Digital Transformation in Social Services

To address the digital transformation challenges faced by social services agencies, alignment of ICT strategy with organisation reality across all levels involves the development of a roadmap for ICT adoption and organisation transformation. Practitioners need knowledge and skills to grow their digital competency over time in adapting to the latest digital landscape for delivering more engaging social services.

The purpose of this course is to help students navigate the digital transformation maze through sound program/project management in an evidence-based context. The main goal of digital transformation is competency assessment, workflow change, and system integration of logic models in supporting data driven decision making. Social service agencies have to put the data in order and equip operation staff with the needed knowledge and skills to function effectively and efficiently.

Use of design thinking and lean startup approach will be integrated into digital social services development and implementation as covered in this course. Furthermore, students will learn to use no-code/low-code digital tools to implement a fully integrated data driven information management and service system. The completed system can be used for ongoing data collection, statistical analysis, and data visualisation for event promotion, service program tracking, volunteer recruitment, impact evaluation, donation accounting, and funding application.

After taking the course, students will be able to:

1. Understand the current digital landscape and disruptions facing social services agencies.
2. Assess digital application needs using an integrated design thinking and lean startup approach for managing transformation projects and making sustainable and scalable impacts.
3. Write up application requirement specifications for fostering innovative design and prototype development of a data driven information management and service system.
4. Utilise no-code/low-code digital workflow tools to implement an integrated database system for further stakeholder validation and program evaluation.
5. Collect data and device relevant statistical measures for further data analysis and visualisation with impact assessment and funding application consideration.