To create a digitally enabled Sellafield, the team first had to define digital for the organisation. Digital is about more than just the combination of technology and data. It is a blend of business and IT capabilities, focused on exploiting new technologies and techniques to change and improve business processes, which leads to better outcomes.

Developing a digital operating model for Sellafield involved infusing their existing operating model with new digital capabilities, and enhancing existing capabilities to realise the full benefits of digital. Improving their digital operating model was the next step in Sellafield’s transformation journey and will allow them to operationalise their strategy.

Multiple interviews were carried out with key stakeholders from across the enterprise, as well as representatives from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The findings from these interviews were combined with an analysis of Sellafield’s results from the Smart Infrastructure Index, Mott MacDonald’s digital maturity assessment solution, which allowed the team to identify challenges faced across the enterprise and opportunities for Sellafield’s digital function to benefit the entire organisation.

The team then developed several high-level digital operating model options, each with varying levels of autonomy and alignment across the enterprise, and identified which capabilities the digital function could be responsible for. Considering these options with the learning from stakeholder engagement allowed the team to establish a hypothesis for review, testing and development. To test this hypothesis and implement the right digital operating model for Sellafield, the next stage is to agree a clearly articulated vision with key stakeholders, and then define and agree upon a set of design principles against which the options can be objectively evaluated.

A more effective digital operating model will allow Sellafield to better prioritise investment and interventions, achieve closer collaboration and ensure there is an appropriate division of digital responsibilities across the enterprise. This will allow Sellafield to achieve their digital ambition, transforming the way they work to achieve safer, faster and better value outcomes.