What if we could redesign local government from scratch, with no legacy systems, outdated processes, or siloed departments? What if every council service was built entirely around the needs of residents, not internal structures?
These bold questions inspired Medway 2.0, a transformative vision for Medway Council's future. More than a digital upgrade, Medway 2.0 is a complete rethinking of how services are designed, delivered, and connected. At its core, it’s about breaking down barriers between systems, unlocking data, and creating seamless, resident-first experiences.
In this blog, we sat down with Paul Boyd, CIO at Medway Council. We explored how Medway 2.0 aligns with national transformation goals, how platforms like Jadu Connect and the Microsoft ecosystem support the vision, and what a truly joined-up council could look like.
Paul: Medway 2.0 was conceived as a concept to “join up” council services and design them from the resident’s point of view - effectively redesigning Medway Council again from scratch. The questions I kept asking were:
Ironically, this is exactly the opportunity that Local Government Reorganisation is taking… so the Medway 2.0 concept directly aligns with the national LGR goals.
Paul: We have taken the opportunity to be explicit that Medway 2.0 is about rationalising our systems to join up the vast amount of data the council holds in different systems and to transform it into actionable intelligence.
We have committed to Jadu being our preferred “resident-facing system”, as a digital layer within our organisation connecting to other back-office systems to improve service delivery, as well as being our preferred 'resident-facing system' for eforms and case management. The Microsoft ecosystem will become our preferred platform for internal processes, specifically focusing on designing bespoke low-code solutions in the Microsoft Power Platform.
We are excited about the recent Jadu developments, including the new Microsoft Teams integration, which allows us to integrate Jadu into our Microsoft ecosystem, enabling us to provide a more seamless way to manage customer interactions, improve service delivery, and streamline internal processes.
Paul: Medway 2.0 will never be “complete”, and it will be a long time before we embark on Medway 3.0 etc. For me, two important elements to achieve are:
Medway will join up its data to create “a single view of the resident”, allowing us to seamlessly provide support to residents wherever we can. I often describe this as wrapping services around residents.
Medway will join up its services to create “a single view of the council”, so that residents do not have to keep submitting the same information to each department, provide the same evidence time and again, and have to visit multiple different departments. Through effective service redesign, joining up data, and implementing technology to support staff, we will be able to allow residents to access services and get the information and answers that they want in the quickest and simplest way possible.
Join Paul Boyd and the wider Medway team at their upcoming Connect Day:
The Medway Digital team will showcase Medway 2.0 and other innovative solutions at the upcoming Connect Day that are making a real impact to redesign services and help them achieve £34 million in savings in 2024/2025.