Annual digital government gathering expanded into five-city roadshow
This year the Government Digital Service is to expand its flagship annual Sprint event to take in stops at five major cities across the UK.
Sprint was first hosted in 2013 and, with the exception of a year off in 2017, has taken place every year since then. The yearly gathering has always been held in London – and it will return to the capital’s Southbank Centre, which hosted the 2018 edition, for Sprint 19 on Thursday 19 September.
But, this year, the flagship event will come on the back off of four other Sprint events to be held in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leeds, and Belfast.
Related content
- Sprint 16: Six things we learnt about the future of government digital
- ‘Transformation is not something that can just be driven from the centre’ – Q&A with GDS chief Cunnington
- GDS promised ‘national presence’ as it takes over DWP’s Digital Academy and leaves Aviation House
In a blog post, GDS director general Kevin Cunnington said: “From training Scottish civil servants in new skills in the Scottish Digital Academy, to looking at how emerging technology can help make firefighters safer in Wales, impactful work is happening across the whole of the UK. So, for Sprint this year, we’ll be in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We will celebrate successes and discuss how we’ll work together to build a world-leading digital union. We’re also working with our colleagues at Leeds City Council to look at how local authorities are approaching digital transformation.”
On Wednesday 8 May, the Edinburgh International Conference Centre will host the first non-London Sprint event – which will be put together by GDS in collaboration with the Scottish Government.
The digital agency will be working with the Welsh Government to hold a Sprint event at Cardiff City Stadium on 14 May, and will team up with Leeds City Council for a get-together at The Queens hotel on 17 May. The Northern Ireland Civil Service will co-host a Sprint event at Titanic Belfast on 11 June.
The London gathering in September will represent a chance for GDS to “showcase some of the things we’ve talked about in the Sprint events across the country”, according to Cunnington.
He added: “We’ll show how emerging technology is tackling some of the hardest problems in the public sector and we’ll look at how we can collaborate to deliver end-to-end services for users.”
Click here for more information on how to attend any of the Sprint events around the UK.
