December 2008

How to build up website take-up

Programme highlights: Latest developments in digital TV and lessons for website take-up, from Operations Manager of DigiTV, using metrics to gain customer insight – latest results from two experts from Directgov and much more about working with customer services to produce effective websites.

Delivering Digital Inclusion - DCLG consultation workshop

The first of two events being run by Communities and Local Government, seeking the views of stakeholders on the Government's new initiative 'Driving Digital Inclusion - An Action Plan for Consultation' which was launched on 24 October 2008. The Secretary of State for Wales and Minister for Digital Inclusion, Rt Hon Paul Murphy MP, and Wayne David MP (Under Secretary of State for Wales and Deputy Minister for Digital Inclusion) will be speaking at these events.

YandH Regional Event 4 December 08

Please note change of date - to be held in Leeds

Digital Inclusion Workshop - London

This Socitm Consulting workshop forms part of a project on Digital Inclusion Skills for the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG). It is aimed at anyone addressing social exclusion or implementing digital inclusion, developing social policy or Local Area Agreements and Partnerships. The event is free to public, independent and voluntary sector delegates.

IT Profession - Techniques for Line Managers Dec 08

A practical course for those involved in the detailed implementation of the Government IT Profession including competency leads, section managers and team leaders that are considering the use of the SFIA framework.

Business Development and Account Management Dec 08

This one day practical course will give delegates a clear understanding of Business Development and account management exploring the role and offering practical approaches, tools and techniques for immediate use.

November 2008

IT Profession - Management Overview Nov 08

Aimed at senior managers, IT service heads and HR professionals, this course provides an overview of the Government IT Profession (including SFIA) and its links to all aspects of service management.

Techno footprint 08

This year’s vital green agenda.This event, a partnership between Socitm Insight, Headstar and the Low Carbon Innovation Network, will help your authority get to grips with an agenda which has become urgent with the publication of the ‘Greening Government ICT’ strategy, which aims to make public sector IT carbon neutral by 2012.

GC Scotland 08

Socitm is supporting this event which Kable is organising. The Socitm Scotland Chair, Alan Kirkwood, will be speaking at this event in Edinburgh.

Northern Ireland Regional Event 21 Nov 08

Details to be announced.

Socitm KPIs and Benchmarking development workshop 2008

At this year's KPI workshop Socitm will be presenting its proposals for a future package of benchmarking services that will enable organisations to ask not only 'How good is the ICT service?' but also 'How well is ICT being used in our organisation to drive change?'. There will an opportunity for discussion and delegates will be able to contribute their ideas around this development.

Digital Inclusion Workshop - Bristol

This Socitm Consulting workshop forms part of a project on Digital Inclusion Skills for the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG). It is aimed at anyone addressing social exclusion or implementing digital inclusion, developing social policy or Local Area Agreements and Partnerships. The event is free to public, independent and voluntary sector delegates and begins with a buffet lunch.

Digital Inclusion Workshop - Birmingham

This Socitm Consulting workshop forms part of a project on Digital Inclusion Skills for the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG). It is aimed at anyone addressing social exclusion or implementing digital inclusion, developing social policy or Local Area Agreements and Partnerships. The event is free to public, independent and voluntary sector delegates and begins with a buffet lunch.

Digital Inclusion Workshop - Sunderland

This Socitm Consulting workshop forms part of a project on Digital Inclusion Skills for the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG). It is aimed at anyone addressing social exclusion or implementing digital inclusion, developing social policy or Local Area Agreements and Partnerships. The event is free to public, independent and voluntary sector delegates and begins with a buffet lunch.

London Regional Event 13 Nov 08

Details yet to be announced

North West Regional Event 11 November 2008

being held at the Tate Gallery, Albert Dock, Liverpool with the theme of 'Managing and Accessing Information'. The event will also include the NW Region's AGM which will be seeking nominations for Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary.

East Midlands Regional Event 10 November 08 (Cancelled)

Meeting postponed until the new year.

