s Budget, remind yourself (or read for the first time) the prospectus for mission-oriented innovation in local public services.

NEW in AI@Socitm

Earlier this year, Telford and Wrekin Council launched the next innovative evolution of Ask Tom, its automated assistant: Tom can talk – council’s digital assistant picks up the phone

Don't miss out!
13:00 to 14:00 Wednesday 13 November
Join ICS.AI to explore Telford and Wrekin’s use of AI to revolutionise customer service and operational efficiency. You’ll cover their digital advancements from the AI digital assistant to their evolution into phone-based AI telephony services.  

You might have missed…

Watch: Get cyber secure with governance, risk, and compliance
Public sector organisations are a high-value target due to their reliance on digital systems and sensitive data. Listen to Phoenix explain how effective governance and compliance frameworks, such as Cyber Essentials and ISO, provide a structured approach to managing risks and enable effective incident response.

For ease of viewing, the recordings are divided into easy to navigate chapters, with subtitles and transcript available via the video player toolbar.

You will need a user account on socitm.net to access member-only resources. Let us know if need any support.

Listen now: Using social progress index data podcast

This episode of the podcast is a comprehensive exploration of data, the social progress index (SPI), and how one size does not fit all when trying to use it in your local authority. 

Central and local government veterans William Barker and Michael Green are asked questions by David Ogden. Listen to their conversation for ways to use SPI data to impact your strategy and activities.

In next week’s Members’ Connection Hour you’ll learn more about Place Insights. It’s a data tool available to members (from next year) at a member-only rate from our colleagues at Impera Analytics. It’s based on a Social Progress Index (listen to more about that in the above newest episode of the Socitm Says podcast).

Listen to all episodes of Socitm Says Podcast. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Your next free training with Microsoft

09:00 to 16:30 | Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 November

Get the knowledge and confidence you need to lead change. Change Agent (Manager) with Microsoft is back next month! Save your seat now 🙂

..At times my brain hurt, being introduced to untapped resources which were at my fingertips at once was overwhelming. But I am becoming more comfortable now. Just want to get into some real application
Delegate on yesterday’s final day of Change Agent Reflector.

Over 2 days, this course will give you with an overview of the key skills needed to be an effective change agent – with a strong emphasis on the ability to lead change.

You do not need to be a Socitm member to attend this course

Don’t forget Microsoft’s TechHer for Government
It’s a free initiative for women who work in the UK public sector and is designed to inspire curiosity and excitement about technology including cloud, artificial intelligence, low code/no Code app creation and security.


Accessibility and inclusion

Check your Silktide Score. If you’re competitive, see where you’re council ranks in the index for October. It’s not all about being #1. Rochdale is up 156 places to 22!! Incredible. Congratulations Rochdale.

It’s not all about being #1. Neath Port Talbot Council is up 52 places to get into the Top 12. Amazing work!

Follow Silktide’s YouTube series: What in the World is WCAG?

Digital Accessibility Maturity Assessment
Hassell lnclusion’s DAMA is a comprehensive self-assessment of your current level of digital accessibility maturity.

Thursday 21 November 16:00 to 17:00
Work harder or Work smarter? How to Optimise Your Accessibility Strategy

PAUSE
Creating fair and equitable organisations and services is everybody’s responsibility. Take time to reflect and review on your approach and identify where there may be gaps in the way in which you do things. Pause – reflect – act

Next course: 09:30 to 12:30 on Tuesday 12 November Equality, Diversity and Inclusion | 1 point


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Training

Build your confidence and resilience to develop and better apply your skills, ideas, and experience.

The most popular Leadership Academy courses this year have been Managing and Motivating Hybrid Teams and Introduction to Emotional Intelligence. Even the extra dates are now fully booked.

Your training calendar for 2025 is live so you can start planning how to fit Socitm courses into your overall learning and development programmes schedule.

Don’t let your points expire! Use them
.

In-person leadership training

Online core skills courses (with some 2025 dates)

Your annual membership includes training
Get your guide to using training points. Don’t have enough or you’ve run out? Let us know.
Log in to your user account for an up-to-date number of available training points on the day that you check.

Any questions, just ask us.

How was your course? Tell us about it and be a training champion 🙂

What don’t you know?

Survey end users’ skills to prioritise your future training needs. Get started with a user skills survey.


Socitm infographic - benchmarking 2024

Better data improves everything

You want evidence to support your business cases, and insight into positive changes you can make. Get a concise overview of your service coupled with data to support it.

Don’t get beaten by a lack of data

With benchmarking you can compare the size, performance and cost-efficiency of your ICT. Leaving you free to concentrate your efforts for improvement. Or make a case for improved funding.


National conference Sheffield 2024

Events

Member-only meetings

Meet people for catching-up, problem sharing (and solving) and great networking.

President’s Conference 2025

Key date for your 2025 calendar: Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 June 2025
Make sure this is in your diary so you can join everyone back in Birmingham for your annual members’ conference.

Your usual local public service community will be getting together with guests from the Linked Organisation of Local Authority ICT Societies (LOLA). LOLA is an international organisation of which Socitm is one member. And the only one from the UK.

Create connections with people from outside the UK and Europe to bring best practice from wherever you find it to your team, place, and community.  

Free webinars and meetings hosted by Socitm

Missed one? Recordings of Socitm webinars are available in the Resource hub.
Webinars are open to anyone in the public sector, membership is not necessary, so please do share them with your network.


Mostly free webinars and events hosted by partners and others

October

November

December

Come and say hello

  • Thursday 14 November LGC Summit [Leeds]
    Join Nadira Hussain for the panel discussion: Reimagining local government through advanced technologies.
  • Thursday 21 and Friday 22 November Local Government Partnership Network South 2024 [Heathrow]
    Both days will be co-chaired by Sam Smith and Mark Lumley.
  • Monday 25 November  Reimagining the Local State [Sheffield]
    Join President Carol Williams on the panel Beyond bureaucracy: achieving future-proof local government

Brent Cross substation artwork

What you missed

Get a sense of what you missed at our last conference day of 2024: (People Make) Sustainable and Innovative Places.

Don’t miss anything in 2025. To make sure you’re getting the best and most from your Socitm membership and network meet the team for Members’ Connection Hour at 13:00 on Thursday 31 October.

What’s in the final In Our View of the year?

  • Barnet Council builds for net zero and fun at Brent Cross
  • Norfolk County Council uses bin lorries and backpacks to map mobile coverage
  • County archive uses AI to find names in USAF war records
  • Generative AI can generate cost surprises
  • Empowering Women groups tackle neurodiversity and inclusion
  • Social start-ups helping Londoners into employment
  • Barnet planners discuss Bloomberg Associates’ climate change risk maps
  • Middlesex University uses digital twin to consider heating options

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

This LinkedIn post from (member) Sarah Peña about “positive rebels” chimed strongly with what’s been running throught the back of mind this week after last Friday’s webinar with Cultural Intelligence leader Rikita Wadhwa [not recorded I’m afraid]. Psychological safety, emotional and cultural intelligence, and Belbin Profiling have been swirling into some sort of cohesion in my brain.