Get to London for your next conference day (People make) Sustainable and Innovation Places on Thursday 10 October
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Newsletter: The back to school edition

4 children holding hands seen from behind. They're all wearing backpacks and on one them are the words 'back to school'.

Keep getting everything you can from your membership

Your events, training and resources

Welcome back. Is your holiday a distant memory yet?!

While you’re reading this on Friday, a Socitm team and colleagues from across local government are attempting the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge. Raising money for Cancer Research. If you can, please donate here. Thank you!

Your top 8 interesting and useful things that you might have missed over the summer break are:

  1. Just added: an extra session of the popular Managing and Motivating Hybrid Teams training. November’s course was oversubscribed, so you can now join Aidan on Wednesday 20 November and Tuesday 3 December. Don’t waste time! Register ASAP 🙂
  2. Just published: Digital twin technology and place-based services
    This first briefing (of three) covers the application and improvement of place-based services using digital twins
  3. Your next (and final this year) conference day (People make) Sustainable and Innovative Places takes place in London on Thursday 10 October.
  4. Found in The School of Good Services newsletter: Minimal Viable Model
    LLMs are often assumed to answer any AI need. However, they’re also extremely resource intensive. MVM explores how going small, rather than large, and going local-first instead of cloud-first, can unlock opportunities such as improved privacy, faster speeds and cost reduction.
  5. Maturity matrix
    A quick tool (from the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth) to assess your organisation’s use of evidence in economic growth decision making and identify areas for improvement.
  6. Understanding design challenges in Wales
    CDPS recently completed a discovery looking at a design system for Wales, its opportunities and its challenges. Jo Goodwin explains what they learned and what’s next.
  7. Your first key date for next year: put President’s Conference in your calendar for Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 June 2025.
  8. The Digital Office for Scottish Local Government has launched their updated Action Plan for 2024 – 2026

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

Best wishes,

Alex.

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

In Your Resource Hub

NEW Briefing: Digital twin technology and place-based services

This first briefing (of three) covers the application and improvement of place-based services using digital twins

NEW impact case in AI@Socitm

Telford and Wrekin Council has launched the next innovative evolution of Ask Tom, its automated assistant

Want to add your own content? Let us know on hello@socitm.net or use the contact us form [choose Research as your area of interest].
Help each other connect the dots.

Browse AI@Socitm

You might have missed…

Watch the last webinar before the Summer holiday: The Data Foundations Needed for AI Success

Guest hosts from Nephos Technologies talked through how local authorities can most effectively make the most of AI by establishing the right data foundations.

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

Browse the Resource Hub

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

Socitm Says
Browse all episodes of Socitm Says

Better data improves everything

Socitm’s benchmarking expert Matthew Fraser is a keen cycling type. He’s one of those lycra clad guys who clack into the office in their cleats 🚴‍♂️

Even when cycling in his first Etape Loch Ness he spotted an analogy with the benchmarking day job 🐉

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.

Benchmarking in pictures

Accessibility and inclusion

Check your Silktide Score. If you’re competitive, see where you’re council ranks in the monthly index. It’s not all about being #1. Neath Port Talbot Council is up 52 places to get into the Top 12. Amazing work!

Digital Accessibility Maturity Assessment
The DAMA is a comprehensive self-assessment of your current level of digital accessibility maturity.

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

Log in
Local Government Association logo

Technology Innovation Showcase

The LGA is looking for councils to submit challenge statements setting out the issues and problem areas which could be addressed by AI and smart tech solutions.

To participate and submit a challenge statement fill out this form) by Thursday 19 September.

Once the call for challenges has closed, a number of submissions will go on to the open call for vendors, where AI and Smart technology providers will present solutions in response to the chosen challenge statements.

If you are keen to get involved but would like to learn more you can book an initial informal chat with the project team to discuss the problem(s) you are focused on, how you have tried to solve it in the past and how this could be made into a challenge statement

Learn more

(Draft) Councillor transformation toolkit

Have your say on the LGA’s new transformation toolkit) 🛠

It’s been created with input from councillors, for councillors. It’s designed to help members to understand, support, and scrutinise transformation activity.

At the moment, the toolkit is draft.

They want your feedback on whether the pages are easy to use, on how relevant the content is, and your ideas on what else is missing that you might want to see.

Either send your feedback by email or attend the online consultation from 11:00 to 12:00 on Monday 9 September.

To send feedback or book onto the above session email transformation@local.gov.uk

The toolkit will be updated based on your feedback ahead of its launch later in the year.

Training

Don’t let your training points expire! Get yourself onto training for the new academic year now 🙂

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

In-person leadership training

Empowering Women
Get to the heart of your strengths, likes, motivations and ambitions. Use the course’s tools, techniques and insights to go back to work with enhanced self-confidence and determination.
Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 September | Birmingham | 3 points

Place-based Leadership
Refine your approach to better inspire people and places towards lasting change. Cover best practices for digital transformation; including sharing and analysing data, and using it ethically. Plus, change management tools and systems
Thursday 14 and Friday 15 November | Manchester | 4 points

Top Talent
Do you want to lead a department/service? Top Talent will help get you there.
Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 October | Durham | 4 points

Online core skills training

Your annual membership includes training1
Want to spend some training points but not sure how? Don’t have enough or you’ve run out? Let us know.

Your guide to using training points

What don’t you know?

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

Browse all training
Large Microsoft logo

Free Change Agent training with Microsoft

Thursday 12 September Change Agent Reflector with Microsoft | 0 points
This course is free for local government staff as it is funded by Microsoft.

In 6 weekly sessions, starting on Thursday 12 September, get to better know Microsoft tools for transformation. Start to really get to grips with how to make yourself and your service more efficient.

It’s not just about Copilot ✈

Please ensure you can attend when signing up and if things change let us know, and we’ll make the place available again.

Please note: at the time of writing, we’re are getting very close to the maximum delegate number for this course. Register now so you don’t miss out.

Register ASAP
National conference Sheffield 2024

Events

Member-only meetings

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

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.

Browse events

Free webinars and events hosted by partners and others

September

November

  • Wednesday 13 to Thursday 14 November LGC Summit [Leeds]

December

Come and say hello

  • Tuesday 17 September: Smarter Working Live 2024
    Join Nadira Hussain in the Judges Hangout session (13:45 to 14:30). Nadira and the other judges will share knowledge and experience on various aspects of strategy, policy, and best practices in areas of smarter working.
  • Wednesday 18 September: Powering the World of Work Government Pioneer Summit
    Hear VP Yogita Popat on the Sector Challenges in Government panel session
  • Tuesday 24 September: DigiGov Expo [London]
    Join Nadira Hussain, President Mark Lumley and Sam Smith
    • Nadira is chairing the Citizen Experience stream. In which, at 15:25, Mark (Director of ICT and Digital at London Borough of Hounslow) is a panellist on Data-Driven Collaboration: Transforming governance through strategic partnerships and enhanced data sharing
    • Sam is a panellist in the GovICT stream at 15:10 for Driving Transformation through an Effective Strategy: The pillars needed to achieve success
  • Thursday 14 November LGC Summit [Leeds]
    Join Nadira Hussain for the panel discussion: Reimagining local government through advanced technologies.

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

Cautionary Tales – Embracing the Escape Fire (with Adam Grant)

I listened to this episode of the Cautionary Tales podcast before I went on holiday. It’s fascinating and expertly told. And isn’t just about escape fire. Although the escape fire is incredible.

  1. Log in to your user account for an up-to-date number of available training points on the day that you check. Your colleagues could have already used some! ↩︎