Until the first of this year’s Civil Service Live events and the best opportunities in the calendar for meeting civil servants from all across government and hearing what they’ve been up to.
I’ve been working as part of a team of civil servants, mostly doing things above their normal busy day jobs, to produce the most exciting content possible for this year’s events in Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle and London. I’ve been watching as the teams produce some seriously cool ideas for each of the locations, from the UK Space Agency talking about how we can use satellite data to improve policy making, to DWP on the neuroscience of leadership, to the Government Digital Service on practical ways to improve your digital skills and how we can all collaborate more.
As the content has shaped up the focus has clearly been on offering real, tangible learning and development opportunities. That’s why it can count towards one of your five learning days a year. Quite right too. CS Live shouldn’t be about a day out of the office for the sake of it, but about learning something new, meeting likeminded Civil Servants and seeing what great work we’re really capable of!
The CS Live events this year will be a great opportunity for departments to celebrate some of their achievements and share what they’ve learned from delivering them. Personally I’m looking forward to hearing from the MoJ on what the office of 2020 might look, the Army on being an inspirational team leader and Chris Wormald from DfE on open policy making and breaking down traditional boundaries to government policy making. That might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the line ups are quite varied and I’m pretty sure there’s going to be something for everyone, whether you’re leading a project team in the MOD, paying pensions in DWP or making rail stations more accessible in DfT.
That, for me, sums up one of the benefits of the Civil Service and it’s at the heart of CS Live. That you can meet and share with so many likeminded people, but with totally different backgrounds and expertise. Getting involved in those discussions is one of the things I look forward to most. But I think it’s also our responsibility. Contributing our own two cents to the workshops and debates that will make a difference to future Civil Service policy is something we should all jump on and make the most of.
So, the only thing left to say is head over to the registration page next week to make sure you get a spot! http://www.civilservicelive.com/
This year’s event series will take place across the country in the following locations:
- Bristol - Wednesday 18 June at Colston Hall,
- Liverpool - Wednesday 25 June at Britannia Adelphi Hotel,
- Newcastle - Thursday 3 July at St James' Park,
- London - Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 July at Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
4 comments
Comment by Buster Friendly posted on
Thanks to an enforced move to Bristol I will be working from home when this is on, and will thus be prevented from asking the two most prominent offenders why they constantly ignore staff concerns.
Comment by Jon posted on
It’s always valuable to look at current issues from a fresh perspective and looks like there are lots of opportunities to do that here. Looking forward to it!
Comment by Bob posted on
Thanks for the insight. Hoping to be there in London to learn and share with like minded people with a desire to make it real and make a real difference.
Comment by Nick posted on
Really interesting blog. It looks like there's some good content at CS Live this year, especially on open policy making. I completely agree that it should be approached as a learning opportunity too.