PublicTechnology.net

In three weeks, voters in Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool get to choose new mayors, but you’d be hard pushed to find much mention of tech in their manifestos, says David Walker. He asks if there’s a reason for their seemingly half-hearted approach to IT...

Much will be made of the UK spending watchdog’s recent report on how the Government Digital Service is adapting to its new way of working – but the real test of government digital is more likely to be Brexit, writes the Institute for Government’s Daniel Thornton.

At the end of March, the government is facing a brain-drain as contractors leave the public sector rather than be caught out by stricter tax rules. But Eduserv’s Max Elliott-Massouras says the focus should be on the value of contractors – not their cost.

Aingaran Pillai, CEO and founder of open source software company Zaizi, says that governments need to make bold decisions on digital - but make sure they're executed properly. He offers his top five tips for digital staff here.

A lack of benchmarking data on digital transformation programmes in government makes it hard to evaluate success at a time when it has ever been more important, says Jane Roberts, strategy director at TopLevel. 

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee is to investigate the use of algorithms in decision-making, an inquiry chosen as part of the committee’s crowd-sourcing project. Stephanie Mathisen, campaigns and policy officer at Sense about Science, who pitched the idea to the MPs, explains why the field needs more scrutiny.

The UK’s model of governance seems impervious to radical technological change, but elsewhere in the world, countries are getting digital democracy right, says Theo Bass, a researcher at innovation foundation Nesta and author of a report looking at the tools governments have at their fingertips.

The government’s transformation strategy seems to be more about re-packaged principles when it needed to demonstrate how a revolution could be achieved in practice, says independent digital analyst Jos Creese. 

The government's transformation strategy needs buy-in from the political top brass to drive the radical culture change that underpins the plan, writes PublicTechnology editor Rebecca Hill.

The government's transformation has admirable aims, but will need leaders who understand what digital really means if it to become a reality, says Janet Hughes, digital director of Doteveryone's digital leadership project.

For a public sector only just beginning to adapt to the demands of digital data, the looming General Data Protection Regulation obligations could be alarming. Jane Roberts of Toplevel asks how the GDPR will differ from existing legislation.

In a post-Brexit world, says David Walker, caution may be the best digital strategy civil servants can hope for.

Idriss Mekrez, chief technology officer for the public sector at MarkLogic, sets out the potential geospatial mapping has for the public sector.

Freddy Kanter of Foehn argues that voice communications can make a greater contribution to councils' cost-cutting activities - and that its time in the spotlight has come.

That the long-awaited digital strategy has fallen by the wayside is not a surprise, but ministers must move to demonstrate their commitment to digital quickly, writes PublicTechnology's online editor Rebecca Hill. 

Jos Creese, independent digital consultant and principal Analyst for Eduserv, says that technology should promote fundamental change in our care services – and argues that this is the responsibility of everyone from local providers to central government. 

Public services are in for a tough decade, facing constrained budgets and political upheaval. But Nesta’s Matt Stokes argues that governments must take advantage of the collaborative economy to change the way they tackle social challenges.

The government needs a unified approach to front and back office functions if it wants to make the cost savings digital promises, argues Jane Roberts of TopLevel.

With current approaches to Scotland’s social services labelled unsustainable, and health care similarly under pressure, Tom Morton of Communicare247 urges providers to realise the potential for digital technology now.

The digital revolution in US states and cities is not likely to grind to a halt following Trump’s election, but your take on his win will depend on how you view the sands of time, says David Walker.

A lot has been promised to the public on city devolution and the price of failure is high. Eddie Copeland, director of government innovation at Nesta, argues that joining up data across those regions is one basic way to give the plans a fighting chance of success.