Another digital conference - why bother? - KHUB Focus

Thanks to Liferay for this guest blog about their recent digital transformation white paper and their forthcoming conference on 3 November. (You can find the exec summary of the white paper here.) Complimentary passes to the conference are available for KHub members, so read on to find out more...

Earlier this summer we flagged up an infographic that was the result of 200+ public sector practitioners completing a survey about digital transformation.

It revealed some things we knew, and some we didn’t:
•    Budget remains the greatest driver for digital transformation
•    Organisational change (not technology!) is our biggest roadblock
•    One in three have no unified digital strategy

Survival of the fittest

In order to survive everything from budget cuts to changing customer expectations and advancing technology, organisations need to adopt and adapt to an entirely new approach:

•    Commit as an organisation to digital transformation. Start by helping all staff understand the benefits of creating the best possible digital experiences for citizens.
•    Understand the key expectations that end-users have, and opt for open source technology to maximise the value of legacy systems.
•    Reassess the strategy behind staff recruitment and retraining in order to develop teams with high levels of digital expertise.

People, not technology.

Whether your pain point is the customer journey or staff buy-in or something else altogether, understanding people is the key starting point. Digital transformation starts with people and is a process that is facilitated by technology, but not the technology itself.

The survey revealed that 0% of respondents believe they are near the finish line of achieving digital transformation – and indeed over 60% are only just starting out or in the foundational stages. With such a diverse range of organisations at hugely different stages in the journey, there is a lot of wisdom and best practice to be learned.

In response to the survey, Liferay are hosting a dedicated roundtable for the public sector at their annual Forum. Held on the morning of 3 November in central London, there’s no sitting back and watching a slide deck here. The aim of this roundtable is to facilitate networking and truly valuable exchanges. Knowledge Hub members are invited to attend and contribute (and are welcome to attend the rest of the conference too). Complimentary passes are limited to 10 places, so sign up now with code KHUB by following this link and select “Register”. See you there!