4.02 — weeknotes — Straight out of the starting blocks….
Well that will be the first full week of 2022 completed then and we have managed to cram in a huge amount this week. As I said last week, really trying to ensure that we drive the changes and transformation that we want to see in Hounslow. It feels like I have covered a lot of areas this week and hopefully have managed to move some of them along, at least a little bit.
Trying to ensure that I am prioritising the right things has been a challenge with the amount of projects and change that I want to progress this year. But I think I have the balance just about OK, with moving current things along whilst trying to have half an eye in the future. Although there are still a number of areas I need to spend more time on…. next week…
Also trying to continue as I have started this year by doing some exercise/going to the gym every day, a good start to the year with a run in Devon when I was there at the weekend and then at the gym most days this week — let’s hope it continues. Although it did scare me when my face popped up on the machine at the gym — clever technology!
We had a LOTI all day workshop on Tuesday, which was going to be a face to face session but, quite rightly, was then held on teams. Was still really good to see colleagues from across London and an opportunity to really think about the achievements over the past year and what LOTI is going to concentrate on in it’s third year — I can’t actually believe we are heading to year three. So much has been achieved.
We were all given the opportunity to pitch a challenge that may be an area of future collaboration for LOTI and I certainly learnt something about myself. Starting the pitch with, “I know this one is a dull one but….” wasn’t going to get anyone excited about it — and it came last in the voting. Although to be fair, ‘Digital and IG Policies’ may not have been the most exiting one to start with (although very important and I will be doing some more on this later in the year!). We had some amazing pitches and was great to bring Simon and Andy to the meeting, and no I am not bitter than Simon got the most votes for his pitch…. Great day!
Thursday was a hectic day with the Digital Strategy Board and the Digital Inclusion Group on the same day. Both were good meetings and both had the chance for some reflections and real thinking ahead into the next 12 months for delivery. One thing that was agreed at the Board was to really drive the Office 365 and skills agenda forwards — there is so much untapped opportunity on the systems that we already have access to that we need to drive this culture change to embrace technology and collaboration — a lot of work to do here!
We also reviewed the entire delivery plan for Digital Inclusion to ensure refreshed for ‘22, colleagues from across the Council came together to ensure that we have buy in and contributions from all areas — a great meeting.
Socitm launched our Public Sector Digital Trends report for 2022 this week. A huge amount of thinking and work goes into this document and it is really useful to challenge thinking on what may be ahead over the next 12 months and the areas that Public Sector IT needs to focus on — definitely worth reading https://socitm.net/resource-hub/policy-corner/public-sector-digital-trends-2022-infographic/
Ending the week carless, an annual service turning into being without the car for a week whilst they repair a major oil leak! No obvious signs either and you’d think that with the amount of computers and electronics in the car there would have been a little light somewhere on the dashboard — nope!!!
Tune of the Week: Faithless, David Guetta — God is A DJ (Official Visualiser)
