Sharing success with CareCubed
IESE'S CARE COMMISSIONING TOOL CARECUBED HOSTED TWO USER FORUMS IN FEBRUARY - ONE FOR COMMISSIONERS AND ONE FOR CARE PROVIDERS
CareCubed is iESE's secure online tool designed to give clarity on the cost of care and help manage care spend
The successor to iESE's Care Funding Calculator, the product has been well received since its introduction and its user base continues to grow
By inputting information about an individual's care needs and other details, such as the location of the care setting, the model data allows a guide price to be generated as starting point for negotiation between the care provider and commissioner, and as a baseline for assessing the impact of changes in cost or need
The product has seen a general increase in take up, including by care providers "We are delighted that care providers are increasingly seeing the benefits that CareCubed can give in terms of transparency and structuring costs and how this can help them work better with care commissioners to get a fair price agreed for specialist care placements," said Vanda Leary, Digital Business Lead at iESE
The whole-day events, which took place on the 26th and 27th February in London, were well attended The forums included presentations from existing users about their successes using CareCubed and gave attendees the chance to learn from each other's experiences
Attendees also heard from iESE about potential future developments of CareCubed and were given the chance to provide their input on these CareCubed is already available for adult and children’s specialist placements, and expansion to cover older persons, health placements, and a wider range of children’s placements is due in 2020
• Find out more: www iese org uk/carecubed
EDITORIAL CONTACTS
TRANSFORM IS PRODUCED BY:
iESE, www iese org uk, Tel: 08434 878 026
Email: enquiries@iese org uk @iESELtd
CREDITS:
Editorial by: Vicki Arnstein
Designed by: SMK Design
Views expressed within are those of the iESE editorial team iESE is distributed on a triannual basis to companies and individuals with an interest in reviewing, remodelling and reinventing public services
© Copyright iESE 2020
Another year of transformation
elcome to the first issue of Transform 2020
We hope your year has started well and that projects are moving forward with renewed vigour
This year promises to be one heavily focused on transformation, with digital being a key element In this edition we look at the roles of three women working in tech relating to the public sector and the developments they hope to see in the coming decade We also feature a two-page pull-out section relating to the iESE consultancy tool, the Customer Focus Wheel Using this tool enables organisations to get to the heart of serving the customer, the core reason public sector organisations exist We also have an update for you on our recent Certificate of Excellence award winners Please send us your news and views for inclusion in a future issue to: enquiries@iese org uk
Dr Andrew Lar ner and the iESE team
iESE expands the team
WE'VE HAD SOME NEW RECRUITS JOIN IESE IN RECENT MONTHS HERE WE INTRODUCE THREE NEW TEAM MEMBERS:
Jane Medici, Project Manager (CareCubed and Innovation Club)
Jane joined iESE in July 2019 to help provide support for CareCubed She provides support online to clients and works with our CareCubed developer and Vanda O'Leary, Digital Business Lead
She previously spent ten years working for the London Borough of Hounslow Council where she project managed a range of initiatives "I worked on the Young Carers project which I ran for a few years, I worked in the Chief Execs office in the democratic services area and I ran the childminding project for a number of years too Before that I was a trainer and tutor in colleges delivering childcare qualifications," she explained
Making a difference to the lives of vulnerable families and children has always been a passion and that's why CareCubed is an ideal fit "Working on projects that have a direct impact on the most vulnerable adults and children has always been important to me and, although this project is one step removed, it is still about making a positive difference within this area," she added
David Leakey, Business Development Executive (CareCubed)
David joined in September 2019 and is focusing on building up the CareCubed subscription base by bringing both local authorities and providers onboard He also liaises with existing clients and
Understand your cyber risks
IESE IS OFFERING CYBER SECURITY READINESS ASSESSMENTS WITH ITS ASSOCIATES ASSURITY SYSTEMS AND CYBER SECURITY ASSOCIATESORGANISATIONS WHICH HAVE WORKED AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF CYBER SECURITY IN THE UK
Local councils faced as many as 263 million cyber attacks in the first half of 2019, averaging 800 attacks every hour, according to freedom of information requests made by insurance broking firm Gallagher Phishing, ransomware and the supply chain are the biggest the concerns The impact can include loss of service, financial ramifications and client exposure if data
looks at training opportunities