October 2008

IT Profession - Techniques for Line Managers

For IT practitioners with line management responsibilities, this is a more practical course, aimed at those who will be involved in detailed implementation of the government IT profession. It will be useful for those already identified as implementation and competency leads. It is also designed for section and team leaders in IT units that are considering using SFIA to implement the government IT profession agenda.

Socitm Conference 2008

Celtic Manor, Newport.

North East Regional Event 10 October 2008

held at Gosforth Park Hotel Newcastle, and sponsored by Sector.

IT Profession - Management Overview

Aimed at senior managers, IT service heads and HR professionals, this course provides an overview of the government IT profession and its links to all aspects of IT service management.

September 2008

East Region Workshop 26 September 2008

being held at the St Johns Innovation Centre Cambridge and facilitated by Government Connects.

Scotland Regional Event 19 September 2008

Held in Stirling, the event covered One Scotland Portal, Customer First, Benchmarking, Green ICT and a Socitm update.

YandH Regional Event 19 September 08

Event Postponed until further notice

East Midlands Regional Event 18 September 08

focussed on ICT-enabled shared services and ICT-enabled service transformation. The event was sponsored by Cisco. Presentations are now available for download.

London Regional Event 18 Sept 08

Details yet to be announced.

West Midlands Regional Event 17 September 2008

held at the Priory Rooms, Bull Street, Birmingham B4 6AF this was a joint meeting with Regional ICT Officers and incorporated the regional AGM and election of officers.

East Regional Event 12 September 2008

being held at Chilford Hall, Linton (Nr Cambridge), sponsored by Siemens and with the theme of shared services and new ways of working.

Northern Ireland Regional Event 12 Sept 08

Details to be announced.

South Regional Event 12 September 2008

The South Region met on Friday 12th September at the Holiday Inn, Guildford with the theme of "The Virtues and Vices of Virtualisation" and sponsored by IBM.

South West regional event September 2008

To be held at Sandy Park Conference Centre, Exeter

Web 2 seminar 10 September 2008

Widgets, mash-ups, tag clouds and user-generated content: all you ever wanted to know about Web 2.0, but were afraid to ask. A one-day seminar at the Natural History Museum London launching our latest report. Every delegate will receive a CD-ROM with a copy of the report and hyperlinks to extensive web resources

August 2008

North East Regional Event 8 August 2008 (cancelled)

Note that this meeting has been cancelled.

July 2008

Solace Strategic Management Information Conference

Socitm is supporting Solace's Strategic Management Information conference, at which Socitm VP Jos Creese will be speaking. The event will tackle some of the issues around data and information management which have been the subject of intense media scrutiny in recent months.

How to build the perfect council website 08

Council websites: helping citizens help themselves. Cutting the number of unnecessary contacts a citizen has with their council is now a stated aim of government policy, and it makes sense all round: improving efficiency, cutting costs and ensuring the citizen receives the help and information they need at the first port of call. Council websites can play a central role in achieving this goal, but they need to understand what users want from them. Event jointly organised by Socitm Insight and E-Government Bulletin.

Cancelled - North West Regional Event 11 July 2008

Note that this event has been cancelled

London Regional Event 10 Jul 08

to be held at the New Connaught Rooms London the event sponsored by Capita will be themed on the IT Professionalism agenda. Speakers include those from the Cabinet Office, LB Lambeth, Leeds City Council, SFIA (tbc).

London Connects 2008 Conference

Socitm is supporting and will have a stand at the London Connects 2008 conference, themes of which are 'Lean, green and personal'.

June 2008

Yorkshire and Humber Regional Event 26 June 08

being held at Leeds and Sponsored by Citrix (venue to be advised|)

Scotland Regional Event 20 June 2008

The theme of the regional meeting on the 20th June was IT Procurement with presentations and workshops run by Procurement Scotland and ScotExcel.

