Fast forward 10 years and digital will have rewired local government, making councils obsessively data-driven, collaborative and open.

But digital won't only automate most back office processes, it will provide councils with the opportunity to work with people in myriad virtual and physical ways that break the traditional employer-employee mould. As a result, future councils will be smaller and highly networked. That's part of our vision of what local government will look like in 2025 in new report Connected Councils.