He has worked in sales for the past 25 years, of which around 13 years he spent promoting training courses to the Civil Service, local government and the NHS for well known training providers including Dod’s Parliamentary Communications and GovNet Prior to joining iESE he spent three years working for 31 Media who organise events for the software testing industry
He is enjoying working on CareCubed "What we are trying to do with CareCubed is bring together the commissioner and the provider so they can communicate in a transparent way with each other and have a win-win situation when it comes to arranging contracts for social care placements It is nice to know you are making a difference to disadvantaged people," he said
Emma Trow, Admin Support
Emma joined iESE in September 2019 and is working two days a week giving administrative support to other team members
is significantly compromised The routes for attack are also increasing now including mobile, 5G, the Cloud, third-party services, AI and applications
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has established guidelines and a board toolkit specifically for local authorities The readiness assessment by iESE associates can provide an immediate evaluation against the NCSC guidelines to help demonstrate where the organisation is against the NCSC guidelines, where the greatest risks are to the organisation and which areas would have the highest negative impact if compromised Brad Collier, Business Development Director at Assurity
Before joining iESE she had taken a year off to spend time with family but prior to that had worked for Calderdale Council in West Yorkshire for 14 years She started at Calderdale Council in a admin role dealing with sports membership and worked her way up to managing a workforce development admin team
She always wanted to work in the public rather than private sector "I have always been quite removed from the front line contact with customers but there is a sense of knowing you are supporting that mechanism of helping people to get the services they need," she said
Systems Ltd, said: “Assurity Systems is delighted to be partnering with iESE on this important cyber initiative
Local Authority leaders face extreme pressure, with an estimated 10 million cyber attacks against UK councils every week
"It is vital for CEOs to have a clear understanding of their position against the required governance and oversight
This C-Level toolkit and assessment, developed with iESE, is a vital first step enabling boards to make informed decisions about managing their increasing risks ”
• To book a Cyber Security Readiness Assessment contact: annabelle spencer@iese org uk
Dr Andrew Larner, Chief Executive
@LaverdaJota
Customer Focus Wheel: The iESE way to improve customer service
The Customer Focus Wheel (CFW) is one of iESE's suite of complementary diagnostic tools which make up the iESE Model of Transformation, now widely used within the sector The iESE Model of Transformation gives a diagnostic stage for each stage of transformation, giving practical steps to allow an organisation to take ownership of each stage The three stages of the model are: Service, Customer and Community The first diagnostic is the Efficiency and Effectiveness Wheel, the second is the CFW and the third is Community Focus
The CFW is designed to see how customer focused an organisation is, identify the steps which will create greater customer focus and deliver savings alongside improvements
Since we are not a one-size-fits-all consultancy, the CFW can be used as a standalone piece of research or blended with other iESE tools, such as the Service Review and the Innovation Mandate, or as part of the complete iESE Model of Transformation
Why engage the CFW?
Without customers local authorities wouldn't exist Yet, often, customer service is not as good as it could be, leading to wasted staff time, frustrated customers and damaged reputation
Public sector organisations often do things a certain way because that's how they have always been done but the CFW gives a fresh perspective on customer service Using both desk-based and
on-the-ground research, the CFW works comprehensively through four quadrants which affect the customer experience: Customer Vision, Customer Insight Metrics, Customer Centric Processes and Customer Service Personality
These four quadrants are thoroughly assessed using tried and trusted iESE tools, developed over more than a decade through our work with the public sector, and the evidence gathered is assessed by experienced iESE consultants with a background in the public sector before the results are fed back through a bespoke report
Using our unique assessment wheel (see diagram overleaf ) we are able to accurately measure performance for each quadrant of the wheel (each made up of four segments) to give a score which tells the organisation how well they are performing for that quadrant The CFW also gives an overall score which shows how well the organisation is delivering customer service in general We can also benchmark the score against anonymised data from other organisations we've worked with
Capacity not dependency: Digitising the CFW
What are the benefits?
