RM1043.8-1-Cornwall Council - Digital Champions Programme Management

Description

Summary of work Summary: Cornwall Council is seeking a qualified provider to design, deliver, and support a Digital Champions Network within our organisation. This initiative is part of our commitment to enhancing digital literacy and capability across our workforce, promoting a collaborative and innovative culture, and advancing our digital transformation goals. The problem we want to solve: From our research we know that peer to peer learning is the most effective route to increased digital confidence across services. However, we do not have the internal resource to develop and manage a community. Additionally, creating and disseminating up to date training resources on Microsoft products is challenging given the speed of change and internal resource constraints. We know that creating the right conditions is crucial to the success of our wider digital transformation ambitions. These conditions include: a culture of curiosity and learning, confident use of digital tools for productivity, flexible deployment of skills. At the moment these conditions are not met in all areas. The users and what they want to do: We have lots of engaged, digital literate people across the organisation who are committed to helping their peers - and the organisation – achieve better outcomes. They want to have a structured programme to make sure their own skills are up to date and to enable them to support others. We know reward and recognition is a key requirement from our workforce. We also have 5,000+ employees who are committed to achieving great outcomes for Cornwall, but often are blocked by lack of confidence or skills in using digital tools. They want to learn from their peers and have training which is precise and relevant to the job in hand. Work already done: • We have identified a list of potential digital champions. • We have done research into specific gaps and skills, and identified a training needs analysis for productivity and communication tools. • We have a wider Digital Future Academy strategy which this work is a part of. • We have set up a Power Platforms Centre of Excellence and a group of citizen developers has been mobilised. Project outcomes: • By September 2025 we want to have a network of 500 active Digital Champions delivering support for their teams • We will need evidence that this network is growing and becoming self-managing. • Additionally, we want 25 “citizen developers” or Power Platform Champions who are using automation tools across the business. • We want to have demonstrably higher levels of digital skills and confidence across all services. • And we want to have demonstrated a strong business case for the continued corporate support. • A stretch target is for 10 Digital Champions to have enrolled on an apprenticeship to develop their career in a Digital support role. Contract Details: The contract will be awarded for an initial period of 12 months. The project budget is set at £60,000 Scope of Work: The provider will be responsible for the following: • Conducting a comprehensive baseline assessment of our staff's digital skills and needs. • Developing a detailed role profile for Digital Champions and Power Platform Champions, including a recruitment process and recognition scheme. • Delivering a robust training and mentoring program that encompasses both technical and soft skills. • Establishing and maintaining a community of practice for Digital and Power Platform Champions, leveraging Microsoft Teams and other platforms for peer support and knowledge sharing. • Implementing a monitoring and evaluation framework to measure the network's impact and effectiveness. • Providing regular progress reports to the council's senior leadership and stakeholders. The skills and attributes we want Digital champions to have: • Up to date knowledge about 365 products • Digitally curious • Problem solver - Will try to find how to do something • Encourages people to go and learn more on their own • Knows own limits and where to go for help – signposts • Patient, kind: a good teacher • Conduits for key messages • A growth mindset: can spot opportunities to innovate / improve / automate • The people we prepare for changes happening What we’ll provide: • A list of past champions and people interested in becoming a champion • Support from the Digital and Data Academy Coordinator and Digital Future Academy Lead • Access to manager briefings and senior stakeholders • Technical and Change support for implementation Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Why the work is being done This work supports our Digital Future programme. The full strategy can be found here: https://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/documents/s160329/Digital%20Future%20Outline%20Business%20Case%20-%20Appendix%201.pdf The business problem The problem we want to solve: From our research we know that peer to peer learning is the most effective route to increased digital confidence across services. However, we do not have the internal resource to develop and manage a community. Additionally, creating and disseminating up to date training resources on Microsoft products is challenging given the speed of change and internal resource constraints. We know that creating the right conditions is crucial to the success of our wider digital transformation ambitions. These conditions include: a culture of curiosity and learning, confident use of digital tools for productivity, flexible deployment of skills. At the moment these conditions are not met in all areas. The users and what they want to do: We have lots of engaged, digital literate people across the organisation who are committed to helping their peers - and the organisation – achieve better outcomes. They want to have a structured programme to make sure their own skills are up to date and to enable them to support others. We know reward and recognition is a key requirement from our workforce. We also have 5,000+ employees who are committed to achieving great outcomes for Cornwall, but often are blocked by lack of confidence or skills in using digital tools. They want to learn from their peers and have training which is precise and relevant to the job in hand. Risks and challenges: All areas of the council's service delivery teams are under pressure and are time poor. Whilst we have had success in some places with releasing time/capacity for learning activity, this isn't the case across the organisation yet. Some people cannot see the benefits of digital upskilling. The people who will use the product or service User type: Informal digital champion Definition: I am... an employee who has higher levels of digital confidence and high use of MS365 tools, and who is often called upon by colleagues for help and informal training. Someone who likes learning and is interested in the career progressions that being part of a recognised programme could bring. I need to... be part of a recognised programme, have access to up to date training materials, and receive reward and recognition for supporting others, rather than just doing this "side of desk" So that... I can spend more time using my skills helping others, and have this time recognised formally. User type: Council employee Definition: I am... an employee that needs to use M365 products and tools for their day to day work, but has low levels of confidence. I have little knowledge about the wider functionality of M365 above what's necessary for my work, and how the tools could help them achieve their outcomes. I need to... get help from peers to use tools more effectively, and to guide me through processes so I feel more confident doing it on my own the next time. So that... My confidence and skill levels increase and I'm able to do my job more effectively. User type: Transformation director Definition: I am... the person who is responsible for overseeing the council's evolution towards a new operating model. I need to... have up to date demonstrable evidence of culture change and conditions for success, as well as productivity data So that... I can be confident that wider digital transformation efforts will be successful. Any pre-market engagement done Spoken to other local authorities about their Digital Champions programmes, and have spoken informally to suppliers. Work done so far Work already done: • We have identified a list of potential digital champions. • We have done research into specific gaps and skills, and identified a training needs analysis for productivity and communication tools. • We have a wider Digital Future Academy strategy which this work is a part of. • We have set up a Power Platforms Centre of Excellence and a group of citizen developers has been mobilised. Which phase the project is in Discovery Existing team Digital Future Academy Lead: programme lead Digital Future Academy Coordinator: project support Change Manager Learning and Development team IS Implementation team Address where the work will be done New County Hall Treyew Road Truro Cornwall TR1 3AY Working arrangements The supplier can work remotely although they may wish to travel to the office for face to face meetings during set up. Any expenses incurred would need to be included in the contract cost. Security and vetting requirements No security clearance needed Latest start date 1 September 2024 Expected contract length Contract length: 1 years 0 months 0 days Budget Indicative maximum: £60000 Indicative minimum: The contract value is not specified by the buyer Contracted out service or supply of resource? Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply