Reimagining London’s Public Services with Tech, Data & Innovation at the IET

On Wednesday 11th September, as the digital lead for Local Government at Starfish Search, Rosalind Lambert had the pleasure of attending Reimagining London’s Public Services with Tech, Data & Innovation at the IET. It was an incredible event with Eddie Copeland, Director at LOTI, as key speaker. 

Eddie gave a great lecture on the future of Local Government and how using data and technology to innovate we can really improve lives of our communities, as long as the people, the users, are taken along on this journey. Tech is not just a waving a magical wand and implementing a new system, especially where digital poverty exists. We need to be able to firstly lift our communities out digital poverty before innovation can truly happen. Additionally, it is important that Borough’s work together, sharing ideas, data, costs and innovations as the solutions affect all Londoner’s as relatively few citizens live and work in one Borough and this is where LOTI has its maximum impact. 

That said, innovation and the art of imagination of what we can do has started to have positive returns. The South London Partnership is using IOT sensors for preventative measures for flooding, RBKC are using generative AI to assess and prioritise resident spotted graffiti for cleaning, Brent is starting to use AI to write up case notes in social care freeing up valuable time, and Harrow is using a visual AI tool to reconcile advertising hoardings with business rates, resulting in capturing lost revenue. Outside of London Swindon has reduced its translation costs by 99% through using Google Translate and has increased public engagement by being able to communicate in citizen’s native language. 

Against a background of cost cutting there are some great ideas and innovations taking place not only in the capital with this month Sunderland City Council’s Digital Inclusion Programme winning the Community Improvement Award at the Connected Britain Awards. Sunderland have helped over 200,000 residents’ access vital digital services and have doubled full-fibre connectivity across Sunderland in just 12 months. Long may it continue. 

Should you wish to have a chat about your digital transformation journey, please contact the team at info@starfishsearch.com.

Starfish & City CV presents – Expert Interim Talent: How to Launch Your Portfolio Career

Ready to break free from traditional employment and embrace a dynamic portfolio career? Today's business landscape demands agility and specialised expertise. Discover how to leverage your skills across diverse, high-impact projects, gaining unprecedented flexibility and autonomy.

Why we should all be doing more to celebrate leaders in 2025

What does it really take to lead organisations in 2025? The question has been in my mind for a while, prompted partly by the state of flux we continue to find ourselves in. I’ve also been speaking for many months now to chief executives about the challenges they’re facing and their personal and professional struggles as they try to forge a path forward. Some are more open than others, yet their comments can still make me stop in my tracks.

Celebrating New Leadership: Announcing Starfish Search’s 2025 Promotions

At Starfish Search, we believe in the transformative power of skilled and principled individuals to shape successful organisations. We are therefore delighted to announce the promotion of four exceptional colleagues, each of whom exemplifies our values of integrity, professionalism, and inclusive leadership.

ACCREDITATIONS

espo
espo

ESPO is a public sector owned professional buying organisation (PBO), specialising in providing a wide range of goods and services to the public sector for over 40 years. Starfish Search has been awarded a place on ESPO’s Strategic HR Services framework (3S). Services we offer under the framework include: Lot 1, Executive and Managerial Interim Recruitment Lot 2, Executive and Managerial Permanent Recruitment.

espo
espo

Starfish are proud to be certified Disability Confident Committed. This scheme provides employers with the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace.

espo
espo

Crown Commercial Service supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. In 2020/21, CCS helped the public sector to achieve commercial benefits equal to £2.04bn - supporting world-class public services that offer best value for taxpayers. Starfish Search has been named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s Executive and Non-Executive recruitment. Services we offer under the framework include: Lot 3 - Non-Executive and Public Appointments.

espo
espo

Bloom, launched in 2012 is the UK’s leading marketplace for professional services. They provide an end-to-end solution for the procurement, contract management and payment of all professional services, via the compliant NEPRO³ framework. Their public sector clients have access to 20 professional services categories and over 4500 accredited suppliers. Bloom provides swift routes to market via either direct award or mini competition. Starfish is an accredited supplier to BLOOM; our services can be accessed via this framework - Executive and Non-Executive Search and Interim Management.

Join the starfish team

We hire people who bring insight, integrity and ambition to their work. If you’re ready to contribute to shaping the future of leadership and you want to explore our current opportunities please click the link below.

find out more