LOCAL GOVERNMENT
2023–2028
Belfast City Council Digital Strategy
A practical, business-led digital strategy for the Belfast Agenda
Article Content
The challenge
The council had already invested in important digital platforms, including finance, HR and payroll, asset management, customer relationship management and document management. The challenge was to turn that investment into meaningful change: simpler services, better information, stronger digital capability and a clearer route to becoming a more digitally enabled council.
Belfast City Council also needed the strategy to be owned as a corporate business strategy, not just as an ICT document. That meant engaging services, elected members and senior leaders in an honest assessment of current capability, future needs, risks, capacity and the benefits digital change should deliver.
What we did
Castlerigg worked with the council to develop a 2023–2028 Digital Strategy grounded in the organisation’s real operating context. We reviewed the existing ICT strategy, assessed current digital capability, explored strategic and operational business needs, and helped shape a clear vision and work programme for the next phase of change.
Our work brought together digital public services, information as an asset, digital city innovation and digital capability into one coherent strategy. We helped the council define practical improvement actions, governance arrangements and a prioritised programme of work that could be taken forward by the council’s own teams.
At a glance
2023–2028
Digital strategy horizon developed for the council
Business-led
Positioned as a corporate strategy, not an ICT document
4 strands
Digital public services, information, innovation and capability brought together
Council-owned
A prioritised work programme delivered by the council’s own teams
Making digital change real for services
A key part of the approach was to make digital change real for services. The strategy set out how the following areas needed to work together to deliver better outcomes:
Service design
Shaping services around the people who use them.
Customer access
Simpler, more consistent routes into council services.
Information requirements
Treating information as a strategic asset.
Enterprise architecture
Connecting platforms already in place across the council.
Supplier management
Getting more value from existing technology partners.
Business relationship management
Aligning digital teams with service priorities.
Programme governance
Clear decision-making and oversight of change.
Digital capability
Building the skills and capacity to deliver change.
What this gave the council
The council gained a clear, practical strategy that linked digital delivery directly to service improvement, customer experience, information management and corporate change. It provided a shared language for digital transformation and a route map for how the council could make better use of the technology, data and skills it already had.
The work also gave Belfast City Council a stronger basis for prioritising investment, managing capacity, sequencing projects and making sure benefits were owned by the services that would deliver and experience the change.
Delivered together
Digital public services
Information as an asset
Digital city innovation
Digital capability
Benefits
A business-led digital strategy positioned as part of the council’s wider operating model.
A clearer link between digital investment, service redesign and customer experience.
A practical work programme covering digital public services, information, innovation and capability.
Improved focus on information quality, information governance and the use of data as a strategic asset.
Stronger governance and prioritisation of digital change through corporate arrangements.
A clearer understanding of the skills, capacity and capabilities needed in Digital Services to support future delivery.
“
Castlerigg helped us turn digital strategy into a practical business strategy for the council. Their work gave us a clear view of where we needed to strengthen our digital capability, how we could make better use of information, and how digital change could support better services for Belfast.
Paul Gribben, Head of Digital Services, Belfast City Council
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Castlerigg helped us turn digital strategy into a practical business strategy for the council. Their work gave us a clear view of where we needed to strengthen our digital capability.
— Paul Gribben, Head of Digital Services, Belfast City Council
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The Gemini Programme has given Cheshire East greater control over key aspects of service delivery, allowing us to better align ICT with our local priorities.
— Gareth Pawlett, Director of Digital Services, Cheshire East Council
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The Gemini Programme achieved exceptional success. The disciplined approach to delivery ensured the council remained on track despite the scale and complexity of change.
— Roger Davies, Head of DDAT Services, Cheshire West and Chester Council