Shining a light

Back in the office this morning and so much to catch up on. Papers for the Board - some 400 pages!! Letters to sign. Policies to sign off. Meetings to organise. Papers to draft.

Suddenly I was 10 minutes late for my departure time to Glasgow with a Board paper still not written. Fortunately transport comnnections class clicked and I made it in time.

The journey took me through Glasgow Central Station where there was a display of “Garden of Light” to support fund raising for the Marie-Curie organisation. Lots of people in yellow and one dressed as a daffodil. The display was striking on an otherwise grey and cold day.

My visit to Skypark near Exhibition centre was to our digital partner - Leidos - to be briefed on progress at the end of their discovery phase and the initial agile sprints under the Alpha phase.

That last sentence may be gobbledygook to many readers and worryingly (in a positive way) I can make sense of it. It just means they’ve found out what needs to be done and what might be possible; and have a plan for testing developments over short periods.

I know that there have been several weeks of discussions with future users of the new digital platform. The core aspects of our processes and those of SCRA have been explored and understood. There have been workshops and meetings. Today provided an opportunity for my counterpart at SCRA - Neil Hunter - and I to be briefed on where we are at.

There were some areas labelled “Worries” and “Blockers” but on investigation they were not game changers but just a recognition that issues had to be addressed and resolved.

The (long) wallls were covered in post-its and charts to make sure that all key aspects of our systems and processes had been identified. Planning was underway to translate these into programmes of action to develop and test how the digital systems in future might support the users in the best way possible.

The interaction of our two organations’ procedures and policies is complex. To which crucially needs to be added the experience of children and young people involved in the system. Seeing the overview laid out shone a light for me on how the programme will be taken forward and reinforced how the continuous engagement of users and stakeholders will be critical through the development.