We will be running 12 fantastic breakout sessions at the Socitm Annual Conference. Delegates are invited to attend one of the Day 1 afternoon sessions (A-D), one of the Day 2 morning sessions (E-H) and one of the Day 2 afternoon sessions (I-L). Please read the descriptions below and make your selections here.

Day 1 Afternoon Sessions (14:45-15:30):

Session A - Transform, collaborate and become more mobile (sponsored by Cloud Technology Solutions)

Find out how you can enable your organisation to transform, introduce innovation and secure mobile working. Collaborate more effectively and efficiently both inside your organisation and with partners. Provide staff with easy to use tools and become truly mobile while also centralising and securing your data with powerful administration and audit capabilities.

See how Google Apps for Work has developed and now provides information rights management and mobile device management in addition to the powerful and proven real time office productivity tools and email.

Like what you see? Then visit the Google bus today to find out more and see the technology in action and get hands on.

SPEAKER: James Smith, Head of Public Sector, Cloud Technology Solutions

Session B - Collaborate to innovate: The digital transformation of the Public Sector (sponsored by O2 in partnership with Box)

During this session O2 and Box will look at how the digital transformation is enabling the Public Sector to do more for their citizens. O2 and Box understand the pressures placed on the public sector to reduce costs whilst improving operational efficiency. We believe that through our ICT, mobility and mobile solutions, we can enable greater efficiencies and deliver value through digital technology and shared services. O2 will look specifically at how Public Sector has adopted digital and Box observe how mobility and collaboration play a part in supporting this. There will also be an opportunity to view and discuss how this has worked on three separate occasions with organisations from across the country.

SPEAKER: Julian Evins, Strategic Client Manager, O2

SPEAKER: Justin List, Head of Public Sector, Box

Session C: Sharing: The key to the networked society (sponsored by Verisec)

If you think about it, the essence of the digital revolution is about sharing. The cost of sharing digital information gravitates to zero and the same goes for services if they are delivered and shared on a digital platform. The benefits of sharing extend not only to delivery of citizen services and efficiency in the workforce, but also to collaboration between authorities. Sharing infrastructure and applications is the way forward to provide better public services and more efficient workforce while at the same time meeting tough budget cuts. In this session Dragoljub Nesic explores how to make the most out of the “sharing tools” - cloud services, mobile apps and online information resources – without putting integrity and control at risk and doing this in a PSN compliant way.

SPEAKER: Dragoljub Nesic, SVP Strategy & Business Development, Verisec

Session D: Digital devolution: The ambition vs the reality of digital transformation delivering better public services (sponsored by Atos)

During a recent speech, David Cameron outlined his vision for a smarter UK state. He spoke of how the smart use of tech can develop better public services for citizens whilst driving efficiencies across government. To achieve this vision, the Prime Minister recognised the contribution of digital and how the better use of technology has helped to drive efficiencies across the public sector.

Opened (and chaired) by Kulveer Ranger, previously the Mayor of London's Director of Transport Policy, and Digital London, the panel will discuss the PM’s ambition on how digital transformation can deliver better public services in an era of devolution, and debate the reality of how this will be achieved by Local Government.

SPEAKERS: Chair: Kulveer Ranger, Director of Digital Public Services, Atos

Panel member: Geoff Connell, Director of ICT - oneSource on behalf of LB Newham and LB Havering

Panel member: Sean Green, Head of ICT, Customer Services and Transformation at Tower Hamlets, leading on Digital Strategy and Delivery

Panel member: Jos Crease, President of British Computer Society and longterm CIO & CDO

Day 2 Morning Sessions (11:45-12:30):

Session E: Empowering users in Public Sector to deliver great citizen services (sponsored by Microsoft in partnership with Kelway)

In this session, Microsoft and Kelway will discuss how Public Sector organisations are empowering users to achieve more. We live in a world that is rapidly transforming, Government organisations are having to meet tough agenda challenges while delivering and meeting citizen expectations. Microsoft and Kelway will outline some industry observations and then share some experiences of how Government organisations are challenging their own business processes to achieve transformational outcomes.

SPEAKER: Guy Smith, Solutions Architect, Kelway

André Worwood, Local & Regional Government Manager, Microsoft UK

Session F: Shared Service Management: How to Start Sharing Services (sponsored by TOPdesk)

Our speakers will be discussing the concept of sharing services and using IT to facilitate this interdepartmental collaboration. This presentation draws on research conducted by SDI and their report entitled 'Merging Desks, Shared Service Management'. Key findings from this research will be expanded upon and illustrated with real-world experiences of implementations at a variety of organisations.

A good example of such is the idea that an organization’s employees shouldn’t have to think about which service desk to visit to get something done. Should you go to the IT or Facilities desk if you want your phone fixed? And what about if you want to book a room with a projector for a meeting?

One service desk for all supporting departments doesn’t just make things easier for the employee. It’s also simply cheaper to process all service requests in a single tool. But why does this trend seem to be so slow in making headway? Part of the problem is that the cultures in these departments are so different that they don’t seek one another out. But maybe they can get used to each other over time. And this – when you consider how they will increasingly share services, process and tools – seems inevitable.

