Lancashire Chief Digital Officer on 'mandate to innovate'

Taking strides towards the efficiency agenda, Lancashire County Council is empowering council workers with the technical skills and support they need to identify where digitisation can accrue the most value.

Peter Lloyd, Director of Digital at Lancashire County Council, shared with us what it takes to drive a 13,500-person workforce towards a culture of innovation and technical empowerment.

Drawing on his two decades in local government digital transformation roles, Lloyd highlighted that one of the biggest mistakes councils make is adopting a technology-first approach.

“We help people throughout our organisation understand their problems and technology isn’t always the solution,” he underlined.

With local governments across the country trying to achieve more with less, it falls on CDIOs to to drive an inclusive discussion about prioritizing emerging technologies in areas where they can make the greatest impact, Lloyd told us. 

Pinpointing value through shared perspectives

Underscoring Lancashire’s approach to transformation, Lloyd highlighted its shift away from solutions driven purely by technical peers and towards a collaborative, long-sighted understanding of where emerging technologies can add the most value to processes across the organisation.

With Lloyd leaving university with a degree in cybernetics and big ambitions in the space of robotics, AI and augmented reality, he reflected that his two decades in local government taught him the importance of putting people first and technology second.

“It can be easy for digital leaders to just consult their technical peers on how the most exciting technologies can accelerate transition forward, but in the context of a drive towards efficiency, we have to make sure the residents and employees are put first, and we have structures in place to stop that from happening,” he told us. 

These structures bring together perspectives from across social care, education, transport and business strategy with different levels of seniority to inform the picture of where innovation can be used to address project inefficiencies.

“This ensures that the people who understand their business and resident needs the most are able to direct the digital transformation, rather than any technology gold rush,” Lloyd explained.

From the residents' perspective, Lloyd advises building an accessible, digital front door to local services, engaging in product collaboration with residents and constant feedback. 

Digital culture and the mandate to innovative

Cultures of control are one of the biggest blockages to digital transformation in local government, Lloyd told us.

While security is crucial, and creating safe platforms and tools is a priority -  wherever possible employees should be equipped with the skills, capabilities and confidence to solve their own problems.

“We want to empower users with the technical skills and digital capabilities to help solve their own problems," he explains. "I’m a huge fan of grassroots innovation and I would love to get to a place where it’s frontline staff that are the ones driving the creative problem solving through technologies like Power Platform”.

Rather than policing innovation, Lloyd sees his role as creating safe spaces for his colleagues to experiment, fail, succeed and deploy their unique solutions to challenges within their business unit.

Bridging the digital divide through the design process

Uniting technical and business teams in Lancashire's design process is already unlocking value for the Council, noted Lloyd.

For example, Lancashire’s Refugee Integration Team has collaborated with Lloyd’s digital team to create a user-centric case management system for refugee placements in the County.

Addressing the national shortage of educational psychologists, the Council’s digital team are working with professionals in the community to manage their caseloads. As part of this work, care is being taken to ensure that non-technical colleagues are consulted and able to provide feedback on the changes. 

“Administrative responsibilities are one of the biggest lags to their evaluations, so we are exploring how robotic automation and AI to help educational psychologists address the demand for evaluations within the neurodivergent residents of the community."

Even though the technology was readily available in the market, building trust with key stakeholders is crucial, highlighting the significance of collaboration and prioritising the needs of individuals at the core of the design process.

Reshaping governance to put the resident first 

Looking to the future, Lloyd acknowledged that whilst the Council had the capabilities in skills, enthusiasm and network, the current ambition is to develop closer relationships with Lancashire’s district councils to elevate the community focus and accessibility of local services.

“As an upper-tier authority, it’s important we actively work to close the gap between centralised strategy and the front doors through which residents access services. To succeed in this, we need to develop close relationships with district councils and be constantly putting ourselves in the shoes of residents to make that front door is as visible and as easy to open as possible.”

Reshaping governance models to increase interoperability and the personalisation of services will serve this ambition, enabling the districts and County to join up, better understand resident pain points and create a more seamless resident journey. 

Inclusive foundations for innovation mandate

By prioritising people over technology and fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation, Lloyd and his team are empowering council workers to identify and implement digital solutions that truly add value across various services.

This inclusive approach not only bridges the digital divide within the organisation but also ensures that emerging technologies are applied where they can most effectively address community needs.

Looking ahead, Lancashire's focus on partnership and accessibility aims to create a more seamless experience for residents, marking a significant stride towards a more efficient and resident-centric local government.