Applying the changes suggested by iESE as a result of the Customer Focus Wheel can lead to improved service, reduced waste (processes and staff time) and boosted morale through staff being able to do their jobs better A typical indicative saving by reducing failure demandavoidable contact from customers - is often in the region of £200,000
“From our experience to date I am absolutely sure we are going to see benefits and will achieve what we are setting out to do with iESE iESE has really listened and taken on board the comments of the Chief Executive and our Leader and what they want to achieve ”
Amy Wilton, Corporate Customer Services & Delivery Manager, Sevenoaks District Council
"The CFW allows us to give evidence-based recommendations The proportion of failure demand is often around £200,000 This in indicative rather than guaranteed savings if the organisation addresses the root causes of failure demand "
Dave Downes, Senior Consultant, iESE
Using a low-code platform we have redeveloped the three main tools within the CFW (the Interview Template Tool, the Demand Analysis Template tool and the Staff Activity Analysis Template) into online applications With this platform we are able to get automated statistics and real-time dashboards which display the information and it gives the iESE consultant more time to spend on evaluation rather than data collation
Digitising these tools also gives the potential for clients to licence these tools for their own use in the future The iESE Way is to deliver capacity, not dependency on our services This means we could train staff within a client organisation how to collect customer service data, such as logging customer service contact and how to categorise the outcome, to give us access to a much wider data pool than we can collect during the typical CFW timescales Secondly, allowing clients to tap into these tools will allow them to carry out their own regular health checks on customer service performance
What are the four quadrants and how do we assess them?
An iESE consultant first typically spends a few weeks collecting and analysing relevant documentation from the organisation to help assess performance in each quadrant Overall, this comprises of around 40 different documents Following this, a consultant will spend around a week onsite with the client In this time they conduct interviews with a wide range of staff (these are all set up in advance) In addition, they will look at around 150 demands coming into the organisation from customers and how they are dealt with and they will also undertake an activity analysis of how a cross-section of customer service staff spend their time
1 Customer Vision
• Assessing: Is the organisation clear on its purpose?
• Methods used: Much of the evidence to support this quadrant comes from the written documentation we gather, as well evaluating what we see onsite and evidence taken from our interviews with staff
• Documents analysed: This includes the council's digital strategy and customer access strategy
• Feedback: We feedback on elements such as how easy it is for the customer to interact with the organisation and whether the customer vision is really understood and acted out by employees
2. Customer Insight Metrics
• Assessing: What is the organisation measuring and how is it using these measures
• Methods used: Our Demand Analysis Tool is used to assess this quadrant The iESE consultant listens to customer demand directly by listening into calls, sitting on reception and sometimes going out with different services We capture information about what the customer wants, how it is dealt with, whether the contact is a value
demand (a demand for service, such as I want to know if I'm in the right Council Tax bracket) or failure demand (a demand resulting from a problem, such as bins not being collected)
• Documents analysed: To support our research on Customer Insight Metrics we ask for documentation such as existing analysis demand by the council, customer feedback and budget information around the cost of customer services
• Feedback: We feedback the ratio of value and failure demands and give an indicative cost saving of cutting out failure demand in the final written report
3 Customer Centric Processes
• Assessing: Is the organisation designing everything against what matters to customers?
• Methods used: For this quadrant we do things like customer jour ney mapping through listening into customer service calls and tracking the progress through the organisation
• Documents analysed: The documentation we ask for includes staff sickness statistics and reports on any inter nal reviews/improvement activity
• Feedback: Any process which doesn't add value to the customer is up for challenge We usually find evidence of waste in processes which can be cut This quadrant looks at things like hand offs between departments, for example, and empowering customer service staff to take ownership of enquiries through to resolution While staff might be on their best behaviour while we are listening in, it is about the demand not the employee and how the system is set up for them to resolve customer contact
4 Customer Service Personality
• Assessing: Does the organisation have the right culture and behaviours to be a high-performing organisation?
