Understand the need.
Work with councils, service teams and the people who use services to understand the problem. Find common needs and agree what a better outcome looks like.
Shared ambition. Practical change.
Build once.
Learn together.
Reuse everywhere.
Better public services start with working together. Cadwyn Lab brings councils together to design, build and share practical digital solutions for the challenges they have in common.
Explore the modelConnected by purpose
Led by real needsStart with the service challenge
Built togetherCombine skills and experience
Designed to be sharedMake good work go further
Why Cadwyn Lab?
Common challenges.
Collective answers.
Councils face many of the same pressures. Working together gives us the opportunity to solve shared problems once, then adapt what works locally.
Cadwyn Lab is a shared digital capability for Welsh councils. It brings together service design, technology, AI and the support people need to make change happen.
The ambition is practical: reduce duplicated effort, strengthen local capability and help councils deliver services that are simpler for residents and easier for staff to run.
How it works
From a shared problem
to something everyone can use.
Build. Test. Learn.
Bring the right skills together to explore ideas and test practical solutions. Use technology and AI where they help, with privacy, security and accessibility considered from the start.
Make it work in practice.
Help teams adopt new tools and ways of working. Measure the difference, improve what works and share the solutions, components and learning so other councils can benefit.
People make the model work
Shared expertise.
Local knowledge. One purpose.
Cadwyn Lab connects leadership, specialist skills and the experience of staff across services.
Set the direction.
Council leaders identify priorities, create the conditions for change and take responsibility for turning improvements into lasting benefits.
Turn ideas into action.
A shared team helps research, design, build and test solutions, supporting councils to put them into everyday use.
Bring real experience.
Staff know where services get stuck. Their ideas, insight and feedback shape the work and help improvements take root.
Working alongside existing digital and service teams, Cadwyn Lab adds shared capacity and expertise while councils retain local ownership.
What matters
Better services.
A stronger public sector.
Success means a measurable difference to everyday services. These are the outcomes the Lab will work towards.
- Less friction for residentsSimpler processes and easier access to the right information and support.
- More time for peopleLess repetitive administration, giving staff more capacity for work that needs their expertise.
- Better use of public moneyShared development and reusable solutions that reduce duplication across councils.
- Capability that lastsSkills, knowledge and tools that stay with the public sector and improve as we learn.
Starting focused. Thinking wider.
A small beginning.
A shared ambition.
With grant funding secured, Cadwyn Lab is moving from an idea into delivery. The initial phase brings together three councils to test the approach, demonstrate practical value and establish a model that can grow.
3
Pilot councils. Built for wider reuse.
Solutions will be designed with scale in mind from the outset. The aim is to share learning and reusable capabilities with more councils over time, with opportunities for wider public sector use where needs align.
A few useful answers
About the approach.
Is this just about AI?
No. AI is one of the tools available. The starting point is the service and the people who use it. Sometimes the biggest improvement will come from a simpler process, better information or a change in how teams work.
Will every council use exactly the same solution?
Shared does not have to mean identical. The model is to reuse common components and learning, while allowing councils to adapt solutions to their services, systems and local needs.
Does the Lab replace council digital teams?
No. Cadwyn Lab works alongside council teams, adding specialist skills and shared capacity. Local teams and service owners remain essential to setting priorities, delivering change and supporting services.
What does this mean for councils outside the pilot?
The initial three-council phase is a starting point. It will establish what works and how wider participation can be supported. Sharing learning and designing for reuse are part of the approach from the beginning.
How will we know it is working?
Each piece of work should begin with a clear problem and a way to measure improvement. That may include staff time, service quality, resident experience or cost. Testing and measuring results will help the Lab decide what to improve, share or stop.
Build. Learn. Reuse.
Better, together.