Eight years ago yesterday on 6th November 2014, the UK Government Digital Marketplace opened for business. This was made possible by collective leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and foundations laid several years earlier as the UK Government Digital Service (GDS) was set up.

For several of us, this was the first time we had been to an in-person event since lockdown ended, and the majority of attendees had never been to an unconference before.

In my part 1 blog post I talked about how unconferences are different to traditional conferences where the agenda, format and speakers are all pre-set.

For several of us, this was the first time we had been to an in-person event since lockdown ended, and the majority of attendees had never been to an unconference before.

In Mike’s career of over 40 years, he has held senior roles at the Ministry of Justice, Department of Health and Social Care, Department of Work and Pension and HM Treasury. He was also, until recently, the President of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountancy (CIPFA) and a qualified accountant.

The Cabinet Office recently published its ‘Digital, Data and Technology [DDaT] Sourcing Playbook’, which was launched at an event hosted by techUK on 5 April. This may be welcomed by some contracting authorities who are looking for clarity on the government’s intersecting policies and priorities, and how these underpin the government’s DDaT and commercial activities.

After two years of lockdowns, working in spare rooms and far too many virtual meetings I took some of the CURSHAW Team on our first conference - and I’m glad we went.

Unsure of how the day would pan out, it’s fair to say that the Public Technology Live 2022 was the perfect return to the conference circuit. The venue was nice, food and drink was good and the people were great. More importantly, the topics, speakers and stalls were just right:

Are all PFIs risky or are some more risky than others?

The importance of undertaking joined-up contract reviews, mid-course corrective action and some of the practical steps involved in the beginning of the expiry process.