Steve Fleming
Steve Fleming, Chair of the Digital 20/20 Public Sector Special Interest Group, looks at technology’s role within public service transformation, and the significant economic opportunity it presents for the Yorkshire and Humber region.
‘Technology shouldn’t just automate existing processes, it should change them.’ There are two sets of things to consider when looking at public sector transformation: How and What.
The How involves changing the model to move away from a management view towards a customer view, so that services are focused on citizens. The key question is, can broadband technology really change the way that public services are delivered, and how the citizen engages with those services, or are we just using technology to automate bits of existing processes, rather than transforming them in the real sense of the word?
The What involves a wide range of important issues, such as health, education, competitiveness, worklessness and inclusion. These issues are all big areas of public expenditure, so it’s important to ask the question, is it effective enough? In particular, I’m interested in how we can connect. The Digital Inclusion agenda is an important one for Hull, and one in which we are engaged nationally, with the DC10plus.
The Economic Opportunity
The application of technology in transforming the public sector is opening up significant economic opportunities – Microsoft, for example, thinks that health is a market with significant growth potential – and our region is steadily building an international reputation in this arena.
There is a role for Digital 20/20 to focus on what’s happening in demand for innovation and make sure that the region’s businesses are thinking about those markets and have the right skills, knowledge and relationships to take advantage of the opportunities.
Special Interest Group Focus
I hope that by having a Special Interest Group for the public sector we’ll be able to provide a more coherent view of how public sector innovation can be enabled by technology and how we can use it to address issues of inclusion and transformation.
By looking specifically at what is happening on the ground, we can start to understand better what the business and skills requirements really are. We need to bring forward and connect up with existing areas of innovation and demonstrate where things are happening, so that the public sector can understand what it could be doing.
I believe that we need to be practical – to look at what is real and touchable and how that connects with economic opportunity. It’s about showing ‘best doing’ rather than talking about ‘best practice’.
The STREAM project
So where does the STREAM IPTV (Independent Living) project fit into all this? Firstly, STREAM personal TV is a great example of how to tackle the issue of digital exclusion. Sending media-rich information to traditionally hard-to-reach audiences via the TV, effectively creating a two-way dialogue between users and service providers, so that users actually start to influence the way that services are delivered – that’s real innovation. What’s more, the service can play a key role in the delivery of individual budgets, which is high on the Government’s agenda.
The monitoring service, STREAM Safe and Sound, is another example of the smart use of broadband technology in helping to transform and improve people’s lives. The vast majority of older people want to stay in their own homes as long as possible, and a broadband-enabled monitoring system, which is always on, will help healthcare professionals to support them more efficiently, and provide reassurance to relatives and carers.
The STREAM project is part of a wider Telehealth agenda in Hull and East Riding, and it’s a striking example of the sort of technological innovation coming out of this region. The recent announcement by Cabinet Office that STREAM is a Flagship eInclusion project, and will represent England at the European Ministerial eInclusion conference in Vienna at the end of the month, shows that we’re quite capable of punching above our weight.
Steve Fleming has spent over 20 years working in a variety of roles in economic development and policy innovation, primarily in City Councils.