Scottish Regional Event 20 June 08

themed on IT Procurement with presentations and workshops run by Procurement Scotland and Scot Excel.

South West regional event June 2008

To be held at Sandy Park Conference Centre, near Exeter

North East Regional Event 13 June 08

held at North Tyneside’s offices, Cobalt Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne and sponsored by Clarity Information Solutions .

NI Sustainable Services Event 13 June 2008

South Regional Event 13 June 2008

held at the Holiday Inn Guildford and sponsored by Cisco

Channel Value Benchmarking

Channel Value Benchmarking - A better deal for the taxpayer

GC 2008expo

Socitm is once again supporting GC Expo. This year Vice President Steve Palmer is chairing one of the keynote sessions, and Socitm Insight’s Martin Greenwood is presenting a session on customer access together with Nic Streatfeild of GovMetric, Socitm Insight’s partner in the new Customer Access Improvement Service.

East Regional Event 9 June 08

an IP Telephony workshop held at Cambridge.

East Regional IP Telephony Workshop 9 June 2008

being held at St John's Innovation Centre , Cambridge. Socitm East invites its regional members (or nominated representative) to a workshop looking at the opportunities and issues associated with IP telephony.

Social networking and web 2.0

What do the terms social networking and Web 2.0 mean to you? People wasting their time looking at Facebook? A security threat? A risk to the organisation’s reputation? Something that Redbridge Council is doing that Better connected 2008 first and then the Audit Commission applauded with its ‘ground-breaking interactive website’?

May 2008

Innov8 Nottinghamshire 22 May 2008

Socitm East Midlands is supporting this event, being hosted by Connected Nottingham at BioCity in Nottingham on 22 May 2008. The Innov8 Nottinghamshire event will share best practice and bring together examples of innovation that public service organisations in Nottinghamshire and the UK are using today, with the overall aim of furthering collaborative working.

April 2008

Socitm Professional Day April 2008

After our first two professional development days we invited you to join us on 30th April to hear how the professionalism agenda is moving forwards both nationally and within Socitm.

Hitting the spot

Engaging with your customers (A joint SPiN / Socitm Insight event). As the web matures, users expect more and service levels must rise for all whether external customers or internal staff using core information to provide a good customer experience. This conference aims to address methods of monitoring and achieving good service. All speakers are experts in their field, and delegates have an opportunity to hear first hand about best practice and case studies.

Annual General Meeting & Extraordinary General Meeting April 2008

Being held at the British Library.

Northern Ireland Regional Event April 2008

held in Belfast with contributions from the Sopra Group on Data Handling, Siemens on Data Security, Socitm Consulting on Business Continuity and Information Assurance, BT and NIHE on Secure Remote access and Bill Mcluggage on Data Security.

East Regional Event April 2008

held at Chilford Hall (nr Cambridge) the theme of the event was 'Flexible Working and Mobility'

North East Regional Event 11 April 08

held at Gosforth Park Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne and sponsored by Knowledge IT.

North West Regional Event 11 April 2008

held at Preston and featuring CSR07, the Green agenda, CV and Interview techniques followed by Socitm business and peer group discussion.

East Midland Regional Event 7April 2008

held in Loughborough and featured Open Office, ICT strategic regulation, mobile working and a Socitm update.

March 2008

Scotland Regional Event March 2008

held at Stirling Council and themed on data security and sharing.

South West regional event March 2008

To be held at Sandy Park Conference Centre, near Exeter

February 2008

Yorkshire and Humber Regional Event 29 February 08

held at the Guildhall York and sponsored by Siemens, the theme of the event was Digital Inclusion.

Effective ICT Communications February 2008

This course will help you to understand how best to construct your case and that of the ICT department in written reports and presentations. It is not a training course in writing or presentation techniques.

Shared services - Compliance and Procurement February 2008

New one day course.

North East Regional Event 8 February 08

held at Ramsden Hall Hotel and Golf Club, Carville and sponsored by Cisco.

