23 September 2020

‘Digital change isn’t just about technology, it’s about a change of culture. It’s about being open. It’s about using data to solve problems. Instead of designing services from the viewpoint of what Welsh Government departments think a citizen needs, a digital approach involves designing services that meet the needs of the end user.’ This came from the Systems Reboot report on transforming public services through better use of digital. The report has a number of recommendations to ensure public services in Wales can harness the power of the digital developments we see around us every day and improve outcomes for the people of Wales.

Part of the work that has happened since that report was published has led to the creation of CDPS. This new organisation will help meet the common need for training, good practice sharing and expert help for service transformation.

There’s a lot to do and a huge demand for support. Our starting position is that we will develop our services in collaboration with those who will benefit from them.

We conducted initial research early in 2020, and found that:

  • there’s no single, concrete understanding of what “digital” means
  • not all senior leaders understand how to implement digital transformation
  • many public sector staff are keen to help, but are actively seeking help and guidance
  • it's hard for teams to keep track of best practice and share what they’ve learned
  • there’s a lack of common technical and service design standards

We’ve now moved on from research to action, starting with 3 projects:

Digital transformation squad — a hands-on engagement, helping teams working on adult social care in Wales to start using agile working methods and internet-era tools and techniques. We’ve already created a multi-disciplinary ‘Digital Squad’ to deliver rapid support to three local authorities to act as a test-case for broader roll-out and we’ll be sharing more about this, and the lessons learnt as the project progresses in future posts.

Digital skills — providing targeting digital training to senior leaders, chief executives, elected members and other public sector staff

A knowledge hub — looking at ways to help clarify and easily share technical and service design standards across the Welsh public sector

As we create our services and test approaches, we’ll be sharing our learning through this blog. If you’re working in the public sector in Wales and would like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you info@digitalpublicservices.gov.wales