Socitm's Nadira Hussain wishes the brilliant women in public sector digital, data and technology a happy International Women's Day
There is no time like the present to build on the monumental efforts and positive outcomes of the sector's response to the pandemic over the last year – and International Women’s Day seems the perfect time to acknowledge the role played by brilliant women in the public sector digital, data and technology community (DDaT).
The sector has created an environment and a work ethic that has transformed the way in which we deliver services to the people in our communities who need them the most. Our collective mindset and attitude have had to acclimatise to thinking and behaving very differently; we have become far more receptive to change through the deployment and use of technology and collaborative platforms, adopted agility and flexibility as standard practice, enhanced our approach to working in partnership to deliver better outcomes and targeted and provisioned our services for the most vulnerable people in our localities.
In local government have achieved a huge amount of change in a relatively short space of time; developing and establishing new services within days rather than months. Across central government, police, fire and the NHS this achievement is mirrored.
The role that women have played in this has been key. Surely, now is the time to build on momentum and create the means by which we can instil interest and enthusiasm to continue this innovation and transformation - and encourage more women to enter the sector.
Brilliant women in DDaT network
At both Socitm and UKAuthority we want to encourage our leaders and colleagues to continue to build the trust and confidence within our organisations that we have already achieved, to plan the onward investment in technology, digital services, data insight, skills and service design, and to really focus on creating public services that can be consumed by everybody.
We want to emphasise the importance of our places and divert our efforts to creating robust relationships, partnerships and improve local outcomes; to co-design and co-create services that meet the needs of our citizens, champion the health and wellbeing of our communities and address the social inequality that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
In particular, we want to champion diversity and encourage more women to join the good fight. To this end, Socitm and UKAuthority are creating a network of brilliant women - where, as a community, we can share experience, mutual support and help mentor the next generation of brilliant women in the public sector DDaT community.
Our network is creating a trusted and supportive space for us to collectively benefit from the wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise that we have between the phenomenal women that have already joined the forum. We share our challenges, frustrations and concerns and celebrate our heroic stories, achievements and lessons learnt that we can all review and apply from our own personal perspectives.
Building momentum
Two meetings in and it’s simply incredible to have the opportunity to hear from and see so many professional and intelligent women; it’s a real privilege to belong to this community.
In creating this network, we will continue to build our collective confidence and show case our ability to make a difference to public services. Channelling our positive energy, passion and determination to succeed, we will demonstrate how we are credible and reliable women that are able to deliver huge benefits to the teams and organisations that we work for and the communities that we serve.
We want to put the spotlight on the network today in celebration of International Women’s Day and take the opportunity to applaud our colleagues; recognise their contribution to the workplace and in their private lives, for sharing their experiences, encouraging others, extending friendship and warmth and through helping create a safe and secure environment where others can feel comfortable and thrive.
Join us!
Our next virtual meeting of the forum will take place 29th April 21, 4:00-5.30pm, during Socitm's Share National - Leadership, Diversity & Skills 2021, where we will be discussing the topic of diversity and inclusion; the importance to creating public services that work for everybody. To join us please follow this link and register for the session.
Please note that this network is for public sector employees only, and that by registering for this meeting, you will also automatically receive an invite to the network’s Teams channel. We will be using this forum in support of the network alongside regular virtual events. Do take the opportunity to review the list of planned events and volunteer for participation.
We need the voices of our phenomenal women to be heard!
#ChooseToChallenge #IWD2021
