Digital transformation means business-process transformation, say CIOs

Processes have to change to take advantage of digitalisation, suggest CIOs at Computing IT Leaders' Club

Digital transformation initiatives need to be accompanied by business-process transformation for the full benefits to be realised, suggested CIOs at this week's Computing IT Leaders' Club.

"If you're dealing with the Crown Prosecution Service," said one public-sector CIO, "you have to submit an electronic file these days - but you need a process around that."

The same is true of pretty much any substantive digitalisation project, he added.

The Computing IT Leaders' Club was held at Searcys at the Gherkin, at 30 St Mary Axe in Central London, and sponsored by IT services company Sopra Steria. Because IT Leaders' Club events are held under Chatham House rules, the attendees cannot be directly quoted.

In the police force, he added, the introduction of body cams, streaming video and smart devices enabling officers to file reports from the field meant that there needs to be rules, procedures and processes around these devices, and how and when they ought to be used.

At the same time, he added, it not only had the potential to generate more information than ever before, but also raised questions over how such data could or should be used - and in the public sector, that is a question of business processes.

Should, for example, the police pump out information about crime in particular areas knowing that it could instigate a big change in behaviour?

In local government, added another CIO, compliance is of paramount importance - as it is in the financial sector.

Increased regulation has also crept-in to the market for medical devices, added Sopra Steria principal consultant Andy Whitehurst, with, for example, manufacturers of replacement artificial hips having to gather in more information from patients than ever before.

This information not only needs to be gathered and stored, but also conveyed to regulators in a readable format that is also secure and respects patient confidentiality.

The next Computing IT Leaders' Dining Club will be on Tuesday 14 March at the Shangri-La Hotel, The Shard. Membership is free to all qualifying IT leaders (CIOs, IT managers, IT directors and equivalent).