Following techUK's first engagement with the PDS regarding the institution's refresh of its 2020 Digital Strategy for Policing, we were delighted to welcome back Martin Leven, Alex Bowen and relevant digital decision-makers within Policing to discuss changes made to the Strategy document, following extensive consultation and input from techUK members
See the Round-up from techUK's first engagement regarding the PDS's Refresh Strategy.
Prior to presenting the Strategy to the National Police Chiefs' Council's Digital, Data and Technology Coordination Committee (DDaT), it's teams engaged with consultancies, multinational organisations, charities, and tech suppliers within the Criminal Justice System (CJS) around how the refreshed strategy has been shaped around the experiences, challenges, and opportunities facing UK Policing
Following techUK members' detailed feedback during the consultation process, business leaders within the digital tech sector outlined various recommendations, including: the importance of prioritising users and victims, developing workstreams around regional Forces' localised structures, balancing local priorities with the growing requirement for centralised approaches, and technical considerations regarding the strategies implementation roadmaps.
Martin Leven, PDS's Head of Strategy and Innovation, presented the refreshed Strategy document, highlighting areas of most relevance to tech suppliers' working in the Policing industry:
- Aligning digital innovation strategies across the CJS; Recent years have seen institutions' developing, maturing and implementing digital tech strategies, meaning it's important for strategists and decision-makers to align these documents', facilitating interoperability and coherence across Government.
- Upskilling digital skills for Policing staff; Agencies and Forces' currently face challenges of recruiting, retaining and upskilling staff and officers' digital skills, which remains important for developing digital tech solutions and applications within Policing work.
- Addressing and adapting to community needs and expertise; Different challenges exist between specific local Forces', including the challenge of older citizens' lacking understanding and knowledge of advance tech - making them susceptible and vulnerable to digital crime.
- Phases 1-3; The Strategy's phased roadmaps include the re-mapping and development of technical areas of procurement, data standards, and how Policing's multiple digital tech bodies will manage and direct these workstreams.
The session also included questions from members, which covered areas including the sector's engagement with Chief Constables' remit towards the Strategy, the success of PDS's cross sector-Policing's Digital Garage programme, and the importance of collaboration, communication, and joint- decision-making between agencies, Whitehall, civil society, and digital tech suppliers.