Day 1, 5th July

11.00 - 12.00
Savings as a catalyst for sustainability and social inclusion

British breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology have identified billions of immediately realisable savings for the public sector, with additional savings for suppliers whilst delivering the UK's carbon targets.

• This session looks at how to overcome the barriers to change and the delivery of savings, carbon neutrality and social inclusion
• The AI technology has been used by the National Audit office to identify £ 500 million of savings in the most competitive area of NHS Spending.
• Universities and Colleges are using the ecommerce technology to deliver savings for their sector.
• And the UK now has leading share of the global market for product level carbon footprints.
• @UK plc have made a public commitment to invest up to £ 1 million in social inclusion projects and are working with sports to inspire young people to raise their aspirations.

Please come to the session if you can help quickly achieve savings in sustainable manner.

Speakers: Ronald Duncan Chairman @UK PLC Lord Moynihan Chairman BOA (tbc) Richard Benyon MP

11.10 - 12.10
The need for procurement flexibility for power supply optimisation

There has never been a time when those with responsibility for energy reduction have had such a pivotal role in shaping the future of electrical power security in the UK.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC EES) essentially mandates government organisations to reduce their carbon emissions with a specific focus on energy efficiency. Every measure should be looked at, from at source micro-management and on-site micro-generation to employee behaviour, better management of vehicle emissions and recycled products.

Fuelled by the confluence of drivers that include avoiding CRC fines, the rising cost of energy and the need for environmental action, the ‘Green Economy’ is growing rapidly.

Procurers of energy efficiency are at the heart of a decision making process that will determine how rapidly and effectively organisations cut emissions and combat climate change.

Electrical power ‘supply-side’ technology installations provide a genuine one hit wonder for procurement teams. However product quality, security of power supply and site safety must be understood by buyers, so that robust purchasing decisions are made. Placing unsuitable technologies on your main incoming voltage at the point of supply into a building, especially in acute sites like hospitals, prisons and data centres risks lives, security and profits - quickly consuming the financial benefits of putting in the technology in the first place. By comparison if low energy lights or motors fail on the ‘demand-side’ it can be worked around. 

And it is this point that has fundamentally changed the way that supply optimisation products are procured. It is no longer acceptable to place the greatest emphasis on cost.

ESPO guidelines suggest that a 50/50 split on price and non price scoring should be applied to supply optimisation technologies.

Who should attend the presentation? Energy Managers, Estates Managers, Procurement and Finance Teams

What will the delegates learn from the presentation? Delegates will take away that there needs to be greater knowledge and flexibility within procurement in order to meet the climate crisis.

Speaker: Ian Gould, Head of Public Sector, powerPerfector

11.30 - 12.20
Institute for Government: Efficiency

The full details of this session will be confirmed soon. So keep checking back!

11.30 - 12.30
The Reality of Change and its Unexpected Benefits and Challenges! -  The DWP Inbound Mail Opening and Scanning Solution - brought to you by Balfour Beatty WorkPlace and Ired Partnership

This panel discussion brings together leaders from the DWP and two of their key strategic partners to explain how, together, they delivered previously unobtainable cost reductions and service and security improvements by digitising inbound physical correspondence.  The panel will discuss the challenges the DWP faced in re-engineering its processes and share the lessons learned from their experience that might help support other departments and agencies considering a similar journey in pursuit of reducing costs and improving the service to end users.  They will outline how these challenges have been overcome and how they have created a partnership that continues to deliver significant additional value to the DWP.

BBW and iRed (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal Mail Group) handle the DWP’s inbound mail. They have successfully delivered significant reductions in cost and transformed service and security levels through the provision of secure, high quality mail opening, scanning, indexing and archiving capabilities, and processing 38 million items a year.

Speakers: Tony Byers – MD, Balfour Beatty WorkPlace; David Brewer – CIO, iRed Partnership; Ian Clarke, Business Change and Transformation Director, DWP

12.10 – 12.50
Delivering Desktop Printing Rationalisation – the DWP Experience

The DWP have just completed the rollout of a nationwide sustainable print service, replacing 30,000 devices with 8,238 and in the process saving £15m and reducing the Department’s total carbon footprint by 2%.

12.20 - 13.30
The carbon challenge - Hitting targets whilst cutting costs

The round table will discuss what the government’s funding restrictions has meant for the carbon reduction commitment within the public sector.

