Neil Owen is a Digital Deputy Director at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
With over 30 years of experience in technology leadership roles across financial services, utilities, and the public sector, Neil has spent the last decade immersed in the "Digital Workplace".
He brings unique insights on leading the transformation of collaboration and communication services for over 80,000 users spread across the UK.
Neil will be speaking at DTX + UCX London, taking place on 2nd and 3rd October at ExCeL London.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What will you be speaking about at DTX + UCX London?
I'll discuss the transformation of the Digital Workplace within large central government departments, focusing on our experience at the DWP. I'll share some of the catalysts for change and demonstrate how our digital workplace services have evolved to better serve over 80,000 colleagues across the UK. Additionally, I'll provide insights into our vision for the future of Digital Workplace services at DWP.
Q: Why should people listen to your session at DTX + UCX?
Throughout my career, I've had the opportunity to lead the delivery of significant changes involving innovative technology, including recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI). However, my passion has always been about the people involved – those who design, build, and run the technology and those whose lives are made easier because of it. This people-centric perspective will be the lens through which I'll share our Digital Workplace journey.
Our session will be particularly valuable for those interested in Digital Workplace technology, product ownership methodologies, and adoption challenges at scale. We've experienced first-hand the value of learning from others on similar journeys, and I believe our insights can be helpful to many organisations.
Moreover, attendees will get a window into what digital transformation looks like in a large central government organisation and understand why our work matters to many UK citizens.
Q: What will people hear about the future of DWP's Digital Workplace?
A crucial part of our transformation has involved taking ownership of our services back from what was typically a managed service model. This shift has allowed us to adopt a product-centric operating model and significantly grow our capability to design, deliver, operate, and drive the adoption of our services.
Looking ahead, the future of our Digital Workplace hinges on our ability to retain, attract, and develop our future product owners, business analysts, content designers, and infrastructure engineers, among others.
We're also focusing on ways of working and helping our colleagues get the most from our Digital Workplace services. There's still more business value to be leveraged through new working methods, removing duplication, and increasing our colleagues' digital confidence.
We're moving towards greater integration of experiences, open collaboration, hyper-automation, and leveraging AI to solve business problems. All of this while ensuring we continue to provide modern and flexible services that can take advantage of future opportunities in AI and beyond.
Q: What single activity has been a game-changer in terms of adoption?
Without a doubt, our Digital Workplace Champions have been instrumental. We have a thriving network of around 1,000+ passionate and committed colleagues from across the country. These individuals, who all have their regular 'day jobs', are allocated time to help shape, support, and lead the adoption of Digital Workplace services and boost colleagues' digital confidence.
Our Champions are the first to experience new functions and features, allowing them to test and challenge the capabilities and, more importantly, how to communicate changes and support their colleagues effectively. They're on-site to communicate changes and support colleagues who need assistance.
Notably, our virtual network is the most active in the entire organisation, with people constantly asking for help, sharing information, and supporting each other every day.
Q: Will you touch on Digital Workplace accessibility?
Absolutely. Accessibility is an area our teams are incredibly passionate about. We have a dedicated team within my area specifically focused on accessibility for collaboration and communication products, led by some extremely committed colleagues.
Having deaf, blind, and neurodiverse colleagues within the team has provided invaluable first-hand insight into the experiences we're delivering. We gain further insights from several communities and networks that help test products and ways of working, create educational content, and support colleagues when issues arise.
We've developed strong relationships with our partners, who have been instrumental in helping drive a more 'accessible' culture and responding to our needs. While we still have a long way to go on this journey, the team can be proud of what they've achieved to date.
Q: If you could offer three takeaways from your speaking session, what would they be?
1. The people at DWP have a real sense of purpose – their work truly matters and impacts millions of lives.
2. We're working on projects of a scale and complexity that are fairly unique for UK organisations, often involving cutting-edge technology.
3. We invest in and care deeply about the people making this change happen, and we're always looking for talented individuals to join our team.
Q: Have you attended DTX + UCX before, and if so, why should others attend?
Yes, I've spoken at and attended DTX events, including those in Manchester. These events always offer diverse conversations, people, and perspectives that help shape or build on your own ideas, or sometimes take you in entirely new directions.
Getting out of your usual workplace and into an environment with a real buzz, a sense of fun, and stimulating content is invaluable. DTX provides an excellent opportunity for learning, networking, and gaining fresh insights into the rapidly evolving world of digital technology.
Q: What are your hopes for DTX + UCX this year? What are you hoping to learn?
I'm particularly interested in hearing more from organisations about the business problems or opportunities they're addressing with AI. I'm looking for real, practical use cases that demonstrate the value gained through AI implementation and the key challenges they're facing.
I'm curious about how businesses are approaching AI – are they led by specific problems that need solving, or are they looking for problems that AI could potentially address? As with all new technology, it needs to be business and value-led.
I'll also be keeping an eye out for any social and cultural perspectives influencing the Digital Workplace, such as how hybrid working is evolving. I'm interested in how the industry is approaching employee experience and its relationship with the Digital Workplace.
And, of course, I'm excited to see what innovative and engaging stands London will offer to rival those we've seen in Manchester.
Neil Owen will be speaking at DTX + UCX London, taking place on 2nd and 3rd October at ExCel London. For more information and to register – for free – please visit: https://dtx-london-2024.reg.buzz/