Editorial

Think Digital Government 2017 now only a week away!

With its mission of ‘redefining the digital’, the upcoming one day event (September 15) asks the hard question of what does the UK need to do to prepare the public sector for a future outside the EU?

Posted 7 September 2017 by Gary Flood


Only eight days now remain before the most important digital public services event of the year – Think Digital Government 2017.

With its doors set to open on Friday, 20 September at The Business Design Centre, Islington at 09.25 for a 10.00am prompt start, the event is being produced in close partnership between Think Digital Partners and respected global news and analysis portal diginomica.

A quick look at the agenda will show the care taken to produce a compelling set of information and discussion deliverables for ICT decision makers.

With presentations from UK digital government sector stakeholders, policy-setters and expert commentators, the day is also peppered with real-world insights from actual frontline practitioners.

These include detailed explanations of the capability agenda at the heart of government with a special 30 minute midday Skills panel that includes the GDS Digital, Data and Technology Profession Director of Capability Holly Ellis and the Service’s Head of the GDS Academy Annette Sweeney, DWP’s Deputy Director for Universal Credit Kit Collingwood-Richardson.

Other major movers and shakers from central government participating in Think Digital Government 2017 include the Group Chief Technology Officer for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs John Seglias and Director of Data Projects at the Department of Communities and Local Government Paul Maltby.

It’s not just Whitehall that’s talking digital government on the 15th, though: we also have an intriguing sounding session from the Danish Ambassador to the UK, Lars Thuesen – bound to be popular, given that country’s enviable status as ranked number one for digital public services by both the EU and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation & Development (OECD). What insights can he offer delegates?

Important sector commercial backers

Vendors, meanwhile, may well be drawn to the closing panel for the day – how to improve the main G-Cloud buying mechanism, The Digital Marketplace, which features both the Chief Digital Officer for NHS Blood and Transplant Aaron Powell, as well as the Institute for Government’s trend tracker Daniel Thornton.

Major vendors have come together to commercially support the conference, too. These sponsors include, at the highest, Diamond, level, Oracle, UKCloud and cBrain, with a number of other key sector vendors set to offer information at the show, too.

Why have such important players in the UK public sector ICT space come together to back this event? This week we asked Oracle’s UK Head of Public Sector, who told us:

Think Digital Government is an excellent platform for Oracle to hear from the varied organisations that make up the public sector, and help us better understand how we can work with them to provide best-in-class cloud solutions that will help it continue innovating and ultimately deliver better value to the taxpayer.”

Making sure of your chance to take part

Not secured your place yet for Friday week? Don’t worry – there remain a small number of tickets left! All you need to do is to go here and start the quick online registration process. (And remember, if you are working in the public sector, your place will be FREE.)

See you on the 15th!

Think Digital Partners look forward to working with you, the UK ICT public sector community of buyers and sellers, to try and answer the difficult questions Think Digital Government has been set up to debate.

That’s because we think they’re the ones that really matter, as we prepare to exit the EU and find a new place for the country and its citizens in the world.

Do you?

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If you are interested in this article, why not register to attend our Think Digital Government conference, where digital leaders tackle the most pressing issues facing government today.


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