Socitm Supplier Briefing London

Editor's Notes

• #13: At a national level data.gov.uk provides a loosely indexed catalogue of open data sets from public organisations, including local authorities. The Open Data Institute also has a catalogue of datasets that have been self-certified as “open”. Local open datasets tend to be similar across many councils so, in local government, we are striving to have some more structure. This means that: Each council can draw on work of others People can link, compare and combine datasets from many councils Within our Open data site we catalogue by function and service all local datasets that are inventorised in a standard way by councils and ones coming from the local open data incentive scheme. We list the datasets with links to the actual data. We aggregate data from different councils that uses the same tabular format, as defined by its schema. We encourage use of standard classifications, defined by URI sets, so everyone is using the same definitions and we can link across different datasets.
• #14: The Open data User Group has selected datasets that are commonly requested. We’ve tried to make it as simple as possible for councils to provide the dataset BUT there must be sufficient data to be useful to consumers AND it must be possible for developers to aggregate meaningfully across datasets from all councils. So we expect them to be able to produce a single aggregated dataset for each of the three themes. They can then develop applications that make the data useful to citizens.
• #15: Come to the landing page for the Local Government Information Sharing and Standards toolset known as LG Inform Plus
• #16: We have a 360 degree model of local government business information within the esd standards. It has taken over a decade to develop with the involvement of practically every council in England and in Scotland. We can dice, slice and inter-connect business information from any angle or any starting point. Little did we realise when we started this in 2001 but the ontologies and the precise lists of interconnected symantics (definitions) provide a fundamental building block to linking data in an open published way. These local government standards provide the basis for one set of uris – essential to linked data – for local government business semantics.
• #17: This diagram shows the way that the lists interconnect with each other for information journeys and well-informed data analysis and interpretation
• #18: The latest additions to the Local Government Inform Plus toolset is a whole host of search tools, inventory management and schemas/datasets harvesting under the “open data” section
• #19: Here’s a summary of the features of each of our open data menu options.
• #20: Standard classifications, in the form of sets of URIs, are important so everyone using the data understands the terms used and these terms have precise meaning. URI sets of particular importance to local authorities are from: DCLG’s Open data Communities ONS, published via statistics.data.gov.uk our esd-standards and natural neighbourhoods (developed by Cheshire East) sites URIs are used to: Classify schemas define the scope of datasets - define teh scope of induividual data items within datasets
• #21: The latest additions to the Local Government Inform Plus toolset is a whole host of search tools, inventory management and schemas/datasets harvesting under the “open data” section
• #22: The latest additions to the Local Government Inform Plus toolset is a whole host of search tools, inventory management and schemas/datasets harvesting under the “open data” section
• #23: Documents give an overview of the scheme, details of how to apply and full details of how to comply with each schema – including exactly what data is expected in each column of the data and if it is optional or required. There are a lot of columns specified, but many are optional. We just name each column so, where councils do include data, the column name is the same for all councils.
• #25: Documents give an overview of the scheme, details of how to apply and full details of how to comply with each schema – including exactly what data is expected in each column of the data and if it is optional or required. There are a lot of columns specified, but many are optional. We just name each column so, where councils do include data, the column name is the same for all councils.
• #26: We have a 360 degree model of local government business information within the esd standards. It has taken over a decade to develop with the involvement of practically every council in England and in Scotland. We can dice, slice and inter-connect business information from any angle or any starting point. Little did we realise when we started this in 2001 but the ontologies and the precise lists of interconnected symantics (definitions) provide a fundamental building block to linking data in an open published way. These local government standards provide the basis for one set of uris – essential to linked data – for local government business semantics.
• #27: We have a 360 degree model of local government business information within the esd standards. It has taken over a decade to develop with the involvement of practically every council in England and in Scotland. We can dice, slice and inter-connect business information from any angle or any starting point. Little did we realise when we started this in 2001 but the ontologies and the precise lists of interconnected symantics (definitions) provide a fundamental building block to linking data in an open published way. These local government standards provide the basis for one set of uris – essential to linked data – for local government business semantics.
• #28: The dials are controlled by the LGA and changes depending upon the authority selected. Additional information on the authority is available via the ‘headline report’. By clicking on the blue titles for the dials users will see further information about this metric, their authority and others. There is an ‘information pane’ on the right for showcaseing councils and new information
• #29: A bar chart showing the relative performances of authorities in this group All components in the report can be exported out as individual elements: e.g. a picture or a csv file.
• #30: The information is show as a map.
• #31: The data set is available too.
• #32: A bar chart showing the relative performances of authorities in this group All components in the report can be exported out as individual elements: e.g. a picture or a csv file.
