|
Dear colleague
Welcome to the second edition of the LGA’s Cyber, Digital and Technology (CDT) bulletin featuring the latest information about the support we offer to councils. This includes a free training programme for councillors, a webinar series featuring speakers from Microsoft sharing tips on how to maximise cyber security features from existing licenses, and an opportunity to take part in an incident response exercise. You can also read about notable practice from the sector, as well as updates from partners including the reopening of the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government (DLUHC)’s Local Digital Fund.
Please get in touch if there is anything we can do to support your council’s cyber, digital and technology activities, or if you think your council has learnt lessons worth sharing.
Best wishes,
|
Owen Pritchard
Head of Cyber, Digital and Technology
Local Government Association
|
|
 |
Free two-day programme for councillors: Leadership Essentials - Digitalisation
The LGA are hosting a Leadership Essentials - Digitalisation programme for leaders, deputy leaders, portfolio holders and members with an interest in cyber, digital and technology. The aim is to provide councillors with the confidence, capability, and awareness to lead the digitalisation agenda within their local authorities and local areas.
There is an option to attend a residential two-day programme from Saturday 19 November to Sunday 20 November 2022 or a virtual two-day programme from Tuesday 6 December to Wednesday 7 December. Please forward this information to your members who might be interested in attending. For further information, visit the LGA webpage.
LGA Reaction Exercises
Technical Incident Response
The LGA are piloting a new Technical Incident Response Exercise. This provides councils with a funded opportunity to improve how they manage cyber incidents. Taking place over half a day, IT teams are invited to take part in a scenario-based exercise designed to increase confidence in their ability to detect, investigate, communicate, respond to, and recover from cyber events. We are offering councils the below dates to participate in the pilot:
- Tuesday, 22 November 2022
- Monday, 28 November 2022
- Thursday, 1 December 2022
To express interest or arrange an introductory conversation, please contact us at cyberanddigital@local.gov.uk
Business Continuity
Delivered in partnership with the Emergency Planning College, the LGA’s facilitated Business Continuity Exercise works with councils to develop and rehearse a bespoke reasonable worst case scenario cyber incident. Aimed at senior leaders, the funded exercise will:
- TEST crisis response and contingency plans for a serious cyber incident
- REHEARSE individuals in crisis response process and procedures
- IDENTIFY where current plans require refinement
- IMPROVE awareness of cyber security and responsibility across the council
To express interest or arrange an introductory conversation, please contact us at cyberanddigital@local.gov.uk
LGA Cyber 360 – Volunteer Opportunity for Officers
The LGA is offering an exciting opportunity for council officers to participate in a Cyber 360. Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, you will have the opportunity to support another council and develop your personal learning on cyber security good practice.
If you have a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) or CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) qualification, we are happy to contribute a supporting letter to aid you in your annual mandatory CPD (Continuing Professional Development) requirements.
We are currently seeking one officer to join each of the below Cyber 360’s:
Hampshire-based council:
Day 1 – Tuesday, 15 November – in-person
Day 2 – Wednesday, 16 November – in-person
Day 3 – Wednesday, 23 November – virtual
Devon-based council:
Day 1 – Thursday, 10 November 2022 – virtual
Day 2 – Thursday, 17 November 2022 – virtual
If you are interested in joining either Cyber 360, or would like to discuss this opportunity in further detail, please contact us at cyberanddigital@local.gov.uk
Call for contributions: LGA project on community engagement
Do you have examples of using digital tools or other approaches to engage with local communities and bring underrepresented voices to the forefront? The LGA is working with New Local and TPXimpact to capture and celebrate examples of innovative community engagement. For more information on how to contribute, please visit the LGA community engagement project page.
Local Government Applications Managers Network meeting
Do you or one of your colleagues work in Local Government and manage a team that supports or develops in-house or third-party Business Applications? The Local Government Application Managers Network (LGAMN) are hosting a lunchtime virtual meeting on Tuesday 15 November at 12:30am-1:30pm. If you are interested in attending, please email tass.smith@warwickdc.gov.uk.
NHS Cyber Chief’s top security tips for Cyber Security Awareness Month
“From email and social media to online banking and shopping, it has never been so crucial to take vital cyber security steps to prevent criminals getting hold of data, devices and accounts". Mike Fell, NHS Digital’s new Executive Director of National Cyber Security Operations has shared his top cyber security tips as part of Cyber Security Awareness Month. These 8 tips can be adapted to local government organisations “to make sure cyber security is a top priority” and are available on the NHS Digital webpage.
Digital Connectivity Programme
The LGA are delighted to share some of the innovative work councils have completed through our Digital Connectivity programme:
Developing a Community-Based Model to Increase Digital Inclusion
Leeds City Council were grant funded through the LGA’s Digital Pathfinders programme to develop a community-based model to increase digital inclusion. This was delivered through cross-sector collaboration.
Dorset Council develops analytics on local cost of living
Dorset Council has developed a predictive analytics model on the local impact of the cost-of-living crisis. The model, built on Microsoft Power BI, is being used to estimate how assumptions about the fuel cap will affect households in Dorset.