Delegates are invited to share best practice in the carbon and energy reduction. 

Agenda:

• The challenges within carbon reduction in the public sector
• Case studies – The best practice technologies in place within the civil service
• Procurement guidelines and the need for quality and price balance

13.30 - 14.30
Successful partnering with Technology SMEs

Garth Pickup is the founder and Managing Director of Solidsoft, a multi award winning Microsoft technology partner. Garth has represented the SME partner community on Microsoft’s Global Partner Advisory Council for over 8 years. Garth is a keen motorbike rider and has just completed the 800 mile National road rally.

Lyn McDonald joined the Civil Service fast stream programme after graduating from University of Stirling. Initially a Tax Inspector for HMRC, Lyn joined the DWP in 2002 to work on Business Models and Operational Policy before moving into Programme/Project Management.

Speaker: Garth Pickup, Solidsoft Managing Director, Lyn McDonald, Tell Us Once Programme Director

13:50 - 14:50
It's not about the costs

Civil servants are rightly focusing on cutting costs, which shines the spotlight on staff cuts as the prime means of achieving targets. There are, however, other ways of closing the gap.

Joint Ventures or Partnership with the private sector will enable Civil Servants to broaden their horizons, by working on non-departmental programmes, possibly across other departments or even with the private sector.

We also look at the large shortfall in revenue collection, which could contribute to targets. In the same way that your TV licence is collected by the private sector, a private sector partner could stem the £billions in lost revenue, through non-collection of rents, licence fees, court fees and other collectable income. The target could be to raise collection rates from 70% in some departments, to over 95%.

14.20 - 14.50
Seven ways to achieve sustainable cost reductions.

The government intention to do more with less and the ERG’s drive to improve efficiency and focus resources on key priorities are both striving to achieve sustainable cost reductions. The challenge is how to implement and how to measure and reward success. Just delaying expenditure is a short-term tactical measure that is not sustainable in the medium term. A clear strategy is needed that is transparent, accountable and creates a sense of continuous improvement.

The issues are complicated:

• How do you measure the effect of cost reductions?
• What do we mean by ‘sustainable’?
• What is cost efficiency as opposed to cost savings?
• Do you have accurate financial data on which to make decisions?
• Who is accountable for making savings and how are they incentivised?

In this session, find out the seven ways to achieve not just cost savings but sustainable reductions. Learn from professional FTSE 100 treasurers and the private sector about managing budgets, improving the accuracy of forecasts and delivering enhanced financial performance.

Dominic Jaques, Managing Director from Tresauris and a Treasury Director from Tresauris

15.10 - 16.10
The role of ICT in the efficiency and reform agenda

There’s no such thing as an IT project.  There are only business projects that have IT involved in them.”  So said Government Chief Operating Officer Ian Watmore to the Public Accounts Committee in May 2011.  Find out how the Government’s ICT Strategy and the Public Services Network fit within the efficiency and reform programme and why they matter.  And hear a perspective from BT’s own recent experience of cost transformation and the changing relationship between government and its suppliers.

15:10 – 15.30
Using the Internet as a research database: Policy, consultation and communication opportunities

What if you could consult with the public, optimise your Public Service Communication messages or identify issues to assist in the delivery of government services earlier, more effectively, and on safer grounds? What if you could stay constantly updated about changes in public opinion and frustrations?

Established in 2004 Onalytica helps organisations meet the challenges of a constantly moving world. We use the millions of conversations that happen on the internet as a research database. By using this data and analysing it, we provide insight to people who need to answer the questions above.
In this session we will demonstrate how this new technique can be used to assist the public sector, and how the online world is changing and affecting public service delivery.

With Robin Raven, Account Manager – Onalytica and  Flemming Madsen, Executive Chairman – Onalytica

15.20 - 16.20
Collaborative Innovation - from Newcastle to London

You! Yes you! No-one understands the public sector better than you! Whether you're based in a Newcastle Jobcentre, a Midlands Magistrates Court, or a London Whitehall Department, you can play a role in creating and delivering the open public services of the future.

This hands-on session will enable you to consider how you can think, work, and do differently in your day job… inspire you to want to put your ideas into practice by building networks, championing collaboration, sharing knowledge and creating dialogue across the public sector...  and it will encourage you to proactively challenge existing thinking, finding new directions and ways to tackle current problems (whether it's processing benefit claims, or going out to consultation). 

