Why does London need LOTI?

LOTI was established in recognition of the fact that collaboration is vital for enabling boroughs to use digital, data and innovation effectively to improve the lives of their residents.

By working together through LOTI, boroughs can: 

• Be supported by a central team and community that provide expertise, advice, insight and resources to get things done.
• Bring their combined knowledge and experience to support each other.
• Accelerate their digital transformation journey, learning faster and delivering more for their residents at reduced cost and risk.
• Benefit from a joint budget to get useful things done.
• Access additional funding from GLA, London Councils and other funders.

Watch our Year 3 highlights video below to get a sense of what our members say about being part of the LOTI Community.

Who’s part of LOTI?

LOTI is made up of a coalition of the Greater London Authority, London Councils and boroughs who want to work together to bring the best of digital, data and innovation to improve public services for Londoners. That coalition is supported by a central team, based at London Councils. 

Our main community is made up of London local government’s Chief Digital, Information and Innovation officers (CDIOs) and their technology, digital and data teams. However, with our mission to improve services and outcomes for Londoners, we also work regularly with colleagues from service and policy areas like Environment, Social Care and Housing.

What does it mean to be LOTI member?

Our core members shape and drive our agenda. Where multiple boroughs face a similar challenge, we aim to solve it together as a community, carefully choosing what model of collaboration will achieve the best results.

While each borough has its different needs and approaches, there is a vast amount they have in common. Members of LOTI take huge benefit from sharing and reusing their knowledge and experience; supporting each other; exploring challenges together and developing approaches that would be hard for any single council to establish alone.

Membership of LOTI delivers value to boroughs in at least five ways:

1. Creating Resources – we create dozens of resources, including toolkits, guides, frameworks and libraries of casestudies that solve a problem and make information easier to find and digest. We can offer bespoke support to our members to help them implement or act upon the resources we produce.
2. Offering Products – we create, find or negotiate better prices on technology products that can enhance boroughs’ work.
3. Managing Projects – we run or support projects that further boroughs’ collective knowledge and create new resources. By working together, we help boroughs accelerate the pace at which they can learn, and reduce the time cost and risk of trialing innovative approaches.
4. Convening Networks – we host a number of LOTI-only networks that aim to increase peer support and knowledge sharing between boroughs.
5. Running Campaigns – we speak and lobby on behalf of boroughs to influence others to do something or to help them.

Our principles

Our founding members identified six principles that underpin our collective work:

1. Push boundaries together – work together to take some risks and innovate.
2. Focus on the user – relentlessly focus on Londoners as the beneficiaries of our work.
3. Be a place for ‘doers’ – be and attract people who get stuff done.
4. Inspire collaboration – encourage joint working at every level and across our organisations.
5. Work in the open – be honest about our successes and failures and be committed to learning and improving.
6. Don’t duplicate – build on existing networks and initiatives.

How we’re funded

Our core members fund our work through an annual subscription, which provides a joint budget to get things done. Borough members pay £30,000+VAT per year. Where a shared IT service representing two councils joins LOTI with just one main representative, the annual charge is £22,500+VAT for each council. The GLA and London Councils contribute £100,000 per year. 

If you are a borough interested in joining LOTI, please contact LOTI Director, Eddie Copeland.