Friday 20 April 2018

Digital Bollocks

Can anyone explain what this is all about?



Here's last year's advert:-

Delivery Manager for HMPPS Digital

An exciting opportunity for talented, tenacious individuals looking to join our team and take lead in creating world-class services in the Prison and Probation environment. You will ensure the secure delivery of high-quality, user-centred products that positively impact the lives of offenders, prison staff and society as a whole.


We're building a team of around seventy experts in Web Development, Design and User Research in Sheffield. This is a brilliant opportunity to be part of a growing team from its nascent stage and to play an active and continued role in the strategic development of the team and studio approaches. - Product team of product owner, interaction designer, developers - Agile coach for the studio - Head of Delivery in Sheffield - Community of delivery managers (currently you plus one other - growing to 8 in Sheffield), MOJ delivery management community (based in London), cross-government agile delivery community


What the specialist will work on 

Enable team members to create/run outstanding digital services using appropriate agile principles/methodologies, learning & iterating approaches frequently, to ensure the team deliver in the most effective and efficient way possible Remove impediments/blockers for the team Work with the product manager and other team members to define the roadmap for your service and translate this into actionable user stories and sprint-by-sprint plans Lead the collaborative, dynamic planning process for each sprint, helping team members prioritise work against the capacity and capability of the team Participate in the agile delivery manager community, sharing/re-applying skills/knowledge and bringing in best practice

Buyers will use the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience to help them evaluate suppliers’ technical competence.


Essential skills and experience 
  • Proven experience in delivering high quality digital projects and products
  • Proven experience using a range of agile tools and techniques
  • Proven experience balancing multiple priorities and dealing with ambiguity
  • Proven ability to challenge and remove any unnecessary barriers to service delivery
  • Experience in matrix-managing multi-disciplinary teams
  • Highly articulate and credible at a senior level, consistently delivering accurate reporting as to the current state of play with regard to the delivery of your service
  • Experience creating an excellent, delivery-focused, fun team environment where all team members from a range of disciplines thrive
Nice-to-have skills and experience 
  • Strong negotiation skills and the ability to influence external partners, stakeholders and customers to secure mutually beneficial outcomes
  • Excellent understanding of the digital landscape (inside and outside of government) and the opportunities for service improvement and innovation offered by digital technology
  • A high degree of market awareness, with demonstrable experience of innovative approaches to procuring services and of managing relationships with suppliers
--oo00oo--

The person has been in post for a year, so I wonder what's been delivered? Maybe this from last May on the Register website might shed some light on this kind of thing:-

Can you spout digital bollocks? London is hiring a Chief Digital Officer
Interest-free bicycle bundled with £100k+ salary

The Mayor of London is hiring a chief digital officer for the capital, advertised at a cool £107,000. The job advert on the Greater London Assembly website says:

As London's CDO, working in the Mayor's Office, you will convene GLA officials, the Smart London Board, local authorities and the technology sectors to encourage collaboration and adoption of common standards around data and service transformation, to drive the development of smart city technology, and to build London's reputation as the city that the world looks to for leadership in urban innovation.
It continues: "You will be a powerful advocate for technology and have the communication and diplomatic skills to convene and influence a wide range of external stakeholders."

We read all this guff and frankly we're none the wiser about what this role would actually contribute to... well, anything. Perhaps unwisely, we tried searching for a definition of "chief digital officer". This led us to CIO.co.uk, who burbled: "Chief Digital Officers are considered both the new stars of the C-suite as well as faddish or transitory roles which will eventually go away – a view even held by a number of CDOs themselves." Even the people currently in these roles realise that they're doing non-jobs.

9 comments:

  1. Ha ha! On a serious note there are some great low cost / free digital products that people can use as part of a package of support typically. I am thinking of some of the well being and mental health apps that are increasingly popular. I am sure there will be some use for engaging people on Probation, typically alongside rather than instead of. Otherwise bollocks :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Grime / rap studio?

    ReplyDelete
  3. The role is Sheffield based, but there may be travel involved to other regions of the country including London. There is a £5000 limit on travel expenses: expenses will only be covered for meetings outside of Sheffield. Travel between Sheffield and the supplier’s location will not be covered.

    That's me out then.