January 2008

Business Development and Account Management January 2008

This one day practical course will give delegates a clear understanding of Business Development and account management exploring the role and offering practical approaches, tools and techniques for immediate use.

South regional event January 2008

held at the Holiday Inn Guildford

Scotland Regional Event January 2008

held at Stirling Council and was themed on improvement, standardisation and shared services.

Transformation of local public services

Raising the game for transformation of local public services: managing efficiency, avoidable contact and customer satisfaction has been organised in the wake of the Spending Review, the 3% efficiency target, the Service Transformation Agreement, and the new National Indicators for local government - including NI 14, on reducing ‘avoidable contact’ and NI 179, the value for money indicator.

Data Management

Socitm would like to invite you to a FREE afternoon briefing session to discuss some of the issues raised around the handling of data in organisations.

December 2007

North East Regional Event 14 December 07

held at Newcastle United Football Club, St James, Newcastle upon Tyne and sponsored by STCS.

ITIL Version 2 to Version 3 Conversion course December 2007

This workshop will give a comprehensive overview of ITIL focussing on the recent updates. The workshop will be interactive, giving opportunities to share lessons to date and to talk through the issues.

South West regional meeting December 2007

We have something for everyone at the last South Region event of 2007 planned for Friday 14 December. Sponsored by BT and being held at Sandy Park Conference Centre.

Web Accessibility December 2007

The eAccess course will focus on the practical issues that UK web designers need to understand in order to meet web accessibility standards set by the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Disability Rights Commission (Under the Discrimination Act - DDA).

Website take-up service workshop

Our programme includes news about how Salford City Council is contending with CSR07 and investigating customer satisfaction with its website. We also have expert advice on customer profiling techniques as well as a review of recent results and an opportunity to discuss the processes associated with the service.

November 2007

Yorkshire and Humber regional event November 07

Held at the Leeds Playhouse and sponsored by Boxing Orange, speakers included Steve Palmer VP Socitm, Professor Paul Foley, Anna Smallwood of Socitm Consulting and Chris Head of Socitm Insight

Techno-footprint - ICT and Sustainability in the Public Sector

We are launching Socitm Insight's next major report on the subject of the environmental impact of ICT at an event promoted by Headstar.

Benchmarking user satisfaction Series 26

Results workshop for Series 26 in Benchmarking user satisfaction held on November 29 (Leeds Town Hall)

North West regional event November 2007

held at Ellesmere Waterways Museum (formerly the Boat Museum) and themed on Virtualisation

Socitm Performance Management Group (PMG) 2007 KPIs workshop

The Socitm Performance Management Group, supported by PTC Software, will be holding the annual KPIs workshop in November at the Old Sessions House, London.

East Midlands Regional Event November 2007

Hosted jointly with Local Government East Midlands at the Pera Innovation Centre in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.

Digital Inclusion Workshop

This Socitm Consulting workshop is for anyone addressing social exclusion or implementing digital inclusion, developing social policy or Local Area Agreements and Partnerships.

October 2007

Project and Programme Management Overview October 2007

This one day workshop will explore the basics for delivering effective Project and Programme Management. This is an introductory overview, for those new to Project and Programme Management. The course will be especially suitable for those who need to understand the concepts, tools and approaches, without needing to obtain certification.

Understanding and Implementing Information Governance October 2007

This is a one day workshop to introduce Information Governance. The workshop will cover aspects of the NeSDS (ICT) standard and go through the LeGSB Information Governance Toolkit. The sessions will include practical assessment exercises enabling delegates to benchmark their progress to date.

iSCAN Level 3 (Manager) Condensed pilot Course October 2007

A 2 day workshop, where the new iSCAN security training and qualifications will be introduced and explained. iSCAN has been developed by Socitm and European partners.

North East Regional Event 19 October 2007

held at HIgh Gosforth Park Newcastle upon Tyne

Socitm Conference 2007

Held in Belfast Waterfront Conference Centre.

