Hi, I’m Nova Constable. I’ve been with Luton Council for 12 years now, the last 8 of which I’ve been the digital lead for content design and engagement. Just over a year ago, an OCA (organisational change assessment) moved the me and the whole Digital Services team into Luton’s new Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) service.
I think that was my fourth OCA since I started with Luton (also my current favourite!). Right now, I’m in the middle of my fifth! There are several aims of the current OCA, but essentially, it’s to help us move us forward by building future capability in digital, data, automation, security, architecture and modern technology.
We’ve already started by launching our new digital platform.
So, watch this space for news about how DDaT Luton is changing!
Blog editor and new format
Earlier this year, the Director of DDaT Luton, Atika Mohammed, asked me to be take over as editor for our blog after Dave Briggs moved on from Luton. So, it feels only fitting that I kick off our new format for weeknotes.
Weeknotes are ow officially resumed – we put them on hold after learning we were possibly sharing TMI (too much information), which is something I hear often 😉
From this week, a different contributor will post a summary of their week every Monday. That includes our director, heads of service and project managers, so you’ll get to read very different aspects of the DDaT service.
They’ll tell you:
- a little about themselves
- what went well last week
- what was complicated
- what they’re looking forward to working on this week
So, here’s the first weeknotes post under the new format. The next one won’t have the above extra preamble!
Looking back…
I can hardly call last week ‘a week’ as I only worked for 3 days. Thursday and Friday, I was in my favourite place, sunny Brighton, so see my favourite band, The Skinner Brothers (SB).
I have to say, meeting up with lots of other SB fans, plus the extended summer weather, made my trip so much fun!
But I’m firmly back in the real world now. Here’s what happened in my work life last week.
It’s all good…
I had a pretty productive week, considering it was only technically 3 days!
- Completed several tasks from the Digital Services team Planner board
- Worked on my Digital Accessibility Specialist apprenticeship enrolment
- Reviewed my AI agent for creating an accessible Word document
- Encouraging and productive 1:1 with my manager, Jayvik Patel
- Discussions around creating a new Digital Champions Corner (DCC) on our intranet, aimed to encourage people to take up more M365 tools for productivity
It’s complicated…
I’d say the biggest complication last week was time restraints for completing what I need to do for my Digital Accessibility Specialist apprenticeship.
The team at Purple Beard Training have been super helpful, so huge thanks to Dimple Khagram, Rajeev Nair and Danielle Martin for accommodating and supporting me ❤️
Looking forward…
This week, I’m looking forward to:
- launching our new weeknotes format ✅
- creating the new Digital Champions Corner site on our intranet
- working on Local Plan page updates
- helping services to make their documents accessible
- working with the new weeknotes blog team to make sure the rota works and they know what to do
- publishing information about a new consultation in Luton
- attending an Accessibility and AI webinar
That’s all folks…
That’s all for now. Follow my LinkedIn profile if you’d like to see our weeknotes posts – I’ll share them every Monday morning. Alternatively, follow the Digital Luton blog.
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