• Methods used: We get evidence for this quadrant through our interviews with staff, the information from which is entered into our Interview Template Tool, and by undertaking an activity analysis of
CASE STUDY
Winchester City Council
One local authority which has undertaken a Customer Focus Wheel analysis is Winchester City Council
iESE, working alongside the council's internal transformation team gathered significant evidence to inform the review over a one-week period
The overall results were towards the higher end of the mid-scale The council was strongest in the areas of Customer Vision and Customer Centric Processes In particular the council had effective customer principles in place and had also made a number of customer-focused service improvements through its Systems Thinking Reviews However, the analysis also found - as is typical in any local authority - that a significant amount of customer demand observed was due to a failure and was therefore avoidable
The report provided a prioritised improvement plan and found significant scope to further promote existing technology to help customers ‘self serve’ (including the MyCouncil App) and to further develop more direct solutions (e g more integrated e-forms) This highlighted opportunities to meet the priorities in the Council’s Digital Strategy
All findings and recommendations from the report were well received and helped shape the council’s new ‘CustomerSmart’ project, which will review the customer experience across all services “iESE’s expertise and methodology has equipped us with a range of tools that we can use to continually improve our customer experience Whilst working with us these tools have been adapted to meet the needs of the organisation and are being used by our Transformation Team to deliver the CustomerSmart programme,” said Ellen Simpson, Winchester City Council's Corporate Head of Strategic Support
• To download the full case study, please go to: www iese org uk/case-study-winchester
how staff are spending their time, which is input into our Staff Activity Analysis Tool These tools give us automated statistics and real-time dashboards
• Documents analysed: We look for evidence in staff surveys and other relevant reviews and any analysis of how staff time is spent which has already been done by the organisation
• Feedback: By doing this work we can assess whether the right people are doing the right tasks, for example do you need highly-skilled planners to put up planning notices or are there people on the ground who could do it instead, for example
How do we report the results?
As well as a score for each of the four quadrants, iESE delivers an evidence-based written report at the end of the project which evidences what we have seen and the data we have collected and interpreted We are also able to make recommendations for each section of how processes can be improved and are often able to share best practice of work done by other local authorities around customer service too
• To find out more visit: www iese org uk/customer-focus-wheel
On the job: Being an iESE consultant
Dave Downes is a Senior Consultant at iESE
Among the work he undertakes for iESE is delivery of Customer Focus Wheel assessments (see page 3 for more detailed information about the CFW) Here we speak to Dave about what it is like to be an iESE consultant working on the CFW
Q: Do you enjoy your job?
A: "I am passionate about the Customer Focus Wheel and enjoy working with clients on it It is hard work but rewarding work and you enjoy it because you feel like you are making a difference "
Q: How long does the CFW take?
A: "We usually have about two weeks to set up the project and gather the documentation and set up the interviews with staff We then spend a week onsite doing the interviews, customer journey mapping and analysing customer demand We deliver the results around two to three weeks after that "The first day we get onsite early and meet the owner of the project and run through what we are going to be doing for the week and keep them updated through the week Then we are back-toback in demand observations and interviews so we are really in the work "
Q: What do you think staff make of someone listening, watching and questioning?
A: "We are a team of people who have worked in the public sector and we have a real blend of experience and knowledge We can communicate well at the same level and really understand what people are telling us When we do staff interviews our questions are open and conversational - we aim to help people get their points across and try not to make it feel intimidating It is with an agenda but we find we get a level of honesty from people that doesn't come out in staff surveys I think they like feeling listened to "
Q: How do you think an organisation benefits from the CFW?
