Related Services:
Operating Model Design | Delivery Assurance | Programme Discovery

The Challenge

The Glasgow City Region set out an ambitious vision to harness digital connectivity, IoT, and data to transform how social housing and care services were delivered across its eight local authorities. The Smart & Connected Social Places (SCSP) programme was established to bring this vision to life, spanning a diverse set of initiatives across housing, health and social care, and digital infrastructure.

The scale and complexity of the programme were significant. Delivery required coordination across multiple organisations, each with different priorities, levels of digital maturity, and operational constraints. At the same time, many of the technologies being explored were still emerging, meaning there were no established operating models to follow.

The programme needed to align strategic ambition with practical delivery, ensuring that innovation activity translated into real-world outcomes. This required a clear operating model, effective governance, and strong leadership to bring structure and coherence to what could otherwise become a fragmented set of initiatives.

Our Approach

We provided programme leadership and operating model expertise across the lifecycle of the SCSP programme, ensuring that it remained structured, governed, and focused on delivering measurable outcomes.

Programme Design & Operating Model

The engagement began with the design of a regional operating model capable of coordinating activity across multiple local authorities and delivery partners. This involved defining how the programme would be structured, how decisions would be made, and how responsibilities would be distributed across the partnership.

The model was designed to balance regional coordination with local flexibility, enabling individual authorities to deliver within their own contexts while remaining aligned to a shared set of objectives. This created a coherent framework within which diverse activity could be effectively managed.

Governance & Delivery Assurance

A key priority was establishing governance arrangements that provided both control and transparency without constraining innovation. We introduced structured oversight mechanisms, including programme boards, reporting frameworks, and risk and issue management processes.

These arrangements enabled consistent visibility of progress, performance, and emerging risks, supporting more informed decision-making at senior levels. By introducing proportionate but effective controls, the programme was able to maintain momentum while ensuring accountability.

Multi-Workstream Coordination

The SCSP programme encompassed a wide range of interconnected initiatives, including IoT-enabled housing solutions, technology-enabled care services, and connectivity mapping and infrastructure planning.

We provided coordination across these workstreams, ensuring that activity was aligned and mutually reinforcing rather than fragmented. This helped to position the programme as a coherent portfolio of activity, rather than a collection of independent projects.

From Innovation to Scalable Delivery

A central focus of the engagement was ensuring that pilot activity could translate into scalable, sustainable solutions. This involved supporting the development of operating models that could be adopted more widely, as well as aligning activity to regional and national policy objectives.

We also supported the development of business cases and funding submissions, alongside engagement with industry partners and technology providers. This ensured that innovation activity was grounded in a clear pathway to long-term value.

What We Delivered

The engagement delivered a fully defined and operational programme structure, supported by a regional operating model and governance framework. Multiple workstreams were brought together under a single, coherent programme, with clear reporting, coordination, and oversight mechanisms in place.

We also supported the development of strategic outputs, including business cases and funding submissions, alongside the alignment of stakeholders across the region.

Outcomes & Impact

The SCSP programme has become a leading example of how regional collaboration can be used to drive innovation in public services. By introducing structure, governance, and a clear operating model, the programme was able to move beyond isolated pilots and towards a more coordinated and scalable approach.

The work enabled improved collaboration across local authorities and partners, strengthening alignment between housing, care, and digital services. It also provided a clearer understanding of how data and connectivity could be used to support better outcomes for residents.

More broadly, the programme established a foundation for continued investment and growth, positioning the Glasgow City Region as a leader in the adoption of smart, connected approaches to public service delivery.

Why This Matters

Public sector organisations are increasingly required to deliver transformation across organisational boundaries, often while adopting new and evolving technologies. Without a clear operating model and effective governance, these initiatives can become fragmented and fail to deliver their full potential.

This case demonstrates how structured programme design, combined with strong leadership and delivery assurance, can enable complex, multi-partner initiatives to succeed. It highlights the importance of creating the conditions for innovation to move beyond experimentation and into scalable, sustainable delivery.

How We Can Help

This engagement drew on our core capabilities in Operating Model Design, Delivery Assurance, and Programme Discovery, helping to bring structure and clarity to a complex, multi-partner transformation programme.

If you are delivering transformation across organisational boundaries and need to align strategy, governance, and delivery, we can help you create the structure and momentum required for success.