• #33: The information is show as a map.
• #34: The data set is available too.
• #35: The data set is available too.
• #36: The data set is available too.
• #37: Use these addresses for help or contact me in person.
• #78: Manage the impact of the UK election outcome We will build relationships and an accepted narrative with the main political parties that ensures techUK can promote members interests with all likely future governments Action - execute calling plan and events to cement our position with three main parties Prepare for a European Union Referendum in the UK We will ensure that our members’ position is clearly understood and articulated in the debate such that the interests of the tech sector are protected Action – Conduct Poll/Survey of entire membership to get detailed industry positions on all aspects of EU membership and define any changes they want in the UK’s relationship with the EU. Publish results and calls for action after the election Lead Public Sector Transformation We will ensure that techUK members and the wider industry are leading in developing the Agenda for public sector transformation for the new government Action – complete the detail work on 3 point plan Ensure techUK is the partner for departments looking for replacements for current outsourcing contracts – HMRC, DWP MOD among others Lead the debate on future digital government - successful Government 2030 conference, proposals for the implementation of Govt as a Platform (GaaP) Complete the work of spectrum policy forum We will publish a Proposal for spectrum usage in the UK to ensure that the next government makes the right strategic investment in Spectrum Campaign for the right result from the Strategic Defence Spending Review We will work directly with political parties and other stakeholders to promote the UK's continued investment in defence and security Cyber Security We will ensure the growth of the UK cyber security sector in 2015 in exports and domestic usage   Transforming Health We will ensure that UK companies have increased opportunities for business in NHS and other health and care providers Actions: get agreement of HSCIC and NHS England to innovation opportunities from opening up data sets to private companies launching open interoperability standards that benefit members and increase digital take up launching healthcare techMap with NHS England - interactive directory for health solutions developing new health group focused on Medtech developing an approach to biotech scale up
• #80: Insiders have questioned the "build everything" preference and an over-dependence on agile; a lack of external scrutiny; delays to critical programmes such as the Verify identity assurance service; accusations of hubris and arrogance towards departmental IT teams. You might add others, not least the failed rural payments system. It's also fair to say that many of the changes GDS has put in place will only show their real benefits over the life of the next government - enforcing open standards; eliminating big outsourcing deals and ending inflexible legacy contracts; encouraging SMEs through G-Cloud; and others. It has got things wrong and it needs to deal with critical feedback better and more openly (once out of purdah). This week, The Register reported on a leaked report from July 2014 by a consultancy brought in to review GDS's people processes, which highlighted problems with high staff turnover, criticisms of leadership and recruitment, and accusations of favouritism.  [They intend to] create commodity components that can be used repeatedly and reassembled locally, but they’re building it with bespoke code. It means we’re left with dozens of components that do not exist anywhere else in the market, and which the government will forever be responsible for updating and maintaining.] BDO Report Accountability is already being blurred. Staff and contractors are no more accountable for high-profile and expensive failures like the Rural Payments Agency Digital Service programme than they ever were. Arguably, with advisory and oversight roles being confused, they are less accountable. The paper also outlines the commercial risks being absorbed by GDS. Tens of millions of pounds have been spent on a network of suppliers incentivised to maximise inputs rather than outcomes. This is reflected in the remarkable increase in taxpayers’ money being spent with specialist firms of agile coders that have been close to GDS from the outset. Their exposure to the government market now rivals some of the Systems Integrators that they so deride. The final risk discussed in the report is that of inefficiency. Can a monolithic GDS of 600 people with all the vested interests and perverse incentives that brings, really sit at the heart of a genuine digital revolution? Recommendation (1) – GDS should separate its controls function form its advisory function. Its controls function should be aligned to the gateway review process and integrated within that structure Recommendation (2) – GDS should step away from all commercial activities and look to the Crown Commercial Service to provide all commercial support to its aims Recommendation (3) – The advisory part of GDS should be allowed to grow and improve by teaming up with the private sector and competing for the support it provides departments
• #81: Platform approach Francis Maude – ‘Help departments focus on their core business, without having to build every single component of a service from scratch." He believed that this would be the new way forward for interactions between the Government and citizens, and said that "public services will need to be fully integrated with this platform in order to be viable." The Minister clearly set a precedent for the conference, as this topic surfaced in almost every debate throughout the day. Government believes the development of common, shared technology platforms services – known as "government as a platform" – will help to build redesigned digital services. “We have already built platforms for publishing (Gov.uk), identity (Gov.uk Verify) and performance data. These are platforms all of government share, saving money and unifying the experience for users,” said the report. “Platform services will give us an infrastructure which services and teams can build on. This may also lead to the development of APIs so that some of the infrastructure – or data in it – can be used by third parties to build their own services.” Platform approach “Gov.uk is so important because it establishes the idea of a common platform for all of government. Once you have that platform thinking, then you apply that to booking, registering, getting a licence – all things that are common in government.” An example of this is the Ministry of Justice developing a simple transaction for prison visit bookings. The service was not designed independently of other departments, and the back-end code can be used to create an underlying platform for booking anything for any public service – jobcentre appointments, for example, or driving tests. “One of the pieces of utility they came up with was a booking application. Now, when you want to book something else, we have that common component and booking in government should look like that,” added Bracken. Bracken describes the move from silos to platforms as a “generational” switch. “That is going to be the bulk of the activity technically in the next parliament. It brings with it many decision points – whether you stick or twist, whether you replace, reform, or retire systems in any given department.” G-CLOUD 7 When G-Cloud 7 opens in June 2015, those two new categories will also be joined by advertising and media; energy and utilities; fire services and equipment; police services and equipment; travel; and welfare to work, as part of the expansion. Any company looking to join the party must fit in to one of the four categories or "lots" to be listed, which are Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, Software as a Service, or Specialist Cloud Services. 13,000 services listed! - Issues with Transparency and whether there’s enough business through it..