National e-Service Delivery Standard October 2007

A one day workshop to introduce the NeSDS – ICT standard, what is it, how to implement it and how to measure progress. This workshop is being run in conjunction with Socitm’s Performance Management Group.

September 2007

Business Development and Account Management September 2007

This practical course will give delegates a clear understanding of Business Development and account management exploring the role and offering practical approaches, tools and techniques for immediate use.

East Regional Event September 2007

being held at Chilford Hall near Cambridge.

South regional meeting September 2007

held at Holiday Inn Guildford

Yorkshire and Humber regional event September 07

Held at York Guildhall with the theme of partnership working. Speakers included Norman Ballantyne of 4Ps, Rachel Blake from North Lincolnshire, David Barrett from Sheffield, Peter Turgoose from Wakefield, Tim Rivett of SYPT Executive, Martin Greenwood of Socitm Insight.

Identity and Access Management

Park Avenue Hotel, Belfast 14 September 2007

South West regional meeting September 2007

being held at Sandy Park, near Exeter

London Regional Event September 2007

to be held in Central London, Sponsored by Public Sector Integrated Solutions

Learning lessons from ITIL implementation

This workshop will explore direction for new Socitm Insight project

August 2007

ICT strategy workshop

Is building or renewing the ICT strategy a task you would rather do some other time? Do you have difficulty getting service managers to engage with the process? Or is the process an on-going task that involves a dedicated person or team on an almost permanent basis? How do you keep abreast of the technology challenges on the horizon? As expectations of what ICT can deliver increase, it becomes increasingly important to get the process right. Socitm Insight subscribers can attend this free workshop to learn about current thinking and contribute to developing strategy frameworks to suit the new agenda.

Managing major change programmes

Organisation transformation is a subject not well understood by some, and is compounded by the belief that transformation can be achieved by mechanistic business process redesign. This workshop will explore direction for new Socitm Insight project

ICT governance

This workshop will explore direction of a new project for Socitm Insight.

July 2007

London regional event July 2007

to be held in High Holborn, London - sponsored by Clara.net

Shared services

Shared services is at the top of everyone’s agenda. It is clear that the next comprehensive spending review (CSR07) and the outcomes from David Varney’s report mean lean times for local government finance, and shared services hold the promise of considerable savings.

How to build the perfect council website

With councils being exhorted to transform services to focus strongly on the citizen; to share services with other councils; and to generate ever larger efficiency savings; it is becoming ever more vital for all authorities to develop highly functional, usable and transactional websites. But what approaches work best, and how to keep up with new developments?

Benchmarking user satisfaction Series 25 workshop 1

Results workshop for Series 25 in Benchmarking user satisfaction held on July 11 at EEF, London

North West regional event July 2007

Managing Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery

Business Development and Account Management for internal and Shared Services

A short course to market and monitor internal ICT services within an authority and to develop effective relationships for Shared Service provision.

Benchmarking ICT service for schools

This event is a special workshop on benchmarking the ICT services for schools designed for all those who have a strategic role in providing ICT services to schools.

June 2007

Yorkshire & Humber regional event Jun 2007

Venue: the Bar Convent, York. The theme of the day will be Partnership working and the event is sponsored by Objectronix.

Northern Ireland regional event June 2007

Citizen Centric Services

East Midland regional event June 2007

entitled Working Together and held at Kegworth, Derby

Better connected intranets

……well-informed employees and transformed services Investment in websites for local public services has to date been targeted on the public-facing website, leaving intranets relatively under-developed. Yet in the longer term service transformation now advocated by the report from Sir David Varney must be founded upon a workforce that is, firstly, well-informed and, secondly, fully engaged with the services to its customers. This is where the intranet has a major contribution.

