Sarah and Carl are taking up the reigns of LocalGovDigital – a Slack-based networks of digital practitioners in local government, and I’m stepping down.
I think they’ll do a great job and am really excited about what they will be able to achieve with the group – hopefully a lot more than I managed!
I linked to the recent Notify case study on LinkedIn, adding the commentary below. Saving here for posterity 🙂
Feels to me like this ought to be something easily adopted in local government. I did some digging into Notify uptake in local gov a year or so ago, and found that many councils use Notify for one or two things, but it was rarely considered a core component of digital service delivery. Why? Because sending SMS notifications isn’t part of many workflows. Often because it was seen as too expensive when looked at 10 or 15 years ago.
Encouraging councils to send more SMS notifications is the start, because leveraging Notify to do it is an absolute no-brainer.
(Am aware that Notify does more than SMS, but you hopefully get my point.)
James Plunkett writes Iterate, if you can:
Because linear mentalities have crept back in some places, it would be worth a big new push to restate the basic case for iterative and user-centred methods, and to insist on the associated operating model (e.g. mixed discipline teams). Clarity is key: assert the basic principles of iterative working, explain why it reduces risk and makes better use of public money, be insistent on the model, etc. Test & Learn might be the best framing/vehicle for this, but it will need strong support from the highest levels of government if contemporary management practices and operating models are to become non-negotiable.
I need to get better at remembering to hit the publish button on the daily note aggregation posts on here. I don’t want to automate it and like having some control, so maybe a calendar entry is the right way to go!
Nova Constable writes about accessibility and LocalGovDrupal on the Digital Luton blog.
This blog is hosted on localgov.blog – a WordPress instance I host to enable councils to operate ad-free blogs without having to suffer adverts or deal with the hosting issues themselves. Just let me know if you would like one for your council!
