6point6: Crisis drives innovation
Uncertainty and adversity always drive innovation and the last few years have presented many such opportunities in the UK. We’ve seen a common pattern where organisations put a quick fix in place then incrementally improve as time goes on.
For example, during the COVID-19 restrictions, we saw government services that needed human interaction in the last mile. This forced organisations to provide an innovative solution to keep the services running. But following on from this is a need for digital-first solutions that improve these services overall.
Where there is real space for innovative transformation in the public sector is architecture and information sharing. Combining these elements will give departments the capability, durability, and adaptability to deliver services more effectively with better user outcomes.
Sharing information across public services
Government departments are increasingly seeing the benefit of sharing information between them. This is different from purely sharing data as it provides the information in the context of a business process or capability relevant to the parties involved.
For information sharing to be effective, vast quantities of data need to be cleansed and maintained to avoid creating monoliths, and to continue gaining valuable insight.
Trust
We expect innovative information-sharing technology to go hand in hand with an innovative culture and mindset of public sector organisations. Trust will be integral and should also be developed between friendly nations and governments to support economic and political developments.
Trust must be underpinned by litigation of responsibility. By building a framework of responsibility, organisations can create a culture where they can vouch for the information they’re sharing.
Architecting for business information
Agile architecture provides quick responses to unprecedented demand in a crisis without creating technical debt. The public sector must utilise modular, decoupled solutions that can be used immediately and replicated for new use cases.
The public sector is increasingly making use of event-driven architecture. This provides a near real-time exchange of information through seamless integration that acknowledges the relevant business context.
Futureproofing architecture means solutions will adapt to the challenges and landscapes faced by the public sector which can’t always be foreseen. By anticipating unknowns rather than reacting to them, business units can deliver capabilities quickly and changes can be made without impacting the entire architecture or infrastructure.
Operations anywhere
Innovative government systems are secure by design and supported by modern infrastructure and technology, meaning that they can be accessed from anywhere on any device. Whatever the infrastructure, modern, customer-focused solutions can’t be tied to a desk but operated anywhere.
This is not only about mobility, but also about interoperability. Where interconnected systems are supported by a trust framework, they can be used when and where they are needed most.
Reflection
When thinking about innovation, we nearly always look forwards, but it’s also helpful to look back and acknowledge the progress that has been made. Technology has progressed quickly and it’s unsurprising that large public sector systems are in the midst of digital transformation. As technology continues to advance, it’s important that systems put in place today are designed and built with the awareness that the future will look very different and that they’re likely to need to process much larger datasets.
This is a continuous process and the innovative idea here is acknowledging this and deliberately building solutions that can be adapted as needed, rather than requiring a total overhaul.
This blog was originally written by Sebastian Trebaczkiewicz, Head of Enterprise Architecture and Dnyanesh Kale, Sector Director, 6point6. To know more about 6point6, visit their Twitter and LinkedInn page.
Sebastian has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry, spanning roles from Developer, Business Owner to Head of Enterprise Architecture. Before 6point6, he successfully transformed businesses, created and lead IT departments, delivered strategic business and IT values to organisations. His experience spans financial services, telecommunications, media, retail, and public sector services. Learn more.
Dnyanesh is a hands-on Enterprise Architect with over 23 years of all-round IT experience. He specialises in large scale enterprise architecture, strategy and roadmaps of complex transformation in initiatives and cloud implementations. Dnyanesh has recent experience working on a large public sector technology modernisation, process rationalisation and on the largest cloud migration program in Europe, including the design and delivery of a microservices-based case working platform and big data platform utilising open source technologies and AWS. Learn more.
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