Want nontechnical leaders to lead digital transformation? Inspire them.
October 25, 2024
Digital transformation projects put nontechnical managers in a tight spot. Because every department across an organization might be involved, it makes sense for business managers to lead rather than IT. But how can they be successful when they lack technology training and experience?
To address this challenge, Belgium’s Flemish government created the Digital Leaders Academy, a training program for executive leaders in the public sector. Located in Flanders in the northern part of Belgium, the Flemish government is known for its innovative vision of transformation and data safety. DXC Technology has been a partner in that journey for over 20 years, creating award-winning applications that touch the lives of Flemish citizens every day. And we’re supporting the Academy by training government leaders on successful transformation strategies.
We spoke with the Academy’s head, Paul Danneels, and DXC’s Yves Vanderbeken, a volunteer trainer at the Academy, about the success of the digital training program.
Q: What was the inspiration for the Digital Leaders Academy, and how does it work?
Paul: The Digital Leaders Academy started in 2021 as an internal program to raise awareness of the benefits of digital transformation in government agencies. The business outcomes can be significant, and leaders need to be aware of what they can achieve. This is not a technical program; the focus is on the business side — how to manage strategy, control change, define results and involve users.
Some 40 government agencies have participated, including agriculture, energy, health, employment, consumer affairs and culture. Managers from all government departments in Flanders are welcome, and we invite local political leaders and CEOs, too. As a result, we get some powerful multidisciplinary discussions. To date, we’ve graduated over 150 participants.
40 subject matter experts — government leaders and our IT partners — lead the sessions and share their own successes with transformation projects that were about more than the implementation of technology.
Yves: This program shares testimonials of real projects and successes in the Flemish Government, often delivered by DXC. I am always thrilled when the invitation for the next session arrives because I know the content we bring has an impact. Our material, experience, and use cases inspire the audience. I love to dialogue with clients and see how their initial ideas turn into actual projects and realizations.
Q: What is the curriculum based on?
Paul: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has six dimensions of digital government policy — digital by design, data-driven, platforms, open, user-driven and proactive — that essentially form the umbrella for our program.
In Belgium, we also have a yearly survey known as the Digital Dashboard which explores digital maturity levels of companies, government agencies and individuals. The survey shows us how willing people are to work with government transformation projects, how they use mobile technology, whether they trust AI and more. For example, the survey showed that about 10% of our citizens are not digitally mature. Therefore, digital inclusions get a lot of attention in our program, to avoid leaving people behind.
“I think part of the success of the program is the involvement of our partners to inspire the trainees that transformation is possible. DXC has a long tradition in the Flemish Government, and the trainees appreciate the insights into reality versus the theoretical framework we present. Therefore, I find the input from all partners — and DXC specifically — very worthwhile.”
Paul Danneel
Flemish Government Digital Leaders Academy
Q: How does DXC support the Academy?
Paul: DXC participates as one of the Flemish Government’s trusted partners. bringing expertise in three sessions:
- Government as a platform: National and international cases that demonstrate how to achieve business outcomes using a platform to which all agencies can contribute and reuse data. This is a building block that can accelerate digital transformation.
- Agile software development: Moving beyond the typical waterfall-style three- and five-year planning towards a more flexible and responsive approach. The DXC team shares government cases where Agile techniques were used.
- Change management: The human change that results from newer technology such as AI. In this session, DXC brings a stakeholder analysis to tackle the organizational changes required for a successful digital transformation.
Yves: At the beginning of the program, people in the room tend to be cautious, but after a while, they become supporters of transformation. They take the inspiration back to their agencies and start advocating for change. I think this is the real power of the program: to inspire people to get the next project in their agency going and to collaborate with other agencies that might be one or two steps ahead.
Q: What plans do you have for the Digital Leaders Academy’s future?
Paul: We hope to instill a culture of collaboration across our government entities. Participants have asked us to hold a “comeback day,” so we’ll offer a session for graduates to refresh their knowledge, meet up again with peers and keep in touch.
As a result of feedback, we’re planning to add modules on innovation, a deeper dive into change management and potentially artificial intelligence.
Yves: The program certainly triggers collaboration and reuse of best practices amongst all participants. Ultimately, it is about serving digital citizens with less paperwork and more automation, giving them a personalized experience and delivering more proactive services.
This is all in line with Flanders' vision of being one of the most innovative regions in Europe, and we are excited to help realize this vision, project by project, citizen service by citizen service. The program's impact is significant, inspiring leadership to take action today.
Meet the experts
Paul Danneels is co-founder and head of the Digital Leaders Academy, a management training program run by Digital Flanders, an agency of the Flemish regional government in Belgium.
Yves Vanderbeken is the public-sector managing partner at DXC Technology and a DXC Distinguished Technologist.
Go deeper
Further explore our relationship with Government of Flanders