Smart Transformation

The concept of a region being ‘smart’ doesn’t mean lots of sensors and AI, it’s the natural evolution of the Public Sector. It’s data driving outcomes, it’s a modern agile workplace that delivers productivity and empowers citizens, its regions having the infrastructure to secure investment and retain talent.

We recently ran an event at Leeds United where we presented around Smart Cities and Smart Regions. Not only was the event a success, but it was also inspiring to hear from customers about their challenges and their vision as to what ‘smart’ means to them.

Something To Be Proud Of

I think the Public Sector in the UK gets a lot of undeserved stick. You often hear that councils, hospitals and police are letting people down, yet it’s never really mentioned that the UK Public Sector is admired around the world for the services that it provides. These services are improving and evolving all the time and they are doing so despite the huge pressures that these organisations face daily. Let’s just think about the recent news, cyber attacks affecting elections, Brexit concerns and apparently the end of austerity.

Each one of these provides a pain point for a Public Sector body.

Cybercrime as we know is a huge problem and every day new threats appear that must be stopped. Cyber security is no longer just endpoint protection, we are working with customers to help them secure all aspects of their business, from virus and threat protection to encryption. A modern Public Sector collaborates more than ever and while this is driving fantastic outcomes the ability to protect data being lost or stolen or systems being breached cannot be overlooked.

If you think about Brexit, whatever the outcome, the impact for the Public Sector could be wide ranging. Some analysts believe there will be a requirement for more Public Sector workers, some say we will lose lots of workers, some say there could be societal issues in parts of the country if big employers choose to leave the UK. In addition, there is still some uncertainty about funding which brings me nicely on to the end of austerity.

Even if austerity stopped today the impact on the UK Public Sector would still be felt for years to come. Here at Phoenix we solely focus on Public Sector customers and understand the challenges that they have – we have helped many of them navigate and innovate through the problems that they’ve faced.

Harnessing Technology To Innovate

I believe that we should be proud of the way the Public Sector has dealt with austerity. I’m certainly proud seeing how some of our customers have transformed their businesses. This transformation happens in many ways, it’s not just the cloud or on-premise, it’s not just providing a modern workplace for nurses, social workers, police officers – some of the work we are doing is truly changing the way services are being delivered to citizens and impacting lives.