Our aim is to create the space for us all to innovate, developing people's skills and the public sector's organisational culture to support the scaling up and dissemination of good ideas for adoption or adaptation by others - and this session is where it begins!
With Laura Frascona, BIS; Karen Deadfield, NSG; and Tristan Chapman, NSG.

  Day 2, 6th July

11.00 - 12.00
Making Payment by Results Work

As Ministers instruct their Departments to adopt payment-by-results (PBR) systems with their delivery partners, civil servants are faced with the task of quickly building expertise in the topic. This session, which is sponsored by Wipro, the ICT business services company, will draw on case studies to explore a range of PBR systems, and to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities arising from greater adoption of the approach.

The use of PBR chimes well with several of this Government’s key aims, including the move from paying for ‘work done’ to buying “outcomes”; the focus on achieving demonstrable value for money; the drive to share risk with delivery partners; and the increased service delivery role to be played by social enterprises and charities.

However, a number of challenges must be overcome if PBR is to realise its full potential – including the need to gather reliable, consistent performance data across a wide range of contractors and subcontractors; the setting of intelligent metrics to measure effectiveness; and realistic and workable measurements and divisions of business risk. What’s more, the various forms of PBR have different characteristics and applications: some are essentially profit-sharing systems, while others link payments to service efficacy or incentivise the partners to achieve “continuous improvement” in the sense of “Lean” and “Total Quality”.

Drawing on examples of PBR systems in central government, local authorities and the wider public sector, this session will examine a range of approaches to payment-by-results and explore how civil servants can use the approach to realise public objectives, build public value and save taxpayers’ money.

11.00 - 11.30
How to achieve sustainability through green technologies - brought to you by Active Energy

Active Energy understands that in today's economic climate, organisations are under increasing pressure to meet higher environmental performance targets than ever before whilst dramatically cutting costs.

This presentation will look at the most efficient green technology solutions available in the market place from simple green business process planning and implementation, to energy saving products including lighting and power solutions to renewable energy creation options.

Highlights include:

• How to reduce energy and maintenance costs by up to 80%
• Outline of best in class, proven energy products and solutions
• Advice on environmental diagnostics, surveying and engineering solutions
• Brief demo of unique eco auditing systems to ensure long term savings

It will also highlight the importance of the need for a holistic approach to eco management and the tools available to achieve this with the funding options that allow you to pay for solutions from the savings accrued. A must see for anyone looking for a simple efficient solution to simple cost cutting, carbon reduction or a complete eco management solution.

Speaker:Gavin Little, CEO, Active Energy

11.10 - 11.50
Continuous Improvement Across Government – proof it works

Delegates will learn how Continuous Improvement techniques have been applied across Government to deliver real and tangible benefits to employees and customers, giving food-for-thought as to how they could use them in their own working environments.

With Katie Davis, Executive Director of Operational Excellence, Efficiency and Reform Group, Cabinet Office and Kate Silver, Deputy Director of Departmental Excellence, Operational Excellence Team, Efficiency and Reform Group, Cabinet Office.

11.50 – 12.20
Reduce travel costs not comfort...

The Public Sector faces severe pressure to reduce expenditure, with one affected cost item being business travel.

Demand for travel is not declining and as a result travel buyers face a difficult equation.

The pressure to reduce cost can easily lead to compromises which affect the travellers' experience and in consequence their ability to function efficiently. Travel policies are getting stricter and an innovative approach is often needed to balance the traveller's needs with financial targets.
Finnair is an airline focusing on Asia, an area where demand for travel is steadily increasing.  Finnair's concept is to offer quick connections to the Far East via its Helsinki hub, which has been designed especially to facilitate efficient transfers.

These quick connections in combination with competitive fares provide a solution for the public sector that helps reduce costs without compromising on comfort.

12.50 - 13.50
The transport challenges of the London Olympics and Paralympics 2011
The Olympic Games represent the greatest peacetime operation in recent history.  For Whitehall it will be ‘business as unusual’ during this time. Hear more about:

• The Games
• The challenges they present in transporting over 500,000 spectators per day in London and a 80,000 strong Games family including athletes, officials and media
• How we are going to resolve the problems
• What the civil service can do to help, for example by working and travelling differently
• The opportunities the Games present to catalyse major changes in the way Whitehall works and travels

With Jonathan Sharrock, Director, London & Olympics, Department for Transport.

