Mike Bracken steps down as Co-Operative Group CDO
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The former executive director of the Government Digital Service is going to be taking up a number of non-executive positions and is co-authoring a book.
After two years in the role, Mike Bracken has announced that he will be stepping down as the Co-Operative Group’s Chief Digital Officer. In a blog post announcing his departure, Bracken said that he has taken up a number of non-executive positions, is co-authoring a book and has a number of speaking arrangements - and as such, will be leaving his position in the summer.
Bracken became somewhat of a household name after spearheading much of the digital agenda in Whitehall, where he headed up the Government Digital Service as executive director for a number of years.
However, after five years in government, Bracken decided that it was time to go and take on new challenges, with many commenting that the Whitehall machine was resisting his vision for Government-as-a-Platform.
Soon after leaving GDS, Bracken announced that he would be joining the Co-Operative Group as CDO - a nice fit, given that it is community owned and seeks to serve its members, but was also in a serious amount of financial difficulty (sound familiar?).
Many of Bracken’s former colleagues soon joined him at the Co-Operative Group, including Stephen Foreshew-Cain, who had taken over Bracken’s role at GDS, but soon found himself replaced according by the powers that be.
Bracken also set up a consultancy with some of his former government colleagues, Public Digital, to help public institutions outside of the UK make the transition to digital.
Announcing his departure from the Co-Operative Group today, Bracken said:
With three new Non-Executive positions and book to co-author with my Public Digital partners, I will be leaving my position as Chief Digital Officer with the Co-operative Group later this summer. It’s been a brilliant two years with a fantastic organisation. As I said when I joined, my focus was to create a Co-op fit for the digital age, based on an open, agile culture and excellent digital services. I had intended initially to only work three days a week for the Co-op but found myself so engaged with the organisation, I had less time than I would have liked to continue my Non-Executive work.
But as I said when I left the Government Digital Service, I wanted to continue to help other government colleagues globally. In addition to Public Digital work with government and conglomerates in Peru, Canada and Uruguay and several other countries, I’m delighted to be named as a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London by Mariana Mazzucato. It is vital that we have multidisciplinary teams working to develop our public sphere, and I’m humbled that I’ll be working with Mariana and her team of advisors including Dan Hill and Carlota Perez.
I have also agreed to become an Advisor to the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Centre for Public Impact, two institutions which do a great deal to improve public outcomes. I hope to find more time to be part of the Independent Review Group at Google Deepmind.
With a forthcoming Public Digital book, ‘Redesigning Digital Public Services: The Strategy is Delivery’ (London Publishing partnership) due for early 2018, and many international speaking engagements coming up, I’ve made the decision to make good on that initial commitment.
During his time at the Co-Operative Group, Bracken and the digital team have largely been focused on increasing the membership of the organisation and making it fit for the digital age - with a huge emphasis on the organisation’s approach to data use and sharing.
The team has also helped launch The Federation, a working space in the heart of Manchester that works with entrepreneurs, start-ups and businesses at all stages in their journey. In addition to this, the digital team has helped launch a variety of new products and platforms including Wills, Funeralcare and Food.
Bracken added:
I am very proud of The Co-op and Co-op Digital in particular, and am grateful for the support the team has received through the rebuild period. I hope to see the organisation prosper in the digital economy, as the team is now in place to make good on that promise. I wish the Board, Executive and colleagues all the best. We need a vibrant Co-op to work for our communities and I am sure the organisation is well set for success.