"Our independent view means we can challenge in a positive way, use examples from other councils and say have you thought about doing it this way? A lot of the time things are done because that is how it has always been done We can add value by helping an organisation see the bigger picture from the customer point of view "We feedback responsively and focus on the big issues We are analytical and comfortable with big data and can challenge with improvement in mind We can show an organisation how to spend less time with highvolume, low-complexity demands, which will allow them to spend more time with vulnerable customers "
Celebrating sector achievements
At iESE we celebrate and promote any best practice we see in the sector. In addition to our annual awards, we have another scheme called Certificates of Excellence, which can be applied for on behalf of a whole organisation, a department or an individual project There are no categories, which means applicants can highlight anything they feel deserves recognition Here we look at three projects which have recently been award a certificate
Cheltenham Borough Council’s Licensing Team
Cheltenham Borough Council’s Licensing Team has led on several innovative and national first initiatives In 2018, the council digitised all of its taxi and alcohol licensing application processes, achieving a 100 per cent channel shift
The legacy manual processes were time and resource intensive, costing £40,565 per annum In 2017, the council was one of 23 projects selected nationally to receive LGA funding to innovate and improve digital service The council match funded the £15,000 awarded and invested this in the online forms and underlying technologies to enable the channel shift in its licensing functions
The solution allows customers to apply and renew licences anywhere at any time The 100 per cent channel shift for taxi and private hire licence application and alcohol licensing applications has resulted in overall savings of £93,000, including:
• legacy process savings of £40,000
• payment processing savings of £6,000
• paperwork (printing/postage/stationery) savings of £15,000
The shift has also resulted in improved performance, with end-to-end processing times improved by as much as 71 per cent, a resource saving of 156 hours annually and improved customer satisfaction rating and feedback
The experience and lear ning of the council has been widely shared across the local gover nment licensing sector, including site visits by more than 20 different local authorities
One crucial element of the project was engagement The council invested time and resource to ensure it was able to support officers and
customers through training, 1-2-1 sessions and stakeholder engagement groups
The council had set a date for 100 per cent channel shift for taxi and private hire licensing of 1 March 2018 It was critical that all officers were fully trained and able to mitigate any potential service disruption and were ready to deal with customer queries The officer and customer engagement work meant the transition from an exclusive paper-based system to a 100 per cent online system was successful with very minor issues
This project is not the only success of Cheltenham's licensing team The management of the town's evening and night-time economy (ENTE) falls within its remit In 2016, Cheltenham’s ENTE achieved Purple Flag status, recognising that the town’s ENTE is safe, well managed and has a diverse offer The town has retained this status since and in 2018 was peer-nominated for a national award in recognition of its ENTE Cheltenham was announced as the winner of the ‘Best in Appeal’ national award for 2019
Additionally, Cheltenham Borough Council became the first local authority in the UK to adopt a Public Spaces Protection Order specifically addressing issues around ticket touts at horse racing events and has also become an accredited provider of training for personal licence permit holders for the sale/supply of alcohol The council also offers safeguarding training to taxi drivers The launch of the accredited training services has reaped the rewards of additional income streams
“It is fantastic to receive independent recognition from iESE for the innovative work of our dedicated licensing team Cheltenham Borough Council is increasingly being acknowledged as a leading local authority for its service transformation and commercialisation work,” said Mike Redman, Director of Environment at Cheltenham Borough Council “We are especially proud to have been awarded the iESE Certificate of Excellence for the hard work and commitment which is delivering better and more efficient services and outcomes for our licensing customers ”
Kent Connects and the University of Kent
The Kent Digital Inclusion Initiative is a cross-sector collaboration between Kent County Council and the University of Kent to deliver accessible and inclusive services across Kent Public Sector and to support
Cheltenham's Louis Krog receiving their award
Dave Downes onsite at Clackmannanshire Council
organisations in meeting their requirements under the new Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations
The new regulations require public sector organisations to deliver fully accessible digital services so any citizen can interact with them without limit All existing websites need to be made accessible by September 2020
The Initiative has been successful in creating mass changes across Kent to provide more accessible services through libraries, local authorities, NHS organisations, universities, parish and town councils and more Kent has also become highly involved with the Gover nment Digital Service (GDS) in directing the uptake of the new regulations nationally
One of the key achievements of the collaboration has been the creation of a toolkit which includes many resources, including: articles on improving digital accessibility, templates created for the auditing processes, procurement, engagement with suppliers, remedial action plans, staff guidance and more
The toolkit has been sent out by Universities UK as guidance to all university Vice Chancellors across the country The GDS has said the toolkit fills a specific gap in guidance available and is the kind of cross-sector “pulling-together” needed as part of a proactive take up of digital inclusion and accessibility
The only cost associated with the toolkit has been staff time for its set up and creation - the content was developed for the collaboration's own jour ney towards better services
The partnership has been continuously working with the GDS to provide further guidance to the sectors For example, the GDS is using the research done by the collaboration to help inform take up of accessibility statements - a requirement for organisations under the regulations
