Bichard to lobby for design at Institute for Government

Sir Michael Bichard is to become execu tive director of the Institute for Government, where he aims to lobby for solutions to Govern mental problems through inclusive design.

The Institute for Government is an independent body, set up in January and funded by The Gatsby Charitable Organisation, aimed at improving the effectiveness of Government.

Bichard, who was rector of the University of the Arts until earlier this year, will stay chairman of the Design Council.

He sees the potential for public-sector improvement through design, citing the effectiveness of recent collab – orations between the Design Council and the Home Office through Design Against Crime and with the NHS on tackling MRSA as examples.

In a statement to Design Week, Bichard sets out his desire to give designers a platform for speaking with senior decision-makers in Government about how ‘design tools could help deliver better policy and better service delivery’. The design community should expect to be ‘well represented in such conversations’, he says