Skills

More for less: three cheap ideas to do now

I’ve been chatting to quite a range of folk grappling with the issue of what to do – on a shoestring – in the digital space with their Department in this brave and uncertain new world. It’s fair to say … Continue reading

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The Coalition: what now for digital?

So, a week into a new kind of government, what does the outlook for digital look like? In terms of public sector IT at least, it looks broadly as through the principles and plans outlined by the Conservatives over the … Continue reading

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Ada Lovelace Day: A new kind of civil servant

It’s Ada Lovelace Day, an international day of blogging to draw attention to the achievements of women in technology and science, and I’ve taken the pledge to write about a female heroine of science or technology. My everyday heroine is … Continue reading

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Au revoir

Shortly after the forthcoming General Election, I’ll be leaving the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Tomorrow will mark my second anniversary of working at BIS, and its predecessor, DIUS. It’s been a fantastic couple of years, which has introduced … Continue reading

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Unpacking the world of digital in government

Recently, I was in a meeting of government communicators at the leading edge. The discussion was informed, and mature; the examples innovative and and impactful. Though the group had diverse backgrounds in Press Offices and Strategic Marketing, they were all … Continue reading

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The rules of Intranet Club

Yesterday at work, we hosted the first meeting of intranet club, bringing together intranet managers from 12 central government departments for a show and tell about design decisions, technologies, user involvement and project management. It was a fascinating couple of … Continue reading

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Should you learn to code?

I was never a born project manager. I didn’t have the organisational skills, the discipline or indeed a sufficient dislike of my colleagues to want to inflict upon them the highlight reports, gantt charts and benefits realisation plans needed for … Continue reading

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What machines think people do: a basic primer on web analytics

In a previous life, I once wrote: Fundamentally, evaluation should be about measuring performance objectively in order to make improvements: measuring: involves a process for collecting, recording and sharing data, perhaps from a number of sources, or of different types … Continue reading

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So what do *you* do?

At some point, there always comes a new Big Cheese. Could be a new senior manager, a potential client… or even a new set of ministers. If you’re in the lucky position of having a slot in their diary to … Continue reading

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