IT & Digital Service’s Graduate Apprentices - Quick Fire Q&A
The IT & Digital Services team was formed in 2017. We were the final addition to the team structure and joined as Project Support Officers. This is a quick fire Q&A and summary of what we do.
Q: When did you join and where did you come from?
Shade: December 2017, just in time for Christmas. I previously worked for Doddle, a logistics start up as a Logistics Administrator.
Natalie: I started in January 2018, so have been in the Team for just over a year now. Previously, I was a PSO at Kent County Council within the Adult Social Care directorate.
Safia: March 2018 and I have a background in market research and retail banking.
Q: The role of a Digital Delivery Officer is very varied - how would you describe it in a few of words?
Shade: Learning
Natalie: Organisation
Safia: Change focused
Q: What is your biggest achievement so far?
Shade: Contributed to the successful Pan-London Local Full Fibre Network Fund bid resulting in Southwark winning a share of £8.5m to bring full fibre broadband to the borough. This was one of the first projects I was assigned to and it was great to hear we had won our bid and how this will impact resident’s lives for the better and help with the Digital Not Spots within Southwark.
Natalie: Getting Tooley Street’s new guest and corporate WiFi solution live in just 2 months - we worked to tight timescales to get the new wifi solution live before the postal vote work started at the beginning of April for the local election. The new WiFi replaced BT Openzone, which used to cut out after 2 hours of use, so it was great to be involved in replacing this with a better solution for staff and visitors to use.
Safia: Disconnecting over 700 phone lines that the council been paying for but not using which was a leftover task from the Blackberry replacement project. I have saved the council £120,000 a year which would otherwise have been spent on lines that are no longer being used.
Q: What are some of the main things you do as Digital Delivery Officers?
Natalie: We all support the day-to-day running of the IT & Digital Services Programme Management Office.
Shade: To add to what Natalie said, supporting the PMO can vary - from working directly on digital transformation projects to providing administrative support to board meetings such as the Modernisation Strategy Board, by capturing minutes and actions.
Safia: We also support in non PMO tasks like helping arrange events run by members of our Team, and leading initiatives we do as a team, like the IT & Digital Services lunch and learns and Digital Futures Month which took place in November 2018.
Q: Part of being a Graduate Apprentice is studying, where and what are you studying?
Safia: We’re studying Prince 2 Foundation and Practitioner and Associate Project Management qualifications with the ELA-Group.
Shade: As a Higher-level Graduate Apprentices our roles are split between learning on the job and classroom-based studying. All 3 of us are completing Project Management qualifications and we have a study day every week with a day spent a college every fortnight.
Natalie: When we complete our apprenticeship (in about 18 months' time), we will have professional experience and the necessary knowledge to help us progress into project management roles with increasing responsibility.
Q: What projects are you currently working on?
Safia: I’m currently working on developing Southwark’s first Internet of Things focused project - part of which will be setting up a network to connect sensors that support the Smart City agenda. I’m also managing the Wyse Box reimaging project which will be rolled out council wide, making login times quicker and will have new features on the logon page, so look out for comms from me.
Natalie: Now that the new WiFi solution is fully working at Tooley Street, I am working on phase 2 of this project which involves rolling out the same solution to 13 other council buildings with staff based in and around the Borough – starting with Camberwell Road and Bournemouth Road.
Shade: I'm working on the new telephony solution across Southwark Council's estate. This will involve users being able to use their laptops and phones to video conference and instant message so it’s quite exciting with a lot of challenges.
Shade and Natalie: Together we support projects within the Digital Infrastructure Programme – these concentrate on improving digital connectivity around the Borough. This makes doing things most of us take for granted, like watching Netflix or online shopping, almost impossible for some of our residents. We are working with the broadband providers Community Fibre and Hyperoptic to facilitate the rollout of superfast broadband to our council-owned housing estates.
Q: You helped organise the first Digital Futures Month at Southwark, what was it and how did it go?
All: The Digital Futures Month was a month of events in 2018 to raise awareness around key change programmes happening across the council. It was also an opportunity for staff to learn from different organisations and consider the art of the possible.
It was a busy month! It was really great to be behind the scenes of something that had never been done before and see the event come to life. We also got really positive feedback from speakers and attendees so we’re quite proud at the outcome.
Q: What other interesting things are you doing?
Shade and Safia: We're both working with colleagues in Organisation Transformation on reviving the BAME network here at Southwark Council. We want to create a cultural exchange by highlighting and showcasing different facets of BAME culture to the wider council and to empower and support BAME staff to be very best that they can. A work in progress but watch this space as we can't wait to share some of the events we have planned!
Natalie: I am currently working with a colleague in Organisational Development to set up an Apprentice Network at Southwark – there are so many past and present apprentices working at Southwark, and we thought it would be a great idea to set up a way for all of these members of staff to network, share ideas, tips on how to succeed in an apprenticeship and more…
And that brings us to the end of this quick fire Q&A and very quick summary of what we do! You’ll hear from us again soon but in the meantime please check out the links below to find out more about what IT & Digital Services do as a team.
*Update - Since writing this article, all three Graduate Apprentices have been promoted.
Written By: Shade Nathaniel-Ayodele, Natalie Preston & Safia Hameed
Page last updated: 16 September 2019
