Fostering a peer network gave individual local authorities the courage and support to be pioneering

The local authorities we work with are often pioneers in digital transformation, or they’re the first in their area to work in an experimental way. They’re actively re-shaping how they work, and what that work looks like. However, this also means that they have less safety, support and security as they undergo the process.

For example, the City of Niamey was testing the process of digitising vehicle tax payment. This process is the first digitisation of a tax initiative in the city, and its insights would have wide repercussions for the rest of municipal services. However, it also meant that city officials had to learn how to design, test and roll out a digital solution from scratch – they had no examples within their city of what this could look like.

We know that thinking about the future in this speculative way is not always comfortable, so we intentionally create psychological safety by de-risking ‘being wrong’. We focused on supporting cities through individual coaching, but also through ASToN’s peer network. The network meant that it was no longer one city going against the grain, but rather eleven cities doing it together, asking similar questions and learning the answers together.

Recommendation for local authorities who want to experiment: experimentation can feel uncomfortable because it encourages new ways of working. Find other local authorities or initiatives that you can connect to, so that you can feel supported by others and learn from them.