    ReplyDelete
  4. At least 8 jobs were advertised at the same time last year, all with generous salaries. So there's another £million made unavailable to probation staff, while Spurr & co plead poverty.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What's to be made of this?

    https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/fury-as-slash-and-burn-business-tycoon-tim-parker-appointed-courts-service-chairman_uk_5ad9bfc2e4b029ebe02318b9

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unions have reacted with fury after it was revealed a super-rich businessman dubbed the “Prince of Darkness” for his reputation for slashing jobs will spearhead a £1bn reform of the courts service.

      Former Kwik Fit chief executive Tim Parker will be the new chairman of HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), Justice Secretary David Gauke has announced.

      The minister said one of the 62-year-old multi-millionaire’s tasks will be “providing better value for the taxpayer” and his “expertise” will be “vital” to modernising the courts arm of the Ministry of Justice.

      The Government denied any job cuts were planned but the GMB union voiced grave doubts about Parker, claiming he has a “record of putting profits far above common human decency”.

      Parker has been chief executive of shoemaker Clarks, car maintenance business Kwik-Fit, and roadside recovery company The AA. During his time in business, he gained notoriety for operating a “slash and burn” policy, slashing jobs, closing factories and selling off property.

      He halved a 7,000 workforce and closed 22 service centres during his tenure at the AA.

      The tag “Prince of Darkness” was given to Parker by the GMB after one particular incident in 1995 in which he turned up in his Porsche to sack a group of Clarks factory workers in Somerset.


      Andy Prendergast, GMB senior organiser, said: “For a man with such little regard for the plight of his fellow citizens to be placed in charge of Her Majesty’s courts is scandalous.”

      Parker has also served as non-executive director on the boards of Legal & General, Alliance Boots and Compass Group.

      Despite being worth an estimated £200m, he will be paid £20,000-a-year for his new role with HMCTS and retains three other positions as chairman - with the National Trust, the Post Office and Samsonite.

      His role with the National Trust is a voluntary position but he is paid £75,000 for his chairmanship of the Post Office.

      Parker also served briefly as Boris Johnson’s deputy when the Foreign Secretary was Mayor of London. He chose to step down as he did not think it was appropriate for an unelected individual to hold the position.

      Although the businessman had a fractious relationship with unions, his leadership improved the financial position of the firms he led.

      The tycoon’s appointment comes after the MoJ concluded the closure of 86 courts and tribunals last September.

      The sale of the portfolio included 64 freehold and 11 leasehold properties, was expected to pump around £41m back into Government coffers.

      Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon said: “Cuts and sell offs are already causing widespread damage to our courts system.

      “The Ministry of Justice axed thousands of staff only to then spend tens of millions more contracting agency workers. And its courts reform program has led to over 100 courts being flogged off for not much more than the average UK house price.

      “That the government has appointed someone with a record of a ‘slash and burn’ approach will cause further alarm across a justice sector already suffering from the deepest cuts of any government department.”

      Ministers had promised the cash would be pumped back into the justice system, but campaigners say there has been scant investment and that the prisons estate is in dire need of refurbishment.

      Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) general secretary Mark Serwotka, however, said news of his appointment will leave HMCTS workers deflated.

      He said: “Parker’s appalling record as a slash and burn style businessman will do nothing to improve a service that is creaking under pressure from chronic under-funding over many years and is largely held together by the goodwill of our members.”

      Parker will take up his post as HMCTS chair on April 27 following the retirement of Robert Ayling.

      Delete
    2. HuffPost UK contacted Parker to ask if he wished to comment on the union anger about his appointment but he declined.

      As part of an official statement announcing his new role Parker said: “I am delighted to be joining HMCTS and look forward to spearheading its programme of reform - bringing courts and tribunals into the digital age and ensuring they are providing the best service possible for the public.”

      Gauke added: “Tim’s expertise will be vital as we deliver our reform and modernisation of the courts and tribunals system – making it more convenient, easier to use, and providing better value for the taxpayer.

      “I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to Robert for his outstanding service to HMCTS and the wider justice system through his chairmanship over the past seven years.”

      The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Burnett of Maldon, and the Senior President of Tribunals, Sir Ernest Ryder, added: “Tim takes up the reins at a critical time and we look forward to working closely with him.”

      Delete
  6. The HMPPS Digital Studio in Sheffield has been working on lots of products and projects over the last 18 months, but specifically related to Probation it has delivered: Near real-time copying of Prison NOMIS Case Notes to Delius Contact Logs, also a web wizard replacement for the currently Word-based Short Format Report, all now PDF based, and also the recent new Google-style Offender Search in Delius.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Uh? Did they also design the TSB system?

      Delete