Prioritising citizen experience in local government transformation

Elle Bell, managing director at SpacetoCo spoke to me at the Government Transformation Week earlier this month about what they do, their experience working in local government transformation.

We also think Elle might be the delegate who travelled the furthest to come to Government Transformation Week, hailing all the way from New Zealand!  

What do SpacetoCo do? 

In Bell’s words “SpacetoCo is an innovative Gov tech platform that works with local government down under to help make it way easier to share community spaces like community centres and halls.” They’re planning to begin working with UK councils in the next year and Bell is attending the Expo to build connections with UK government officials to make that possible. 

Their business has “two halves”, a unique digital marketplace for citizens to find and book venues, focusing on affordable spaces and an innovative venue booking software which manages payments on behalf of councils so that they only have to manage one transaction per month related to rented spaces. This saves “about 80% of manual processes” according to Bell, reducing costs and allowing councils to redeploy resources.      

Ultimately, Bell says their “mission is to just make it super easy for people to connect and do things locally” allowing people to make the most of the spaces near them.

How do you think digital transformation in local government is different to digital transformation in central government? 

For Bell, the biggest difference lies in the procurement practices of central and local government, with local government procurement requiring many separate conversations. Bell recognises the importance of localism in certain areas of government but highlights that for certain services, like space booking, “the problem we're trying to solve is universal.”

Bell emphasises how she would love to see even more collaboration in terms of procurement for digital transformation” and for councillors to consider “thinking more holistically” moving into the future. She notes that multiple councils likely serve a single individual, as they may live and work in different areas, for example. Therefore having a holistic approach, Bell believes, would create a better citizen experience by streamlining systems.   

What is your biggest success story?

SpacetoCo’s largest customer is the City of Cockburn in Perth, who have around seventy venues listed on their site. According to Bell, they’ve reported cutting their customer services call volumes by 62% science introducing the space booking system, significantly reducing the “transaction friction” for the citizen. The city have also reported being able to redeploy staff in their finance department to more “human-centric” tasks as transactions are now automated. 

Bell highlights the value of local government staff being freed up to “collaborate with citizens rather than just transact with them” allowing them to “enhance citizen’s lives.” She goves the example that local government should be more able to answer questions like: “you've got a yoga class and you want to start in our hall, how can we help you promote it?” rather than, you need a venue: “What time is it free? How much does it cost? Can you sign this form?” purely manual tasks which digital technology can automate. 

What has been your key take away from Government Transformation Week?

As a delegate wandering the Expo floor, Bell is “really enjoying the fact that there's such a focus on customer experience” saying this is “awesome” as “If the focus isn't on helping us all live better and healthier and longer (...) what is government for?” 

Bell also made the most of other opportunities offered during Government Transformation Week, watching a presentation on “human centred design” saying she is pleased that others in government digital transformation recognise that you “have to start with the human” when you innovate.