Brighton: The sun sets on socitm2010
IP Performance were among around 50 vendors, VARs and industry sponsors exhibiting at the socitm annual conference this year. Socitm is the association for ICT and related professionals in the public and third sectors. Socitm offers networking and peer support, professional development, and access to research and consultancy on a wide range of policy and technology issues.
Socitm 2010: Tomorrow's public services today was Socitm's annual three-day conference, which was held at the Hilton Brighton Metropole Hotel between the 10th and 12th of October 2010.
The main conference topics were:
- Public Sector IT Strategy in an age of austerity
- The future of local public services
- Crisis, leadership and change management
- Customer management and channel shift
- Driving online delivery
- IT Excellence Awards case studies
- Transparent government and open data
- PSN/G-cloud/Government connect: the local public service perspective
- Smart sourcing: the third sector
- Personal data - asking customers to help
- Shared services; total place
- Embracing 'Big Society'
- Managed Services
- SOCITM and the public sector IT professional
The conference Keynote speakers, plenary and parallel sessions (which included addresses from Martha Lane Fox, UK Digital Champion, and Chris Chant, G-Cloud Programme Director at the Cabinet Office) were well-received, although this did not translate into footfall in the Exhibition Halls. Perhaps delegates were disinclined to engage in dialogue with vendors and resellers in the current climate of public sector austerity, mindful of budget cutbacks and reduced local government investment? Whatever the reasons, and even allowing for reduced attendance, this was the least visited socitm exhibition for many years. It remains to be seen whether attendance, and delegate engagement with sponsors, will improve in 2011 and beyond...