The training and awareness raising work has improved the skills of more than 150 staff across Kent The cost savings of delivering this training inhouse rather than using a third party reaches hundreds of thousands of pounds
The project has meant that accessibility within Kent County Council and the University of Kent are now being considered at the beginning of projects rather than as an afterthought Now, for example, all future services procured have to have an accessibility check before they can be purchased and accessibility compliance is written into all contracts
Another example is that any digital contentdocuments, videos and html - is checked by a web team and must be accessible before it can be published
"We have already seen positive reputational outcomes locally from this and expect the sectors as a whole to be viewed more positively as a result of the Initiative catalysing a national push for more accessible services," said Ben Watson, Accessible Information Adviser, University of Kent "We have
only received positive feedback demonstrating appreciation of our consideration and clear advice and support We believe this will only continue as more citizens find their needs are catered for and that they can have a more positive experience with their local public sector organisations "
One Met Model
In June 2016, the Met set out on an ambitious fouryear transformation jour ney - the One Met Model Its goal was to improve service delivery for London and invest in new and existing capabilities in the face of rising and more complex demand and fewer resources The transformation portfolio included enterprise-wide business design, spanning people, process and technology and business change covering around 45,000 roles across the whole organisation The portfolio consisted of 12 strategic programmes comprising nearly 100 projects and an investment of around £2bn It was underpinned by three strategic objectives:
1) Making every community safer - giving more power and influence in every ward and borough through accountable and visible policing at every level
2) A safer London - tackling the new and growing threats London faces, freeing up resource to deal with these challenges (e g cyber, youth and gang violence) and putting prevention at the heart of everything
3) A transformed, moder n and efficient Met that looks and feels like London and ensures that officers have the right skills, tools and approach to police London effectively This included:
• investing in technology to ensure services are delivered in an efficient way
• a shift in behaviours and culture, from the frontline to the back-office, to empower people at all ranks and grades to deliver smarter and more effective ways of working
• creating a moder n environment for staff and the public by rationalising the estate
Progress in delivering against these strategic objectives has resulted in significant financial savings and has released assets to fund further transformation, including the development of the Met's digital capability A few of the outcomes achieved to date include:
• a new, high-quality website more reflective of the digital society in which we live It offers the ability to report crimes online as well as local information on crime data with linked crime prevention advice, details of the local police team and their activities and direct feeds from social media accounts
for customers, businesses and residents?
Our evidence-based, customer-centric approach ensures that we focus on what matters for your customers, helping you to deliver an improved customer experience
The iESE Service Review:
• Provides a full diagnostic picture of how your service is currently operating
• Brings all stakeholders together to work towards your vision
• Includes a complete set of design principles for how your service could operate differently and assistance with design implementation to achieve your vision
To find out more about our Service Reviews, please go to: www iese org uk/service-review
• a new Telephone and Digital Investigation Unit, which now deals with nearly 50 per cent of all crime reported to the Met, resulting in reduced demand on emergency response teams, allowing them to focus their efforts more effectively
• the brigading of local policing from 32 boroughs into 12 Basic Command Units (BCUs) The BCU model boosts safeguarding capability and preventative ward-based policing It also provides a revised investigative model, with most crimes being investigated by first responders, leading to improved victim care and a more joined-up approach to safeguarding
• significant efficiency savings in back office services, reducing 4,000 police staff roles and changing the delivery model for HR and Finance services supported by a new technology platform
Although significant change has already been delivered, there is much more work ahead The Transformation Directorate - an in-house team of more than 100 permanent employees and attached officers - played a central role in developing the organisation’s strategy beyond 2020, defining its long-term operational priorities, as well as the inter nal capabilities needed to provide the best service possible for the public
The Met has transitioned from consultant-led design, planning and delivery of change to having its own team which is sector leading and with an ambition to be ‘world-class’ Through this it has created a centre of excellence which keeps the Met up to date and at the cutting edge of changes in policing demands, trends and innovation, whilst also providing resource, guidance and assurance to change programmes throughout their lifecycle
Most impressively, it developed this capability whilst continuing to design, plan and implement significant change
Kent's George Rhodes and Ben Watson receiving the award
Representatives from One Met Model receiving their award
Breaking down technology barriers
Digital transformation is currently a hot topic in the public sector and this has lead to more roles being available in this important area In an industry we might mistakenly view as one dominated by male programmers, here we speak to three women working in technology-related roles about how they got into the sector and their experiences of it
Name: Sarah Parker
Job title: Project Manager at Scottish social housing provider Cairn Housing Association
It is about making sure that what you are delivering is helping achieve strategic outcomes and addresses challenges - focusing a bit more on the operations than on the tech itself The tech is the facilitation system to get you there "
The advice I would give a younger me… "There is no rush Take your time to experience lots of different things It is okay to move around "
Highlight of my tech career is…
Name: Jules Maitland, PhD
I didn't plan a career in tech...
