Financial leadership essential to achieving public sector digital transformation - CIPFA

The joint publication, Finance’s Role in Public Sector Transformation, sets out the key steps to ensuring the readiness of public bodies, so that they not only achieve the benefits of new technologies, but also understand the risks.

The publication is the result of a series of round tables and a survey that CIPFA and Eduserv ran involving over 230 public sector finance professionals and which examined the role of finance teams in enacting digital transformation across public bodies. This research show that while the majority of organisations recognise the need to transform digitally, significant challenges remain in place, including legacy IT systems, staff IT capabilities and capacities, along with financial constraints.

Successful digital transformation depends on a combination of effective digital leadership, wider organisation engagement, insightful risk management and a joint approach across professional areas to remove obstacles that inhibit change. Jude Sheeran, Eduserv CEO, said: “Finance leaders should be at the very heart of digital programme management and wider transformation. However, they should not be expected to be experts in digital technology, in the same way that technologists rarely build their careers by focusing on business and finance. “Our research shows that finance professionals see a priority in forming partnerships with IT leaders and the corporate leadership team. Through the resulting convergence of business and technology, we hope to see dramatic improvements in the relevance, quality and cost of public services at the dawn of a truly digital age.” Rob Whiteman, CIPFA CEO, said: “Digital technology is advancing at an increasingly rapid pace and public service providers must adapt to and adopt these changes if they are to remain relevant, optimal and sustainable. “For public bodies, digital transformation is more than a revamped website, unified communications, a new CRM system, a Facebook profile or giving employees iPads. It’s fundamentally changing the way that organisations design and deliver services and how they operate internally.”

To read the report, click here.