Free Digital and Agile training
The Local Digital team at Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is offering a free online training course to equip local government officers with a deeper understanding of agile and digital, and how to use them effectively in digital delivery. The course will run on Wednesday 23 to Thursday 24 November 2022 and Monday 12 to Tuesday 13 December 2022. Spaces are limited to 12 per course and will be randomly allocated after the deadline. Further dates are planned for 2023 and will be shared shortly. Please complete this expression of interest form by Wednesday 2 November to be considered for the course.
Local Digital Fund has reopened
DLUHC’s Local Digital Fund is open for applications. Local authorities are invited to propose projects aimed at solving common local government issues and to make local government services safer, more resilient, and cheaper to deliver. Applications are open for 6 weeks from Thursday 13 October until Thursday 24 November 2022. Find out more in their latest blog and visit the Local Digital website to apply.
Call for responses for DCMS cyber essentials survey
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) is seeking to better understand how organisations engage with Cyber Essentials to improve their online defences. To help shape the Government’s future strategy, councils are invited to fill out this short survey on why they use Cyber Essentials, what technical challenges they currently face and whether Cyber Essentials is a suitable tool to address third-party risks.
New Digital Strategy developed for UK Parliament
The Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) has unveiled a new digital strategy for the UK Parliament set to run until 2025 which aims to support changes in the operating model for Parliament. The priorities include:
- Ensuring digital services are flexible, secure, and resilient
- Keeping pace with advances in technology to support parliamentary functions
- Making digital more sustainable and scalable
- Enabling Parliament to make the best use of its data and information securely.
Future Councils
DLUHC is inviting local authorities across England to join the Future Councils pilot. The pilot will fund a small cohort of councils to make digital and cyber improvements across their organisations, reform key services, and influence organisation-wide factors that can unblock change. Successful council bids will receive up to £750,000 to work with DHLUC over six months. The learning from the pilot will then be shared openly with other councils. For more information, please see the application guidance. Applications close on 18 November.
NCSC weekly threat reports
A reminder to keep reviewing the NCSC’s weekly threat reports on its webpage. Recent highlights from NCSC’s weekly threat reports:
NCSC publishes supply chain guidance
NCSC has published guidance to help organisations assess the cyber security of their suppliers in response to a growing trend in cyber-attacks on supply chains. The new guidance is designed to help medium and larger organisations effectively assess the cyber risks of working with suppliers and gain assurance that mitigations are in place.
LGA Events
Tuesday 8 November 2022, 10am-1pm at techUK, 10 St Bride Street, London, EC4A 4AD.
The analog network (the PSTN) is fast approaching its end of life and telecommunications providers are moving their customer base onto more future-proof telephone services. The LGA, local authorities and telecommunication service providers will be discussing the challenges and opportunities for local government at a TechUK event. For more information and registration, please visit the Tech UK webpage.
Maximising security and compliance features from Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licenses (virtual meeting)
Tuesday 15 November, 10am-12pm; Tuesday 22 November, 10am-12pm
Does your council use a Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license? Join our two-part webinar series where speakers from Microsoft will share tips on how to maximise cyber security features from councils’ existing licenses. The first webinar will focus on E3 licenses and the second webinar on E5 licenses. This series will be particularly useful for Heads of IT and managers as well as councillors with a cyber and digital portfolio. For further information, please email cyberanddigital@local.gov.uk
Wider Events
Tuesday 1 November, 10am-2pm, Storey Club, 4 Kingdom Street, W2 6BD.
Digital connectivity is increasingly crucial for businesses, public services, and communities. DCMS and London's sub-regional partnerships are inviting councillors to a free event for an opportunity to:
- Hear from experts on how mobile connectivity is transforming communities.
- Speak to mobile industry reps that have been within local government.
- Discuss the day-to-day challenges unique to your area.
- Hear directly from DCMS on why mobile connectivity is central to much of the government’s agenda.
Lunch will be provided for in-person attendees, and the event will also be accessible online. For more information and registration, please visit the event page.
Tuesday 16 November, Holiday Inn, Manchester City Centre, 25 Aytoun Street, M1 3DT
Socitm are hosting an event on modernising service delivery. Featuring speakers from the local government and digital sectors, the event will explore how to make positive changes through digital transformation and innovation. For more information and registration, please visit the event page.
Wednesday 16 November 2022 at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, Broad Sanctuary, London, SW1P 3EE
The Government Cyber Security Conference 2022 will bring together leaders and professionals working in cyber security, or with an interest in cyber security to support the implementation of the Government Cyber Security Strategy ‘Defending as One’. The conference will provide delegates with an opportunity to participate in interactive forums, discussions, and keynote addresses to share cyber security-related experiences, knowledge, and expertise. For more information and registration, please visit the event page.
Head of Programme: owen.pritchard@local.gov.uk
Cyber, Digital and Technology Team: cyberanddigital@local.gov.uk
|
