Canadian Government Executive - Volume 21

/ Canadian Government Executive

// November 2015

arlier this year I wrote about

two of the ingredients for digi-

tal success that must become

part of the DNA of government:

putting user needs first and changing by

doing.

But if we are to close the gap between

the expectations of citizens and the real-

ity of the digital service experience that

they get from government, there’s a third.

We must get the right, empowered lead-

ership in place; without it, the first two

are just ideas.

Yvonne Gallagher, the UK National Au-

dit Office’s Director of Digital Value for

Money, observed recently that “the main

challenge in creating new digital models

is with the business leadership and ca-

pacity and capability in government.”

“Our job is to serve the public and we’re

failing,” said Australia’s Digital Chief Paul

Shetler recently. “If Amazon did that,

they’d go out of business.”

Two decades on from Amazon’s launch

in 1995, digital disruption is hardly new

or surprising. And yet PwC’s 2015 Global

Digital IQ Survey found that while there’s

now plenty of talk about digital disrup-

tion, there’s still a corresponding lack of

action. It seems that executives are not

putting their money where their mouths

are.

Talk is cheap. But while funding can be

a challenge, it’s just one of many excuses

that executives hide behind when it comes

to tackling digital transformation. In most

cases, digital public services can be de-

livered at a fraction of the cost of their

analogue equivalents. Action requires

leadership. And that’s why, wherever you

see government taking steps to put user

needs first and starting to change by doing,

there’s a leadership story to tell.

Tom Loosemore, one of the best minds

working in digital government today,

gave an inspiring talk at the 2015 Code

for America Summit on how transform-

ing our public services is about more than

rethinking how government should pres-

ent itself on the Internet, pointing out

that “transformed digital services require

transformed digital institutions.” This is

about being bold enough to institutionally

reinvent our public service to be “of the In-

ternet.”

Even in those countries that have made

real progress, the need for such a radical

reinvention is yet to be fully understood.

As Loosemore says, “it will require bold,

brave, reforming leadership from the cen-

tre; leadership with the conviction, com-

Innovation

Key to Digital Service

Transformation:

Leadership

mitment and authority required to success-

fully challenge the shape, the size and the

dominant culture of [the public service].”

But what do we mean by digital leader-

ship in government? Is this about Minis-

ters? The boardroom, or executive team?

Are we referring to new skills for existing

leaders? Or new leaders who come armed

with digital skills acquired elsewhere?

Does it mean bringing in digital special-

ists? Mainstreaming digital capability

through the wider public service? The sim-

ple answer is yes, in one way or another, to

all of the above.

Resetting every level of government to

put user needs first, deliver smaller, de-

liver faster and deliver often requires real

culture change. In turn, that presents a

real leadership challenge. And since cul-

ture flows from the top, if we truly want

to transform government, that’s where we

start.

Back in 2010 I presented the idea of a

“digital first” approach to some key groups

inside the UK’s Ministry of Justice (MOJ).

The feedback was negative. I was “naïve”. It

was “never going to happen”. I went ahead

and pitched the MOJ board on the fact

Roger

Oldham