Revolutionise resident services with AWS: London Borough of Lambeth

Newsletter: Welcome. Please come in…

Authors and contributors: Alexandra Murphy

Keep getting everything you can from your membership

Your events, training and resources

If this is your first time receiving this newsletter, you might be wondering why you’re on the list.

If it’s not your first time, you can skip this bit.

Here’s the scoop: Socitm is a membership charity (that’s us!), and thanks to updates to our packages this year, you, Alexandra, now have access to a wealth of resources, people, and opportunities.

This newsletter is your gateway to it all — documents, events, meetings, training, and more. It might feel like we’re diving straight into the deep end, but we encourage you to take a moment to glance through everything available to you.

A handy place to start is your At-a-Glance Guide to Socitm Membership.

To help make sense of all this, drop into the Members’ Connection Hour from 11am on Thursday 30 January.

NEW website plug-in
This week we’ve added a translation plug-in to socitm.net. We’ve been testing it in the different languages we all speak. Give it a go.

This week there’s a top 6 (in no special order) of hopefully relevant/useful/interesting things to get you started for 2025

  1. From Stuck to Spark: Rediscovering Energy and Imagination in Local Government 
  2. The event, from the list below, I’d most like to join the Local Government AI summit. V. keen to hear much more about Peterborough’s brilliantly named Hey Geraldine 😀
  3. The Incubator of AI has just open-sourced this list of ‘Awesome UK Government Datasets’ for use in AI projects (and elsewhere).
    H/T Digital Leaders’ The AI Pulse
  4. From VP Yogita Popat on LinkedIn: Barnet’s Free Home Energy Fix #BarNETZero
  5. Interesting LGA article [now behind the paywall] on the 4-day working week trial at South Cambs: Four-day week trial shows promise amid challenges
  6. Fab MHCLG blog post (there’s a great cat pun but not enough cat pictures): I don’t worry about AI taking my job – just my cat 😀

Take care. I hope you can have a great weekend.

Best wishes,

Alex.


Membership in 2025

You’re under intense pressure to do more with less. Your Socitm community is here to support and help you.

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

  1. Prices are frozen for 2025
  2. NEW Limits lifted: everything will be available to everyone in your organisation. We’re rolling this out now.
  3. NEW Resources: including more AI-focused and upcoming cyber content
  4. NEW Member-only rate for Impera’s Place Insight social progress index
    Read about: Creating a Data-Driven Future for Brent using the Social Progress Index
  5. NEW THIS WEEK Member-only rate for WeChange.AI
    The current introductory offer is valid till 31 March 2025. It is subject to change after this date.
    Many of us, and our organisations, struggle to use our software (such as M365) to its full potential. Andrew Boxall’s WeChange.AI’s service addresses this struggle by offering you tailored strategies to get the most out of services we use daily, and to maximise the value of current technology investments.
    Find out more on Friday 24 January: Unlock the potential of your technology
  6. NEW FOR 2025 ONLY Use 1 benchmarking module free-of-charge. Choose from: cost, delivery, performance or user skills.
    Learn much more on Friday 7 February: What will you measure in 2025? 

Keep getting the best and most from your Socitm with your at-a-glance guide to membership.

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

In Your Resource Hub

NEW briefing

Preparing for the new Procurement Act 2023

In anticipation of the new rules coming into force, Socitm partnered with OneAdvanced to deliver a webinar on 11 December 2024 offering guidance to our members on how to be prepared for the changes.

This briefing builds on the webinar to provide additional information and advice to give you the knowledge and tools you need to comply with the Procurement Act 2023.

NEW in AI@Socitm

Interesting events coming up:

  • Join the LGA’s AI Practitioners Network at 10:00 on Tuesday 21 January with the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence. You’ll hear from several councils piloting their “Minute” tool.
    On LinkedIn, Phil Rumens commented that “Minute could be a real game changer for summarising and minuting meetings in the public sector…”
  • With the ODI: Tuesday 21 January 11:00 to 12:00 Data and AI policy in 2025: the year ahead 
  • Local Government AI Summit 2025 from 09:30 on Thursday 23 January
    Join the second, annual national learning and information sharing event co-designed with local authorities.
  • Tuesday 11 to Wednesday 12 February: AI Fringe will return to mark the Paris AI Action Summit with a 2-day event at the British Library Knowledge Centre in London.
    The Fringe will feature keynotes, firesides, panels and showcases with prominent voices in AI from civil society, academia, government and industry.

You might have missed…

Watch How Continuous Optimisation Enhances User Engagement for Public Sector Websites

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

Illustration showing a hacker on his laptop in a darkened room while people elsewhere work with data and security

Cyber security

Public Sector Digital Trends 2024

While you’re waiting for the 2025 edition, remind yourself of what was covered in last year’s version: cyber protection

You might also like:


Procurement in 2025

Are you ready for Monday 24 February?

NEW Briefing: Preparing for the new Procurement Act 2023
This briefing gives you the knowledge and tools you need to comply with the new Act.

Social value in your procurement

We’ve been overwhelmed at your response to the social value series. We are running a waiting list. If you are no longer able to join, please do let us know. Members are waiting to fill your seat.
Apologies to everyone who was unable to get a seat. Do keep an eye out for future events.

