Council IT managers "should lead organisational change"

Socitm says IT heads should play an important role in helping public services organisations to lead and manage major organisational change

By Antony Savvas, London | Tuesday, 07 August 2012
Public sector IT managers' association Socitm says IT heads should play an important role in helping public services organisations to lead and manage major organisational change.

Socitm has published "Planting the Flag: pocket guide 3 - organisational change", the third of Socitm's six guides on the strategic capabilities required for public service reform.
The latest guide has links with the first guide about leadership, and its message that making major change happen in an organisation is more of a leadership than a management job. The guide also focuses on innovation and redesign.

Technology offers "the opportunity to reconstruct service delivery processes in more economic, efficient and effective forms", said Socitm. "Establishing the professional credentials of the head of the ICT function is a critical step in delivering ICT-enabled change", it said.

The pocket guide aims to equip ICT managers with an understanding of current thinking in managing change, and provides a checklist of key actions they must take.

Socitm head of policy and research, Martin Ferguson, said: "We see the CIO or head of ICT taking an important role in organisational change, since exploitation of the information and technology opportunities depends on ICT.

"However, 'politics' will be involved, and the environment will be complex, so players need to show politically-astute leadership and professionalism in order to establish and retain credibility."