North East Regional Event June 2007

with an emphasis on regional collaboration and held at Woodhorn Conference facility Ashington Northumberland. Spnsored by Pace Partnership

East regional event June 2007

a workshop being held at Cambridge to look at methods of implementingShared Services

South regional meeting June 2007

held at Holiday Inn Guildford and covering GovX, the Government IT Profession, SOA, Master Data Management and regional collaboration round tables.

Socitm consultation lounge at GC Expo 2007

Socitm is running a consultation lounge during GC Expo 2007, 12&13 June at Earl's Court in London. Four Socitm consultants will be available for consultation, free of charge. You can book a session using the link below. The range of expertise available covers websites and intranets, and ICT strategy and management. Sessions last 20 minutes and are bookable in advance.

Socitm members’ event at GC Expo: the Business Improvement Package

The BIP is a developing initiative from the Department for Communities that is providing support and capacity building to help local authority managers with their work on transformation and customer service. Members will be able to hear more and input into the national consultation process on BIP.

South West regional meeting June 2007

being held at Sandy Park Conference Centre, near Exeter

How to achieve high take up of online services

……and increase customer satisfaction and efficiency gains. In the past three months, Socitm Insight has produced three linked reports that provide well-researched evidence and advice about how local authorities can achieve success with online services, leading to high take-up, efficiencies, and greater customer satisfaction. This work chimes with recommendations in the Varney Report, published in December, that urges public sector organisations to make better and more efficient use of the web and phone channels for servicing customer requests.

How to build Website take-up (Website take-up service)

This event is aimed at all web managers, heads of ICT, e-government programme managers, and marketing and communications professionals in local authorities.

May 2007

SPiN - Socitm Insight - Are you being served

Holywell Park, Loughborough, Leicestershire

April 2007

Socitm Spring Seminar 2007

Stoneleigh Park, near Coventry.

Benchmarking user satisfaction Series 25 Leamington Spa

Results workshop for Series 24 in Benchmarking user satisfaction held on April 25 at Complete Learning, Leamington Spa

North East regional event April 2007

being held at Ramside Hall, Carrville Durham. The event is sponsored by A&O Systems and Services Ltd

Benchmarking ICT in education workshop

Benchmarking ICT workshop in education sector for benchmarking participants on 18 April at Priory Rooms, Birmingham

March 2007

East Midland regional event March 2007

Transformational Government Network - a regional event hosted jointly by Local Government East Midlands and SOCITM East Midlands and sponsored by Symantec - being held on 30th March 2007at the PERA Innovation Centre, Melton Mowbray

Yorkshire & Humber regional event March 2007

Held at the Merrion Hotel Leeds with a theme of transformational government. The event was sponsored by Hyperwave. Speakers included John Blundell from the Cabinet Office Carole Hassan, Chief Executive of Local Government Yorkshire and Humber. John Shaddock from Local Government Yorkshire and Humber, Brigette Giles from East Ridiing and Dylan Roberts from Leeds City. The event was chaired by Mike Weston.

North West regional event March 2007

Security/Shared Services in the North West (or How to survive a Shark Attack) held at the Blue Planet Aquarium, Ellesmere Port. The event was sponsored by Sapphire Technologies Ltd.

Scotland regional meeting March 2007

to be held at Dunblane followed by the Scottish Annual Dinner at 7:30 pm

Cymru (Wales) regional event March 2007

Full Meeting being held at RWAS Builth

South West regional meeting March 2007

being held at Woodbury Park, near Exeter

December 2006

Benchmarking ICT for UK2 workshop

Benchmarking ICT workshop for UK 2 participants on 15 December at Priory Rooms, Birmingham

Benchmarking user satisfaction Series 23 London

Results workshop for Series 23 in Benchmarking user satisfaction held on December 14 at EEF, London

Benchmarking user satisfaction Series 23 Manchester workshop

Results workshop for Series 23 in Benchmarking user satisfaction held on December 12 at SAS Raddisson, Manchester Airport

November 2006

Website takeup workshop

Website take-up workshop on 27 November at Novotel, central Bristol