13.30 - 14.00
Successful partnering with SMEs

The Tell US Once programme engaged with Solidsoft, a medium sized enterprise in the SME sector  to develop an interim Bereavement Reporting System 3 years ago. The success has resulted in the development of a full Change Reporting System which will be deployed nationally. We will discuss the benefits of partnering with an SME to deliver value through agility and innovation whilst considering the engagement challenges that current tendering and procurement processes can pose.

14.00 - 15.00
The role of ICT in the efficiency and reform agenda

There’s no such thing as an IT project.  There are only business projects that have IT involved in them.”  So said Government Chief Operating Officer Ian Watmore to the Public Accounts Committee in May 2011.  Find out how the Government’s ICT Strategy and the Public Services Network fit within the efficiency and reform programme and why they matter.  And hear a perspective from BT’s own recent experience of cost transformation and the changing relationship between government and its suppliers.

14.10 - 15.10
Managing Taxpayers’ Money Wisely – driving cultural change

Good financial management is vital to the success of all organisations.  It underpins sound decision making and enables businesses of all kinds to manage their risks.  The government is committed to driving cultural change to improve the financial performance of the public sector.  It will look to implement a single and coherent approach to spending control, financial discipline and accountability through the Finance Transformation Programme (FTP).  This session will look at how departments are collaborating with one another to identify and share good practice, embed it and drive innovation in financial management across government.

15.00 - 16.00
Reduce Carbon Emissions and Building Running Costs

The Government set an objective to improve the environmental credentials and the cost effectiveness of its own and the nation’s building stock.  It supports this objective through recent changes in building regulations aimed at improving thermal insulation and air-tightness.  These more stringent demands are a tough challenge for traditional, steel and timber frame build solutions.

Gary Littlechild, Director, Mantle Panel Ltd

15.10 - 15.40
Using Off-the-shelf software to solve an intractable and highly complex collaborative problem

This is the story of how off-the-shelf software originally developed for the Space sector has helped the Home Office solve a business process problem, which had escaped resolution for 5 years.

Using an Agile Delivery process and the highly configurable Collaborative Business Portal, the HO Science Directorate has achieved a highly cost effective solution with impressive results in terms of time-to-market, implementation costs and recurring costs savings.

The solution provides a secure web-based software platform on which collaborators belonging  to multiple public and private establishments can securely and effectively exchange and process sensitive information without the need for expensive private networks.

The talk is interesting because the methodology and product used lend themselves to any situation where the Government needs to effectively collaborate and securely exchange information with many parties in many different organisations.

Speakers: Soeren Kier Christensen, CEO, Fincore, Dr Colin Macaldowie, Home Office Science Directorate

   Day 3, 7th July

11.10- 11.50
Continuous Improvement Across Government – proof it works

Delegates will learn how Continuous Improvement techniques have been applied across Government to deliver real and tangible benefits to employees and customers, giving food-for-thought as to how they could use them in their own working environments.

With Katie Davis, Executive Director of Operational Excellence, Efficiency and Reform Group, Cabinet Office and Kate Silver, Deputy Director of Departmental Excellence, Operational Excellence Team, Efficiency and Reform Group, Cabinet Office.

11.10 - 12.10
The role of ICT in the efficiency and reform agenda brought to you by BT

There’s no such thing as an IT project.  There are only business projects that have IT involved in them.”  So said Government Chief Operating Officer Ian Watmore to the Public Accounts Committee in May 2011.  Find out how the Government’s ICT Strategy and the Public Services Network fit within the efficiency and reform programme and why they matter.  And hear a perspective from BT’s own recent experience of cost transformation and the changing relationship between government and its suppliers.

12.20 - 13.20
Tell Us Once – from Alpha to Omega

Tell Us Once is developing new services to help citizens inform the private sector and government together when their circumstances change, from birth to bereavement.  Lyn will discuss her experiences of implementing services in partnership with suppliers, users and critical friends, for the benefit of citizens, taxpayers and the wider economy.

With Lyn McDonald, Programme Director

13:20 – 14:00
Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration

The session will showcase the Civil Service English Regions (CSER) programme, which started as an innovative pilot programme in West Midlands.

It will cover what CSER is and what it does: departments working collaboratively together for the benefit of staff, departments and tax payer.

13.30 - 14.00
Seven ways to achieve sustainable cost reductions.

