The Improvement and Development Agency’s (IDeA) Communities of Practice for Local Government (CoPs) has been shortlisted for two awards at the e-Government National Awards 2008, this years ‘best of the best’ in public sector ICT and  e-government. The winners will be announced at the National Awards dinner on 20th January 2009.

The two categories that the IDeA CoP’s have been shortlisted for are:

1. e-Government excellence: Leadership & Profession
2. e-Government excellence: Innovation in Strategy on a National Level

The local government CoP strategy was conceived in 2005 in order to support more effective collaborative working across the sector and as an incubator for service improvements and innovation. The CoP platform was ultimately launched in December 2007. Since then, over 19,000 public sector staff have registered on the platform and there are currently over 550 active CoP’s, working on a whole range of activities, from policy development, children’s services and health to leadership and knowledge management.

For me, this is the culmination of 3 years work in getting the strategy implemented. But it doesn’t stop here. New technology and products (Web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0) are making it far easier to connect with experts and peers and providing enormous opportunities for co-creation and personal development. What was started 3 years ago is just the foundation for change and improvement across the whole public sector.  Planning for the next 3 years has already started!

There is more background to the IDeA CoPs in the attached pdf.