FWD50

“Public services aren't complicated, they're complex. In a complex system, it is literally impossible to predict an outcome from the inputs. … Most complex systems are not knowable upfront, and our toolset is wrong.” @tomski #fwd50

"Every deputy minister should have their chief of staff, but also their chief of technology. Same for political leaders. To help choose and solve the right problems." Hillary Hartley in conversation with Angelica Quirarte @quepol @fwd50 #fwd50

“Test the thing that matters.” @tomski #FWD50 Could be a policy, a process, a small idea. Use this feedback loop for everything, but don’t wait for a big bang.

"I'm still bullish on the need for central digital teams in government, because they pave the way for teams elsewhere to have the space to do things differently. To have a leader that will take the heat to go do that. To be able to say, this team did it too, let's go do it." @quepol #fwd50

“What if we found people who struggled with government services, and hired them to help us design better services?” Martha Edwards #fwd50 @marthaedwards

Amy Kirtay talking about the work in British Columbia on their Digital Code of Practice and especially the work they've been doing to create content to support the principles to show the *how* and how they tried to work in the open to create the code of practice - 😍 #fwd50

Dusted off my classic ‘national disgrace’ ONS website story for the #FWD50 FailFest - been years but still lands 😆

I'm surprised this is the first time I've heard the term "bureaucracy hacker", but I like it! #fwd50

“We need to prove that we can do hard things. We have to be very direct when decisions that are being made around policy, complexity, change, are affecting our ability to deliver. We often speak a shrouded language in government, that doesn't make people feel uncomfortable. We need to be more direct.” Catherine Luelo #fwd50

@fwd50 #FWD50 I do hope that at the end there will be a report on what social media has been most effective for this great event. Mastodon seems pretty active (thanks to @sboots call to action) but I'm curious if I'm biased. LinkedIN will also have some great material too.

“The question we have to keep asking ourselves is: are we asking too much of people? Is this a reasonable amount of rigour? Do we care more about keeping the wrong people out, or about letting the right people in?” Martha Edwards #fwd50 @marthaedwards

"External funds should not be exchanged for your [city or organization's] autonomy. Get funding for things you already want to do." Great advice from Fernanda Araiza Guzmán #fwd50

Aaron and the crew about to start talking about open source in government at #fwd50

“Be kind to yourself, be kind to those around you, and ensure that you're taking care of your mental health.” Catherine Luelo #fwd50

I am grieving that officials & civil servants from U.S. government aren’t active participants in #fwd50 in person & online. I may be missing folks who are streaming & chatting on the @fwd50conf platform, so caveat this, but public timelines are empty. Feels like a missed chance.

"To increase state capacity and to build software together." Tamara Srzentić on forming the Rebel Alliance collaboration between countries #fwd50 @fwd50

How do know if your leaders are ready for the radical how? ”If they can accept that you can't design things upfront. Choose your leaders carefully. Go where the hamsters are friendly.” @tomski #fwd50

Good to be back at #FWD50, where @acroll made a convincing argument that modularity is THE key strategy to mitigating complexity at scale — the headache of modern governments everywhere trying to deliver online.
Also, reminding me of Simon+ “satisficing”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_A._Simon

“Trust is built by doing what you say you're going to do. It's built by delivery. Make things tight, achievable, hit your dates and hit your budgets.” Catherine Luelo #fwd50

Day 2 at #FWD50 2023 and we're bringing more incredible content for all our in-person and virtual attendees!

Kicked off the morning with another keynote by our Content Chair and Founder @acroll, following up with presentations by Tom Loosemore (Partner, Public Digital), Aaron Reich (CTO, Avanade), Mirko Kleiner (Lean-Agile Procurement Alliance), Martha Edwards (Service Designer, BC Public Service), Peter Near (Field CTO, VMware), and Catherine Luelo, the CIO of the Government of Canada!