With the Crown Commercial Service we’re looking into social value from your perspective, for your suppliers, and then we’ll all meet at the beginning of February to discuss it together as a complete procurement community.

  1. 09:30 to 11:00 Wednesday 22 January Maximising Social Value for the Public Sector (for your suppliers) FULLY BOOKED
  2. 09:30 to 11:00 Wednesday 29 January Increasing Social Value in Procurement Practice (for you) FULLY BOOKED
  3. 09:30 to 11:00 Wednesday 5 February Social Value Procurement Solutions and Shared Experiences FULLY BOOKED

Illustration of people standing next to huge, people-sized devices. The smartphone and screen both display simple HTML.

Accessibility and inclusion

Check your website’s Silktide Accessibility Score
If you’re competitive, see where you’re council ranks in the index for January. It’s not all about being #1. This month there’s another completely new entry and they’re straight in at #30: good job Warwickshire!

Follow Silktide’s YouTube series: What in the World is WCAG?. Their most recent video is 3.1 Readable.

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

Next accessibility-themed webinars
Thursday 30 January | 16:00 to 17:00 | Trends in Digital Accessibility 2025
Friday 5 February | 13:00 to 14:00 | AI – What impact does it have on Digital Accessibility?

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 core skills course
09:30 to 12:30 on Tuesday 28 January | Introduction to Emotional Intelligence | 1 point - There are now only 2 spaces left on this one.

You might also like:


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Training

Build your confidence and resilience to develop and better apply your skills, ideas, and experience. Start booking courses, to work with your personal learning and development plan, now.

In-person courses

  • Monday 24 to Tuesday 25 February, and Wednesday 21 to Thursday 22 May | Top Talent | Leeds | 4 points
  • Thursday 27 and Friday 28 February | Place-based Leadership | London | 4 points
    PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS THE ONLY LONDON-BASED COURSE THIS YEAR

Online core skills courses

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.

NEW for your membership (in 2025 ONLY) Use one benchmarking module. Choose from: cost, delivery, performance or user skills.

Never benchmarked before? Know what you’d doing and want to get going? Let benchmarking boss 😉 Matthew Fraser know and he’ll support you as much or as little as you need: benchmarking@socitm.net

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.

Read more about what you can do and how in the Benchmarking Services Help Centre.

Next benchmarking webinar: 13:00 to 14:00 on Friday 7 February Choosing and using your benchmarking module: an introduction

National conference Sheffield 2024

Events

Member-only meetings

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

President’s Conference 2025: Beyond Borders

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.

You’ll be joined by members from the UK and guests from the Linked Organisation of Local Authority ICT Societies (LOLA). LOLA includes organisations from Australia, Belgium, Canada, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, UK and USA. Socitm is the only UK member.

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

January

February

March


Digital Self-Service in the Public Sector 2025

Challenges and future service delivery report

The GOSS Digital Self-Service in the Public Sector research initiative, provides a deep dive into the current state of digital self-service, capturing the perspectives and experiences of public sector organisations.

In this second report [ICYMI the first one is: Approach to Service Delivery], the barriers to digital transformation are examined, evaluating the pace at which service delivery has progressed and the forecasted growth in both online services and AI integration.

It also explores the potential role of open-source solutions in strategic planning, assesses anticipated savings made as a result of digital self-service, and reflects on key lessons learned over the past decade.

Discover in this report:

  • What barriers are blocking the public sector’s digital transformation delivery 🔨
  • The expected growth of digital self-service in the public sector in the near future 📈
  • The savings to be made and expected digital self-service investments in the next 12 months 💰
  • Key lessons learned by the UK public sector in delivering digital self-service over the past decade 📝

Devolution, data, and decision-makers

Unlocking the potential of data in local government

Date: Tuesday 4 February
Time: Arrival from 8am, discussion begins at 9am
Location: The Searcy’s Gherkin, London

Why does this roundtable matter to you?
The 2024 English Devolution Whitepaper outlines the government’s vision to extend regional devolution across England. It also sets the stage for transforming how local councils leverage data to drive decision-making and improve services. At the heart of this initiative lies the Mayoral Data Council, designed to facilitate better data sharing and insights across local government.

Event details:
This breakfast briefing, sponsored by Civica, draws on the expertise of the Central Digital and Data Office and other aligned organisations to help you prepare for a data-driven future in local government.

This discussion will equip you with the tools and knowledge to navigate and thrive in this data-driven future. Key topics include:

What’s next for cloud transformation in the public sector? By Chris Hazell from techUK

  • Data standards: codifying and aligning the frameworks for effective data sharing
  • Data governance: establishing robust processes, security, and best practices
  • Data maturity: assessing and enhancing your council’s data capabilities 

Ther panel of expert moderators – Mark Humphries, Head of DAMA, and Alison Young from TechUK – will guide the conversation, drawing on best practices from central government to provide actionable insights.

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

The Squiggly Careers calendar has been divided into 12 downloadable worksheets you can use in 2025 to help you:

  • Build confidence when you want to make a move.
  • Gain clarity on your strengths and goals.
  • Take small actions to accelerate your development

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash