A big thank you to everyone (including event sponsors, Computacenter and Unit4) who participated in TechMarketView’s UK Local Government Dinner Debate at the end of last week. The evening was a great success. We welcomed top level decision makers from UK local authorities and UK public sector IT suppliers for a stimulating discussion on supplier engagement models in the UK local government IT and business services market. We were fortunate to kick off the evening with some thought-provoking words from three Guest Speakers:
- Glyn Evans, currently President of SOCITM, and Corporate Director of Business Change at Birmingham City Council (currently on secondment to Warwick Business School as a Senior Research Associate);
- David Wilde, CIO of Essex County Council since last summer, before that CIO at Westminster Council for three years, and before that CIO of Waltham Forest Council for four years.
- And Sally Howes, from the National Audit Office, who gave us a central government perspective, having been involved in several NAO studies into how UK Government can make the most of ICT.
‘Uncertainty’ was an oft repeated word. Austerity, along with changes in IT and changes in Government policy, are combining to create an environment in which everyone – suppliers and clients alike - knows they will need to work differently going forward. Of that, all participants appeared to agree. However, it was much harder to reach a consensus on what the right approach would be, or indeed whether there is such a thing as the ‘right’ approach. Subscribers of TechMarketView’s PublicSectorViews service will be able to read our analysis of the main discussion points in a forthcoming report. Watch this space!
