You better think (tank) think
about what you're tryin' to do to me, think (think-tank)
My Research Project, my little one-man thinktank - BIus - Basic Lawmaking For Legislative Computer Systems - is heating up.
Over the past 9 months I have spoken about 80 odd people, elected politicians, data specialists, testers, Spads, techies, designers of all kinds, think tankers, minsters, journalists, parliamentary clerks, statisticians, lawyers and more.
The target remains to publish a report March time of 2024 and it’s time to take some of my interim recommendations out on the road.
(Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me)
The goal of the project was always to make a set of holistic recommendations around the entire 'assembly line' from manifestos and think tanks, through the programme for government, bills and bill packs, parliamentary process, design, testing, delivery and in-service.
There are 33 interim recommendations under consideration at this point in time and I have grouped them into 6 major work streams:
Capability of the parliament, parties, civil society (4)
Capability of the government (9)
Improved oversight (3)
Institutional underpinnings (10)
Legislation (4)
Local government (3)
Think about what I’m tryin' to do to you
Attached to this post is the foundational working paper: Working Paper 1 - the locus of change which looks at the institutional and constitution architecture required to deliver strategic long-term best-in-world digital systems to support government services.
In January I will be releasing another 4 working papers (with another 3 planned) and more details of the 33 interim recommendations and a schematic roadmap.
The various working papers will be published on this free SubStack, if you are not a subscriber you should consider subscribing:
Come and see me talk about my work
On January 18th I have 4 sessions of 1.5 hours in Victora Quay in Edinburgh, 12 people at a time with mixed groups of practitioners to consider the recommendations in the round. You can register here:
On the 20th January I will be doing corridor sessions at UkGovCamp at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London St Paul's:
https://www.ukgovcamp.com/
There are still interviews and workshops ongoing and I will be doing a 2nd round on the road later in the spring.
Ground rules
In order to protect participants and enable frank and open discussion, let me lay down some rules for participation.
Firstly the proposals are my views and my views alone and do not represent the views of Scottish government.
Secondly, I am asking civil servants to attend in their capacity as professionals and not as representatives of their various Governments. There is no expectation that any contribution by any civil servant is an expression of Government policy.
Thirdly, all the events will be run under the Chatham House rule.
When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatham_House_rule
I look forward to seeing you and do share this post with people you think might be interested in my work.
Download the Working Paper…
The original version of this post had a duff event link - now fixed...