A Web Directions event Transform The Government Transformation Conference 2017

Digital promises to transform government: to reshape the relationship between citizen and the state. That's the theory anyway. The reality of working in digital government is often involves more frustration than transformation. Business cases, governance, procurement, policy, programme management: sometimes it feels like you're drowning in layers of bureaucracy before you've even started.

In this session, we'll take a honest look at the way government works and how to deliver value despite of it. If you're a digital practitioner, this session will equip you to deal with the world around you while staying sane.

Digital promises to transform government: to reshape the relationship between citizen and the state. That's the theory anyway. The reality of working in digital government is often involves more frustration than transformation. Business cases, governance, procurement, policy, programme management: sometimes it feels like you're drowning in layers of bureaucracy before you've even started.

In this session, we'll take a honest look at the way government works and how to deliver value despite of it. If you're a digital practitioner, this session will equip you to deal with the world around you while staying sane.

Transformation is hard. It requires resilience and comradery. There is no clear right or wrong way to be successful; instead there are guiding principles to anchor to and contextual decisions to make. In this hands on session, Sarah will introduce you to tools and techniques which form the foundation of affecting transformation, bringing to life behaviours and characteristics underpinning the Digital Services Standard, also weaving in concepts from "Radical Candor" and "The Coaching Habit".

Transformation is hard. It requires resilience and comradery. There is no clear right or wrong way to be successful; instead there are guiding principles to anchor to and contextual decisions to make. In this hands on session, Sarah will introduce you to tools and techniques which form the foundation of affecting transformation, bringing to life behaviours and characteristics underpinning the Digital Services Standard, also weaving in concepts from "Radical Candor" and "The Coaching Habit".

The transformation of government services isn’t really about roadmaps or the latest technology. It’s about people. And to transform anything, you have to start with the culture of how you do things. Collective small actions.

We've seen a huge improvement in the digital approach of governments worldwide - from GDS in the UK to DTA in Australia. But despite the progress over the past few years  there’s still quite a lot of bad things going on. No matter how well intentioned, when it comes to IT government can't stop itself from self-harming.

Over eight weeks (December 2016 / January 2017) Mentally Friendly ran four agile research sprints using co-design and design thinking methodology to uncover insights from NSW citizens to assist and inform the NSW Government's Digital Service Transformation Strategy.

Traditionally, and not only in government, when we've built it, we are done. We launch the site, ship the app, and then move onto the next piece of work. But in a world of digital products, what we ship is just version 1.0, and development is (ideally) ongoing.

But how do we convince our stakeholders that finished is only the beginning, that products need refinement, new features, and need to be living things?

Recently the BOM, long at the forefront of digital development in government, released a new App for iOS and Android (with over a million downloads). Despite this tremendous success, how did the BOM Digital team negotiate the expectation among stakeholders that even though the app had shipped, it needed ongoing investment in its development, especially with the deluge of feedback and feature requests they received from users.

In this presentation Jenny Hunter, Head of Digital at BOM, addresses the challenges they face moving key stakeholders to an agile and iterative product mindset, and techniques they are using to change thinking to being more evergreen when it comes to digital projects.

In Queensland there are over 665,000 people aged 65 years or older – around 14% of the state’s population. The Queensland Government has been working with older Queenslanders to improve access to concessions and the support they need to stay healthy and active for longer and make their money go further.

Transformation is hard. It is complex. It is multifaceted. There is no clear right or wrong way to be successful; instead there are guiding principles to anchor to and contextual decisions to make. In this session, Sarah will walk through examples of transformation learnings, with a particular focus on the importance of People and Culture.

Digital accessibility is important. It is necessary for people with a disability. Australian governments at all levels have endorsed minimum digital accessibility standards. So, why are agencies still producing digital services which do not conform to the agreed Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)?

As of early March, the Digital Marketplace features over 350 sellers, across the full spectrum of digital services. Hear what's new, and coming next for the marketplace, whether you're a buyer or seller of services.

Our goal for service design is simple: we aim to make public services as effective and accessible as possible for our residents. By applying a service design approach that is holistic and highly participatory, public servants can better meet the needs of residents and service providers alike through solutions that consider people, processes, and tools.