Highlights from Reboot Britain
10 July 2009
On Monday I went to Nesta's Reboot Britain Conference. It was a very lively event with some interesting sessions on the role ICT can play in reforming public services. Jonty Olif-Cooper, who runs the Progressive Conservatism project at Demos, talked about the need for greater efficiency and innovation in public services to respond to the pressures of demographic change, climate change and the credit crunch. He suggested that technology can help by: improving the existing mechanisms for public service reform (choice, voice etc); increasing local control over services by devolving power; facilitating collective action; and helping to share knowledge about performance and best practice. He didn't address how this would tackle the class divide in access to high quality services, especially given that the middle classes not only have the education, skills and confidence to be able to utilise these opportunities, but are also much more likely to have access to the technology.
Antonio Gould and Matt Marsh ran an interesting session on the importance of involving users when thinking about the purpose and design of a service, not just in the usability testing phase: an interesting point for those thinking about Digital Britain's proposal to move public services online.
Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive at the RS, gave his view on why the internet has so far failed to transform civic society. He argued that the public debate confuses the two different roles of government: an organisation that delivers services and a body that makes decisions. In the former it is broadly reasonable, at least to a degree, for users to have consumer expectations. In the latter a consumerist approach is highly problematic, as people tend to have conflicting aspirations and make impossible demands: for instance wanting Swedish style public services on American style taxes. He argued that the challenge is to find a way to create a space that is not just a vehicle for more effectively voicing demands, but which gets people think about those demands in the context of both their own and other people's competing priorities.
Martha Lane Fox also spoke at the event. She stressed how important it was that we focus on those people who were being left behind, not just in access to technology but in other areas too. She listed some of the benefits that digital participation could bring, such as increased earning potential, increased confidence etc. She argued that we understand these people well now, and that it is time to take action: we look forward to working with her and the Task Force to determine what form that action will take.