INTERVIEW
Digital doesn’t mean technology
Civic tech pioneer and digital lead for the UK’s biggest funders, Tom Steinberg, has a coal-face view of a digital world in which cutting edge technology is a distant distraction, and user-centred design an urgent requirement.
IT can be a struggle to get a sense of how successfully the organisations we work for are moving into the digital age. Tom Steinberg became familiar with the progress at the Big Lottery Fund (now the The National Lottery Community Fund) when he became its chief digital offi cer in 2016, after a decade as the founder of noted civic tech NGO mySociety, which operates public interest digital services such as FixMyStreet and WhatDoTheyKnow. “One of my favourite early discoveries at the Big Lottery Fund was that there were 10 diff erent ‘Contact Us’ web- pages” he said. “It’s a silly example of an organisation not getting digital service design, but unpicking the human and organisational processes that lead to sane institutions deliver- ing insane user experiences is one of the great pleasures of my life”.
Digital leader
Last year, he moved to the Big Lottery Fund’s sister organisation, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, also to lead on digital. In both roles he was the fi rst digital leader to sit on the executive teams of those organisations, showing in symbolic terms how digital has been rising up the agendas of CEOs and trustees.
Having now seen how multiple public sec- tor funders think about digital technologies and digital approaches, he has refl ections that his previous experience in the NGO sector could not give him.
“Working for a funder is a very privileged position, something I try to remember every day. It’s also a powerful position, and one
20 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
that enables you to hurt and distract people who are doing vital work for the best possi- ble reasons.”
Tom argues that whilst almost all public and private institutions need to adapt to life in a digital era, funders have a form of double challenge that makes digital transformation twice as tricky.
Reforming for digital
“Most organisations trying to cope with the digital age need to get good at meeting people’s expectations about what services should be like now. That’s a lot of work, and most organisations struggle with the
April-May 2019
Rob Mackinlay (@cilip_reporter2,
rob.mackinlay@
cilip.org.uk) is Journalist, Information Professional.
Interview Steinberg
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25/04/2019 12:48
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