Sarah planned to become a teacher but choose to do a genetics degree because she wanted to study a subject After university she started working as a recruitment consultant and then had the opportunity to get involved with designing operating models "Technology was something I almost fell into by accident but since then it has been a natural progression," she says
"Such a huge part of delivering programmes and services are the systems that support them I was given the chance to go to Saudi Arabia to work alongside Ministry of Labour subsidiaries to design a model for getting more women into training and employment It became clear that there was a big gap in the systems to support the delivery of the programme That was my first proper role in technology and from there was no looking back Translating technological requirements between IT and operational delivery teams is where I found my feet When I came back to the UK that was what I wanted to continue doing "
The biggest challenges I have needed to overcome...
"Moving to the Middle East and working to gain respect and lear n a completely different culture and lifestyle is the biggest career and personal challenge I have had Day-to-day there are issues around data security, privacy, gover nance, it is such a huge area of technology Another challenge is the speed of change - you can be working on something and then something else comes along and overshadows it
"Knowing how the technology I've implemented and the operating models, systems and processes I have worked with support services that have an impact on people's lives I like to look for social consciousness in the organisations I work in "
Within the next five years I would like to see this happening in the industry
"I would like to see more investment in educating young people around the opportunities that are available and give them the foundations to enter a career in tech There is a huge opportunity to get involved in tech, not just in coding and development A lot of other roles that have evolved, such as project management, which play such a huge role in the success of technology projects and development "
The future tech change I am looking forward to is
"I am excited to see how some new tech, such as AI, is going to be incorporated and make an impact We are quite a way off it but having a virtual housing officer that can be there through an Alexa would be helpful for the elderly or more vulnerable customers Being able to ask a question and get an answer would be a huge leap forward "
My hobbies include...
"I am a keen climber - it is a complete escape I am also into art and design and baking "
My favourite place is
"My favourite place is anywhere with a beach I am happiest near water and my favourite country is Oman - it's beautiful, has amazing terrain, amazing people and is very calm "
This article has been produced in association with iESE sponsor and low-code and customer engagement solution provider Netcall
Job title: Jules has recently launched a user-experience research and service design firm called All In She is also an associate of NouLAB in New Brunswick, Canada, where she was formerly the Human-Centred Design Lead.
I didn't plan a career in tech...
Jules started her career in nursing before switching to academia at Glasgow University This was followed by a move to Canada, where she has resided for the past ten years, to work for the National Research Council (NRC) After the NRC, she spent seven years working in industry before joining NouLAB She has recently launched her own technology business All In
What the role involves
All In aims to help the public sector include users in the design of technology and public services NouLAB, where Jules is still an associate, brings multi-stakeholder teams together to work on complex social problems, such as affordable housing and economic immigration To give an example, one of the challenges identified during NouLAB’s recent Economic Immigration Lab related to newcomers to New Brunswick finding employment "It can be difficult for them even to get through the screening process because their credentials aren't recognised or the way they describe their skills doesn't resonate with employers," Jules says “To that end, one of the lab teams is developing a digital solution which facilitates the newcomer’s self-analysis and demonstration of their competencies, translating them into terminology a local employer would appreciate " Tech found me...
Jules started out as a nurse but, as a strongly empathetic person, found the role emotionally draining Remembering what had interested her at
school (Maths) and being curious about the growing role of technology and the Inter net (in 1999), Jules undertook a distance lear ning course in programming After this followed community college in Glasgow, followed by a Software Engineering degree at Glasgow University and the a PHD with a digital health thesis
The biggest challenge I have to overcome "The biggest challenge is to convince some decision makers that users should be involved in the design process I’ve come across the argumen that industry leaders, or gover nment policy maker are the experts who know what they’re doing and know what is needed (or should be seen to know what they’re doing) Yes, they are experts, but they aren’t necessarily experts in the lives, values, and needs of their service users ”
The advice I would give a younger me...
"Find a mentor and build a network I didn't realise the benefits of networks when I was younger, such as peer support, opportunities for collaboration and employment Don’t be afraid to reach out, ask questions and be there for others "
Highlight of my tech career is…
"I hope it will be my new business All In As we move through this phase of digital transformation, I think we have a great opportunity to meaningfully engage the public in the design of services and technologies that affect their everyday lives "
Within the next five years I would like to see... "I'd like to see the diversity in the range of people coming into technology continue to grow, in terms of backgrounds as well as demographics There is space and a need for people with creative and humanities backgrounds too We need people who understand human relationships as much as anything else "
The future tech change I am looking forward to is
"I feel mindsets are shifting around technical development for the sake of development I feel we’re at the tail end of a pendulum swing and now feeling the effects of extreme capitalism, consumerism and techno-centrism It feels like people are starting to question it and that we will see a move towards more values-based tech development to help address complex social problems "
If I could meet anyone dead or alive
"My great grandmother was a trapeze artist in Buffalo Bill’s flying circus I think she’d have a few interesting stories to share "
Name: Kate Hurr
Job
title: Digital and Innovation Manager, Cumbria County Council
Kate manages the council website and is responsible for end-to-end service redesign based around digital technology She manages a team of seven.
I didn't plan a career in tech...
Despite being interested in technology, Kate had not planned to work in tech She started out in local gover nment 17 years ago as a graduate management trainee in South Wales Prior to joining Cumbria in April 2016, Kate worked in the area of change, redesign and transformation across a range of areas, including highways, children's services and communications "One of the reasons I was appointed into the post (Digital and Innovation Manager at Cumbria County Council) is that the council didn't want someone with a tech background and for the role to just to be seen as about tech changes It is also about culture and process change so they wanted someone with that broader skills base, not just technology "
The biggest challenges I have needed to overcome...
"Culture is the biggest one Every transformation programme we run has got a culture change element to it We have done some recent work on our skips and scaffolding service so these can now be applied for online We worked with the staff inter nally to completely redesign it and make the process more efficient The team were so heavily involved in that process they felt like they owned it and it was easier for them to make the changes, see what was happening and be involved
"The other two big challenges are resources (both money and people), at a time when the council is having to make massive savings, and demographics We have an ageing population and there can be challenges around supporting our customers in being able to adopt the changes we are making "
The advice I would give a younger me
Highlight of my tech career is…
"The highlight has been the introduction of our low-code solution we are using for our work in Cumbria as it has masses of potential The platform means you don't have to be a developer to use it We can develop our own systems in-house so we are not as reliant on third-party providers to develop systems for us I am really pleased that I pushed for this platform To take that as an idea through to implementation has been a massive highlight for me "
Within the next five years I would like to see this happening in the industry
"There is a big national drive at the moment through the Local Digital Declaration to ‘fix the plumbing’ around the monopoly of providers to local gover nment in terms of software I would like to see that change so that we can start to break down some of the barriers in terms of these big providers I'd also like to see greater levels of collaboration across local authorities, particularly in two-tier areas, and the growth of the low-code platforms which helps give local authorities control over their own destinies "
The future tech change I am looking forward to is
"The growth of voice-activated technology In Cumbria we are a bit behind the curve but it could have some benefit in some of our adult settings for our more vulnerable clients and how we can support them in different ways We also need to broaden our access to younger people We need to be looking at every channel to broaden communication and engagement with our communities "
"Take every opportunity and make stuff your own Always be willing to challenge the status quo Just grasp it and run with it "
My hobbies include...
"My hobby is ultra running My greatest personal achievement, outside of work and my son, is running the Lakeland 50 twice, which is a 50 mile race through the Lake District "