Speakers: Luis Soares, Head of Account Management UK and Rafael Oliveira, Head of Consultancy UK

Session G: The strategies and technologies needed to be ‘digital by default’ (sponsored by Squiz)

Changing citizen behaviour, central government demands and cost saving imperatives have made the digitalisation of public services the only viable option.

However, overhauling the way that services have been delivered is not straightforward with systems, people and processes in-place needing a complete re-examination in order to create a strategy that can take government bodies into the digital-era.

During the session, you’ll hear about and discuss how you can:

• Form a viable strategy that delivers digital-first, self-service experiences
• Implement an interwoven network of technologies to reduce costs and increase efficiency
• Humanise digital experiences
• Provide an agile mobile service.

SPEAKER: Steve Morgan, Managing Director, Europe, Squiz

Session H: How City of York Council's belief in a digital transformation led to a revolutionary enablement of services, delivering significant savings (sponsored by Pinacl Solutions)

In York, technology is an economic and civic game-changer. Living there you have free WiFi at your fingertips, exciting job prospects in a thriving tech/information sector, a UNESCO-designated digital arts scene and the opportunity to shape our communities like never before.

This digital transformation is breathing new life into many of its Council services, from libraries and support to schools to waste and recycling. It is also the backbone of our care package from youth through to independent living in old age.

The Council is committed to ensuring everybody benefits from the digital revolution in York and the relationship between city, citizens and businesses has become even closer in recent years:

• Libraries re-imagined as Explore York for multi-centre learning alongside traditional library services
• Network of Gigabit linked Community Hubs, Sheltered Homes and Care Homes with access to free Internet, providing a focus on community engagement and addressing the digital divide.
• Pioneering enablement of free WiFi York is now providing free and reliable 24x7 WiFi across the heart of the City, Park & Ride terminals and public spaces.

The high profile migration into a new HQ has been one of the most significant and critical key success factors to the accommodation reduction programme. A robust and agile fixed & wireless infrastructure is essential to support current and future organisational work space requirements and to sustain new modes of working. Over 850 employees now work remotely every day without additional stress to the information system, allowing the council to cut permanent office space and associated overheads by a third and increase employee satisfaction.

Share our approach to sourcing a flexible managed service contract and the decision to chose Pinacl, a bold move away from traditional suppliers, but demonstrates how an imaginative local authority can, with committed partners, transform itself and exceeded all expectations.

SPEAKER: Roy Grant, Head of ICT, City of York Council & Mark Lowe, Strategic Relations Director, Pinacl

Day 2 Afternoon Sessions (14:00-14:45):

Session I: The Digital Disruption has happened (sponsored by Arcus Global)

3 Local Authorities 1 panel

Learn from Councils in an open forum how they have delivered a successful IT Digital Transformation Strategy

At this year’s Socitm Conference, come along and join a one-time session.

Hear from Councils with differing requirements about their transformation journey:

• Why they chose innovation partners
• Where they started
• How it’s going
• How they have managed governance and security
• The goals insight

Panellists will discuss the changes they have made and their transformation agendas and attendees will have the chance to ask key questions and offer their own thoughts in this interactive session.

SPEAKERS: Richard Godfrey, Assistant Director, Peterborough City Council

Alan Evans, Head of IT, Aylesbury Vale District Council

Stuart Mitchenall, Head of Business Services, Tandridge District Council

Session J: Why a solid cloud integration strategy is right for the Public Sector (sponsored by Logicalis)

In this session the importance of a strong cloud integration strategy is discussed, with a focus on the advantages that this brings to the Public Sector.

As the world continues to make its way deeper into the digital era, the need for IT services to be always-on, accessible from anywhere and yet still be delivered in the most efficient way is becoming the standard objective for any citizen-focused organisation. Cloud services will continue to play an ever increasing role in delivering these services. Cloud integration is a common challenge where the relationship between Business, IT and regulations overlap. Defining a solid strategy will ultimately lead to a more secure means of delivering high-value and highly-efficient IT services.

Some key areas you can expect to hear about and discuss:

• Transformation to a cloud-connected data centre
• Data assurance, regulations and general mis-trust
• The changing security landscape
• Making cloud economics work

SPEAKER: Neil Thurston, Chief Technologist - Data Centre, Solution Architects, Logicalis UK

Session K: The Power of One: the Advantages of Nimble Storage Solutions for the South Worcestershire ICT Shared Service (sponsored by Nimble Storage)

Nimble Storage customer Nigel Winters tells the advantages of Nimble Storage for SW2 - the ICT shared service providing ICT services for Malvern Hills District Council, Worcester City Council, & Wychavon District Council.

“Consolidation is the name of the game in the public sector. More and more councils are suffering from restricted budgets and have to work in partnership with other organisations. You need technology that is easily scalable and easy to operate and manage. Nimble’s arrays support this need for consolidation in an excellent way.”

SPEAKER: Nigel Winters, ICT Service Manager for SW2 - the ICT shared service providing ICT services for Malvern Hills District Council, Worcester City Council, & Wychavon District Council

Session L: Software Asset Management 4th Generation (sponsored by Snow Software)

Software Asset Management since its inception in the 90’s has grown and matured, as have the business and end user requirements. Snow will talk about where the Software Asset Management is currently at and where the 4th Generation is going.

SPEAKER: Jelle Wijndelts, Head of Technical Account Management, Snow