Launching the Centre for Digital Local Government

Hello! Welcome to the somewhat grandiosely-named Centre for Digital Local Government!

I’ve been working in and around digital stuff in local government for over two decades now and I am still coming across the same old problems that ought to have been sorted out years ago.

The truth is that the standard of ‘digital’ in all its senses across local government is poorly funded, duplicative, fragmented, and regularly of dubious quality.

Last year I was part of the team that wrote a report into the future of digital in local government, and it got some nice reactions, but not an awful lot of activity.

For me, despite the existence of all sorts of organisations, formal and informal, existing in the space, there has always been a ‘missing middle’ – a centre of gravity where ideas are shared, standards set and maintained, resources collected.

So, this year, I’ve decided to have a go and do it myself.

What is The Centre for Digital Local Government?

At the moment, it’s an alpha, a prototype of a concept of what the missing middle could be.

It’s a website to share that concept and to run some experimental activities to explore what is useful, and what isn’t.

It currently has no legal standing, no funding, and no budget. It’s just re-using stuff I already have access to.

What will it do?

What I am going to do first is start to share some big ideas, new thinking about how digital in local government can be improved across the board, no matter what the challenges are that we face.

The first of these will run for the month of May, entitled Harnessing the Power of Open Source. I’ve persuaded some great people to give up their time to type their contributions up, and to take part in an online discussion at the end of the month.

I’ve also created the beginnings of a library of useful resources. Am hoping this will grow in time to become a really useful place to share and find great practice.

In the future, who knows? I’d like to look into developing some standards around digital in local government, to help people understand what good looks like, and why it’s important.

I might even bring some of my other weird hobbies, like hosting council blogs, into the fold and make that a service offered by the Centre.

What I would like the Centre to be

I’d like the Centre to become a fiercely independent