Panel

Katy Armstrong, Deputy Director for Digital Services, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Katy leads the Local Digital team at Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. She’s led digital teams at the Home Office, the Valuation Office, and Government Digital Service (GDS).

Rikesh Shah, Head of Innovation Procurement Empowerment, Connected Places Catapult
Rikesh is an innovation expert, guest lecturer at the Royal College of Arts and Harvard University, non-executive advisor at Cities Today, London Transport Museum and See.Sense who joined CPC in October 2023 to Head of IPEC. 

Carol Williams, Director Transformation & Digital/SIRO (Vice President, Socitm)
Carol has over 30 years’ experience working in local government technology, change and transformation.  She is currently director of transformation and digital at Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council. Her areas of interest are delivering excellent customer services using digital means and developing the local government workforce for the future, with a specialism around women in IT. Carol has also been vice President of Socitm for two years, and will become president in June.

Helen Olsen Bedford, Publisher, UKAuthority 
UKAuthority founder, Helen, has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist and thought leader on the use of digital, data and technology in the health and public sector. From September 2013 to March 2016, as part of a contract won by UKAuthority in open tender, she acted as Head of Communications for the then Department of Communities and Local Government’s Local Digital Programme, managing the communications and engagement campaign to promote digital transformation across local services. She is passionate about the use of DDaT for the public good – the ethos of UKAuthority.