The future of local government

Blog post by Civica for techUK's Local Public Services programme

Local government is on a journey of huge transformation. There is the onward drive for greater digital enablement across public services, but transformation is also coming in the form of devolution. Councils across England now have one eye on how they can effectively merge their operations with partner authorities in the new world order.

Both of these factors, in different ways, will redefine how citizens can be served by and interact with local authorities. They will also be integral in how well authorities are set up to deliver on their responsibilities of enhancing citizen welfare, progressing community commitments and maintaining financial resilience.

Fundamental to progress is the need for local authorities to become more digitally mature. This is not only an essential part of the unification work that devolution will require – bringing disparate systems and processes together – it’s also necessary in delivering more streamlined services. That comes in the form of adopting technologies such as digitised workflows or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. None of this is possible, however, without first getting data management in order and fit for purpose.

Now is the time when local authorities are working to set themselves up for long term success via their digital strategies. It's also a time when both macro and internal pressures threaten to slow the pace of digital transformation. Limited resources are increasing the tension around trying to balance the delivery of community commitment and citizen welfare, while the pervasiveness of costly legacy IT and inefficient paper-based systems remains a pain point.

Public sector digital, data and technology leaders are challenged with the job of replacing incumbent systems with more agile alternatives. Since there isn’t a pause button available for delivering vital services while this work is underway, the transformation show must go on in parallel with day-to-day operational and community commitments.

From a technology perspective, smart, cloud-based solutions that can be easily implemented and repeated offer the most frictionless and highest impact solution, especially with local government budgets frontloaded during the current parliament. When it comes to understanding how best to approach its implementation — and with so many organisations pursuing similar transformation goals — surely there is no better time to share ideas and best practices, identify the digital priorities councils are working towards and highlight the most common challenges?

Civica, as a global GovTech champion and the UK’s leading public sector software provider, stands firmly behind this agenda, offering innovative digital solutions to help councils navigate this transformation and deliver more efficient, citizen-centric services. We believe technology can be a powerful enabler of change, strengthening local communities, improving social outcomes and fostering economic resilience.

About Civica

Civica is a global GovTech champion focused on developing critical cloud-based software and services that are integral to the everyday lives of citizens around the world. From central and local government to education, health and care, more than 6,000 customers trust and partner with Civica, using our software to deliver critical services to more than 100 million citizens. With operations in seven countries across North America, Europe and APAC and more than 20 years of experience, we’re passionate about supporting the needs of citizens and those that serve them every day. Find out more: www.civica.com

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