{"id":437,"date":"2019-03-29T17:33:35","date_gmt":"2019-03-29T17:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetforyou.gov.uk\/digital-first\/?p=437"},"modified":"2019-03-29T17:33:35","modified_gmt":"2019-03-29T17:33:35","slug":"a-good-time-to-reflect-on-digital-in-dorset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/2019\/03\/29\/a-good-time-to-reflect-on-digital-in-dorset\/","title":{"rendered":"A good time to reflect on digital in Dorset"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the last 18 months we\u2019ve been working to progress our ambition is to be a digital council in a digital place which has required us to think about digital skills, services, ways of working, technology and connectivity, as well as business intelligence and data.<\/span><\/p>\n

The way we think about digital can be hard to explain, different organisations have different approaches to digital, and digital means different things to different people.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A new way of working<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

We have started to work using agile design-led processes, with an emphasis on how to best meet the needs of people living and working in Dorset.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Our focus has been on showing the benefits of \u2018digital\u2019 for the council by introducing these new ways of working, helping people to understand the types of change we are starting to introduce.<\/span><\/p>\n

The changes at the council (a new Unitary Council is being created) have meant that there have been limitations to the amount of progress we\u2019ve been able to make so far, but we\u2019ve successfully demonstrated that you can start to make progress without a big budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Collaboration is the key here, especially in so many ways for digital. We have found that there are people motivated and wanting to get involved, to improve the way we work and deliver services. Our approach so far in Dorset has been to select areas of our \u2018business\u2019 to work with as exemplar design-led\/agile projects and seek out other funding opportunities from there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking forward: new skill sets for how we work<\/span><\/b><\/h6>\n

Looking forward we\u2019re now more certain from the work we\u2019ve been doing that we need a different set of skills and experience in order to scale a design led and agile approach to service delivery. Our exemplar work has been important in helping to demonstrate this need through doing the work and showing how this approach can start to create more value for residents and our workforce.<\/span><\/p>\n

We started to make real traction with our new ways of working by restructuring and pooling our ICT business analysts, trainers and enterprise architects creating a new dedicated digital team. We didn\u2019t intend for this team to last forever, but provide initial momentum to help with change. This has been really positive, helping us to focus on a design-led approach and shift from traditional IT training to developing peoples digital skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

The exemplar projects have helped us to understand agile better and the impact on our existing culture. I\u2019ve just read an article about agile and waterfall at Homes England which rang true, people still want that plan!\u00a0 <\/span>We\u2019ve also found the shift to small incremental improvement, rather than delivering a shiny system a challenge on occasion. Someone advised me recently this comes down to managing the relationship\/expectations really well.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve definitely seen the benefits of agile and design with people becoming really passionate about:<\/span><\/p>\n