Digital Planning Maturity Assessment (DPMA)
The DPMA is the first step on our digital planning improvement journey. It allows LPAs to self-assess their readiness for digital transformation and pinpoint areas for growth. It assesses key areas such as:
- Digital and design skills
- Data and insights
- Culture and ways of working
This self-assessment provides a clear baseline, enabling LPAs to understand their starting point and identify improvement opportunities. Each assessment is reviewed, and a tailored action plan is created to help the authority achieve its specific goals.
“The Digital Planning Maturity Assessment has been really useful. It helped us map out the data we needed and the required formats, making it easier for our team - including those with less technical experience - to contribute effectively. It’s been a real team effort. ”
Castle Point Borough Council
Learning and development
The ODP community has access to bespoke training opportunities designed to build essential digital and data skills. These sessions align with LPAs DPMA action plan and cover topics such as:
- Agile project delivery
- GIS and spatial data
- Content design
- Human-centred design
- User research
- Microsoft Power BI (a data visualisation platform)
- Procurement
- Change management
This training ensures LPAs are equipped to meet legislative requirements, embrace digital transformation and deliver better planning services for their communities.
Self-service support
The ODP Hub is a purpose-built intranet that gives community members access to an extensive library of self-service resources, including guides, toolkits and best practices to support their digital journey.
Networking and collaboration
The ODP community provides vibrant opportunities for collaboration and connection:
- ODP Slack channel: Over 350 council officers, project partners and representatives from central government and other public sector bodies use our active Slack workspace, where daily conversations spark ideas, solve challenges and share insights.
Regular Show & Tells: LPAs improving their digital planning capabilities take part in regular online sessions to share progress, celebrate successes, and exchange best practices with peers. LPAs in our product space also host a public Show & Tell each month to showcase product updates. Check our events page for details of the next session, and watch previous Show & Tells on the ODP YouTube channel.
- Events: Community members are invited to regular in-person events focused on building their digital capabilities and connecting with like-minded LPAs to share knowledge and experiences.
In addition to making digital planning improvements, LPAs can deepen their involvement in the community by adopting Open Digital Planning products like PlanX, Back Office Planning System (BOPS), and the Digital Planning Register, and joining collaborative groups with other local government colleagues.
“The ODP Slack channel is fantastic - you can post a question, and someone, somewhere, will have the answer.”
Horsham District Council