Got the "Edge" to innovate?
Jinfo Blog

By Joanna Ptolomey

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A new catchphrase has been seeping into my everyday life and general consciousness this last year – the Big Society.   A method of tapping into social energy and working in partnership at the community and local level, bringing innovation in to solve problems. 

Now that sounds interesting, but hardly new.  There have always been a volunteering network and community-led projects.

The problem being that Big Society has now been firmly attached to national politics and in particular public service delivery and cost savings.  But some believe that this is now destroying the general goodwill of the original concept making it unworkable in the real world.

This time last year I was reporting from Edge2010 Conference – a major UK conference aimed at senior managers, policy makers, directors and chief executives in public sector delivery services and especially library services.  From "capable communities" to "flexing your library muscle" it all looked quite innovative and exciting for the world of "joined up" public service delivery.  Yes library services would need to change, and there was some exciting new delivery models, but that was all for the good.

One year on it is quite a different story and quite a sorry one it is too.  With cuts hitting hard across public services and many people worried that community libraries are bearing the full brunt of cost savings, the Big Society is being punted as the answer.  Interestingly whilst Birmingham City Council has just unveiled their new "super library" they have also been very coy about the plans for many of their regular libraries.

I am returning to the Edge Conference this year to find out how the sector has really changed.  How are people coping with making savings, are we seeing more innovative work and delivery practices and how are shared services really working out?  Many city councils will be speaking about transforming their library services including Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh (a recent FUMSI contribution) and also New York City.  I am also looking forward to hearing about an innovative approach in using social media to have conversations with your local police.

Standing on the edge can be very daunting – frightening, worrying but also surprisingly liberating, exciting and worthwhile.  So whilst I am unsure that Big Society can really help public service delivery I think we can do a lot to help ourselves.  I will be reporting from Edge2011 in a couple of weeks – peeking over the edge it looks interesting and valuable.

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