What should I expect from the day?

Location: Birmingham City Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B1 1B

Date: Saturday 17th January 2026

Time: 10:00 - 16:30

A day of discussions (not presentations). So come with ideas to discuss, questions to answer and interactive workshops you’d like to run (not slide decks).

The event is an Unconference. After an initial welcome, attendees are invited to come forward with a ‘pitch’ about a topic they want to discuss. A brief show of hands is taken to consider space and room sizes, and the topic is added to a session grid, which is built in real time. In this way, attendees set the agenda for the day and can choose how to spend their time most valuably. There is often a focus on digital and data topics, but pitches are always wide ranging and engaging.

We strongly encourage movement between sessions, even when they’re running. We call this the law of mobility and it helps spread ideas between sessions.

If you’d like to read more, we recommend:

Sessions last around 45 minutes, with time for swapping and changing rooms in between, and an hour is put aside for lunch, which is also covered by the event. Everyone then comes together at the end of the day for summing up, thank yours and goodbyes. Conversations usually carry on into social time and soft drinks will be provided at the venue, which is open until 18:00.

Please read our Code of Conduct.

Agenda

08:30: Venue open for volunteers

09:00: Registration open to attendees with drinks and pastries provided by the venue

10:00-10:20: Opening Ceremony with a welcome speech from Joanne Roney, Managing Director of Birmingham City Council

10:20-10:50: Pitches for unconference sessions: everyone has a pitch in them, and these pitches build the sessions for the day, and populate the session grid

11:00-11:45: First unconference session

12:00-12:45: Second unconference session

12:45-13:45: Lunch provided by the venue

13:45-14:30: Third unconference session

14:45-15:30: Fourth unconference session

15:45-16:30: Fifth unconference session

16:30: Closing ceremony and thoughts on the day

16:45-18:00: Social time with soft drinks provided by the venue

18:00: Close

The hashtag is #ukgc26 (which is short for UKGovCamp 2026). Please use it in everything you share publicly. You can also tag the UKGovCamp social media accounts on BlueSky, LinkedIn and Mastodon.

Session notes

Each session has its own collaborative document that anyone can edit. You can access the docs via the session grid at TBD

Each session will have a couple of volunteers to add names and notes to the documents. But you’re welcome to add your own notes to the docs, either on the day or afterwards.

Photographs and videos

There will be a photographer at the event and we encourage you to take photographs and videos to share publicly, except of anyone who’s wearing a yellow lanyard. They have requested not to have their likeness shared.

Prayer room

A prayer room is available. Please ask a volunteer for location and access.

Quiet room

A quiet room is available; please do not speak or take calls in this room. Ask a volunteer for location and access.

Sunday and beyond

Once you’ve recovered, please do dip into the session notes and share your blog posts via the #ukgc26 hashtag. Your thoughts will help make the public sector better.