The Panel to receive an update from Mr. Michael Gates, an independent ICT Consultant, and Mr. Ian Harrison, Corporate Director, on the progress of the digital strategy since the all-Member seminar that was held in September, 2015. The Panel to consider its future role in oversight of the implementation of the strategy.
Minutes:
The Panel welcomed Michael Gates
from MGS Consulting Ltd, and Nick Harding, Head of ICT and Facilities Services,
who gave a presentation to the Panel updating on the development of the
Council’s Digital Strategy and the changes made since the Members’ Seminar in
September 2015 (copy available on the website page for the meeting).
By way of
introduction, the Panel watched a short video with real-life examples of how
digital technology had improved the delivery of public services in Edinburgh
from the perspective of both residents and service providers. The key messages
included how digital services had enabled enhanced accessibility to services,
increased engagement and sharing of information, more personalised services and
real-time updates. Significantly, the digital evolution was moving quickly, and
local government could achieve significant savings from digitisation.
Michael
Gates then outlined the process for the development of, and content of,
Rushmoor’s digital vision and its eight supporting digital ambitions. With
reference to the points raised at the Members Seminar, the Panel highlighted
the need to ensure that no one was ‘digitally excluded’ from services, as there
were a large number of people in the Borough who did not access the internet or
use mobile devices. It was noted that the Council’s
digital ambitions reflected the need to design services to be fully
accessible.
The Panel
noted that the Digital Strategy itself would be built
around six key themes, as described in the presentation, with projects
identified within each theme. Nick Harding then outlined the current Phase 1
projects, which included:
·
transactional website re-design
·
mobile working for frontline services
·
channel shift – applications
·
Modern.gov - committee papers and members
webpages
·
Hampshire Superfast Broadband Programme
·
cyber security
The
Panel considered and discussed the content of the proposed digital strategy,
and it was asked whether there should be a greater
emphasis on income generation. In response, it was stated
that while the strategy was focused on delivering service transformation, the
introduction of new technology had made a positive difference to income in a
number of areas. For example, in the car parks service, a large proportion of
parking fines were now paid within a few hours of an
offence. Following further discussion, it was advised
that the introduction of technology to enable credit card payments in Council
owned car parks would be investigated in a future phase.
Panel
Members also indicated support for greater use of, and standardisation in
accessing, electronic agendas, committee reports and meeting calendars, and it was confirmed that improvements in this area would be
delivered through the introduction of Modern.gov software this autumn. In
response to a question, it was confirmed that robust
IT security arrangements were in place to protect the Council, and that the
cost of contracts for cyber security had reduced.
The
Corporate Director, Ian Harrison, confirmed that the Panel’s comments would be taken into account as part of the development of
the Strategy, and that the approach to public engagement on the Strategy would
be carefully considered.
The Panel NOTED progress on the preparation of Digital Strategy.