• #86: 1. Better engagement, to support civil servants earlier in the process and help develop policy with technical expertise. techUK members are committing resource to engage much earlier in the process, ensuring officials develop policy with a proper understanding of what technology can do. Previously many in the industry felt they were waiting to be invited to tender for a scheme that might have been designed better. 2.Better information, providing standardised, transparent reporting. This will overcome the problems of wildly varying reporting requirements on public sector contracts, which had the effect of making one scheme impossible to compare with another. The industry will agree a standardised data and evaluation scheme, allowing Government to pick and choose suppliers more effectively. 3.More innovation, giving civil servants the opportunity to experiment and explore solutions in a risk-free environment. techUK's 'innovation den' model will be used to provide a test platform for new projects, and is designed to overcome the problem of public sector innovation being strangled by the fear of failure. techUK will develop a 'techmap' of suppliers, ensuring Government is aware of all the options available to them.
• #87: “Budget 2015 announces that the digital ambition will extend beyond central government and arm's-length bodies, to consider local services. HM Treasury, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Government Digital Service will collaborate with partners in local government, as the sector develops a set of proposals that will enable more customer-focused, digitally-enabled and efficient local services in time to inform future budget allocations” Maude replied that Onwurah “is completely right to flag up the huge scope for improvement in online services in local government. GDS’s focus has had to be on central government, but in the document on efficiency and reform that we published at the time of the autumn statement, we flagged up that we expect this to be available across the wider public sector. The focus for the time being has to be on finishing the job in central government, but helping to build an equivalent to support local government is a very high priority for us.”
• #91: Issues include … Austerity: Another four years … needs radical response Maturity: Leadership and understanding of the opportunities. Local capability. Pace. Diversity: Local priorities and differences. Place is where it all comes together – outcomes, insight, collaboration (multiple sectors/suppliers and multiple levels of, and agents for, government services), delivery.
• #93: Digital Insights – 15 principles aligned with GDS design principles. Digital Maturity Assessment. 2015 Budget = Government intent to extend its digital ambition to local public services Local GDS???? Collaborative submission to Spending Review = Local Digital Alliance (Socitm and LCIOC key players). Business case for common transactional engines e.g. identity management, payments, digital care record AND more complex services requiring end-to-end process redesign and digital enablement. = ‘Digital by design, open by default’ e.g. hospital discharges to home/family/community/social care, supporting troubled families, applying to become an adopter. e.g
• #94: National Information Board – Framework for Personalised Care 2020 – Delivering Locally workstream Maturity model under development with HSCIC. Health and Social Care Integration Pioneers – dissemination and engagement programme – Summits and Workshops; further Informatics Programme in 2015. In discussion with HSCIC re. regional support and engagemnt programme.
• #95: #opensystemsalliance – manifesto - group to be established on Knowledge Hub What can/should Socitm do? What can/should suppliers do? Proprietary Systems. Open Systems. Open Source. ‘Apps Store’ for open systems components – it’s in our gift.
• #96: What platforms to build? Key processes to improve end to end? User-centric, agile design? Build, buy, source? Funding and support?
• #97: Issues include … Austerity: Another four years … needs radical response Maturity: Leadership and understanding of the opportunities. Local capability. Pace. Diversity: Local priorities and differences. Place is where it all comes together – outcomes, insight, collaboration (multiple sectors and multiple levels of government services), delivery.