The government intention to do more with less and the ERG’s drive to improve efficiency and focus resources on key priorities are both striving to achieve sustainable cost reductions. The challenge is how to implement and how to measure and reward success. Just delaying expenditure is a short-term tactical measure that is not sustainable in the medium term. A clear strategy is needed that is transparent, accountable and creates a sense of continuous improvement.

The issues are complicated:

• How do you measure the effect of cost reductions?
• What do we mean by ‘sustainable’?
• What is cost efficiency as opposed to cost savings?
• Do you have accurate financial data on which to make decisions?
• Who is accountable for making savings and how are they incentivised?

In this session, find out the seven ways to achieve not just cost savings but sustainable reductions. Learn from professional FTSE 100 treasurers and the private sector about managing budgets, improving the accuracy of forecasts and delivering enhanced financial performance.

Dominic Jaques, Managing Director from Tresauris and a Treasury Director from Tresauris

13.50 - 14.50
Identifying and cutting the cost of fraud - the less painful way to reduce expenditure

This session focuses on fraud as a significant financial cost (the latest global research indicates an average of 4.6% is lost) – which can be accurately measured and reduced, delivering financial benefits which can make budgetary reductions less painful.

Speakers: Paul Manning, Director of Audit, Department for International Development (DfID); Jim Gee, Director of Counter Fraud Services, PKF;Chaired by Dr Mark Button, Reader at University of Portsmouth, and Director of the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies

Active Energy understands that in today's economic climate, organisations are under increasing pressure to meet higher environmental performance targets than ever before whilst dramatically cutting costs.

This presentation will look at the most efficient green technology solutions available in the market place from simple green business process planning and implementation, to energy saving products including lighting and power solutions to renewable energy creation options.

Highlights include:

• How to reduce energy and maintenance costs by up to 80%
• Outline of best in class, proven energy products and solutions
• Advice on environmental diagnostics, surveying and engineering solutions
• Brief demo of unique eco auditing systems to ensure long term savings

It will also highlight the importance of the need for a holistic approach to eco management and the tools available to achieve this with the funding options that allow you to pay for solutions from the savings accrued. A must see for anyone looking for a simple efficient solution to simple cost cutting, carbon reduction or a complete eco management solution.

Speaker:Gavin Little, Chairman, Active Energy

15:10 – 15:40
Better for Less….How? From imperative to plan

This lively session will stimulate fresh thinking around the Public Sector’s key imperative.  We will identify and explore some common themes to generate a practical approach, addressing the all important “How?”.   Brought to you by SMEs, this session will interest any organisation that genuinely seeks to deliver Better for Less.

15.10 – 14.10
Accelerating the pace of change - brought to you by Intellect

New public services will inevitably rely more and more on technology.  The government’s financial pressures mean that we need to deliver services in new ways.  And advances being made in technology mean that costs are coming down and the possibilities for bringing people and information together are evolving rapidly.

Of course, technology does not change things on its own.  People drive change; technology is a tool that we can use to make the job easier, but as with all change projects this carries challenges.

This panel debate will explore the role that technology can play to accelerate the pace of public service reform, and what is needed to ensure success.  Attendees will be encouraged to share their experiences of public sector change projects (using technology or otherwise) and the lessons they have learned.
With John Higgins, Director General, Intellect; Glyn Evans, Corporate Director of Business Change, Birmingham City Council; Gary Hotine, Director, Health Informatics Service, South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

15.30 – 16.30
Streamlining, Policies, Processes & Structures

Planning and creating incentives for value for money, process improvement to secure 30% extra productivity, thinking effectively about the links between money and performance, managing staff to achieve substantial savings – all underpinned by real life examples.

With Robert Arnott, Head of the Value for Money & Productivity Unit at the Home Office.

16.00 - 16.30
How to Deliver Better Government Outcomes in the Austerity Era

At the core of any Government is the translation of election commitments and ongoing pledges into impact across society.  This complex process of Policy and Strategy Development combined with engagement with citizens and other key stakeholders results in evidence-based Policy that becomes implemented.

Objective’s cloud based, shared platform is designed to:

1.Make this complete process efficient – our 200 Government customers testify to an average of 33% savings
2. Support the Connected Government and Localism agendas
3. Enable policy to be implemented significantly quicker resulting in faster time to outcome realisation

Over 6,000 Local Government Policy professionals currently use this platform to deliver better outcomes for UK citizens, with over 250,000 citizens engaged in the process, saving a total of over £10m per annum