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Local Government

The Transformational Government agenda is set to revolutionise the way Citizens and Business engage and transact with Local Government. But for those tasked with delivering this step change in delivery of services, the challenge is daunting.

In addition to the T-Gov agenda and in apparent contradiction, local authorities are facing the need to deliver more for less and to be able to accurately measure the results.

A core element of this is the need for local authorities to implement and demonstrate year-on-year savings in terms of their budgets. These required savings cannot be achieved without embracing integration and best practices in terms if ICT/IT and Supply Chain Management.

The mantra is increased effectiveness and the elimination of waste and duplication. Local authorities need to become hot just ‘leaner' but ‘meaner' in terms of spending and purchasing.

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Local Government – Key Business Issues

In many respects, the issues facing local authorities – at a time of increased accountability and targets – are not unlike the issues in the commercial world, namely:

• People
• Products
• Processes

 

1 - Understanding the cost base

A truism, perhaps, but really understanding where spending is taking place and the processes underlying this spending are core to measurement, control and potential reduction. This is fundamental but, the financial basis of local authorities, is a very complex one.Many local authorities have a vast array of cost and spending centres which may, and do, operate different purchasing systems. Mapping these and, where possible, integrating them into a more common purchasing strategy is now on the increase. Not surprisingly, e-procurement is receiving a great deal of attention as a way of securing the benefits of integration.

2 - Understanding the customer

The language of local authorities is changing and this reflects their changing perspective on their ‘clients'. No longer are ‘residents' seen as passive recipients without choice. They are now seen as ‘clients' who have both expectations and a voice.

The idea of mapping the customer journey was unthinkable in the recent past but is now being adopted as an essential foundation of service improvement.
The key, of course, is to put yourself in the shoes of your customers and walk through the multitude of possible contacts and interactions that they could have with the organisation, of course we are all a customer for a Local Authority.

Understanding the types of people who interact with the organisation, what their motivation is for doing so, and what their expectations are (and should be) as a result, are crucial pieces of information. 

Without these, any attempt to develop a solution is compromised.

3 - Understanding the processes

Every organisation has processes. Without them no organisation could:

• Buy supplies
• Measure and monitor
• Deliver products and services

The best way to map and improve an organisation's procedures is to take an integrated approach, and not undertake a project in isolation.

According to the now accepted wisdom in this area, this requires that any organisation, including public sector:

• Examines its mission statement to ensure that it truly defines the purpose of the organisation
• Produces a clear vision statement which defines where the organisation is going
• Has a clear and robust business strategy
• Has SMART objectives.
• Defines employee behaviours and skill sets that will enable the organisation to achieve its' aims.
• Develops and publishes key performance indicators to measure and track progress
• Links efficiency improvements to the culture of the organisation
• Continually Identifies initiatives that will improve performance.

 

E-Government: The Single Business Account

The objective of integrated e-government is to give local people the widest and easiest access to electronically delivered information and services.

As leaders in the design and deployment of public sector Customer Management solutions, Silverbear is uniquely placed to offer Local Authorities implement a highly flexible, IT infrastructure that integrates all the applications on existing internal systems with those of external key stakeholders.

In addition to giving securely managed access to data held on systems on multiple platforms across the authority, our Corral technology allows secure and flexible access to external partners.  Administrators are able to manage user access to all data across the council on a highly configurable basis: as such, our technology meets with the current Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation.

With security assured both within and outside the authority, the system complies with all government e-Gif and GovTalk standards, and the visual components are fully BOBBY compliant.

The key questions:

How do I decide where to start?

In order to plan for sharing sensitive data across the organisation and with customers, it is first necessary to examine an individual authority's existing position regarding its overall e-government strategy.  It is also necessary to assess its capability in terms of people, processes and infrastructure, and to absorb the demands that implementing such a strategy will impose.

Where will integration take us, and how long will it take to get there?

All councils have prepared e-government statements, most of which contain scenarios that customers should have been able to execute from 2005 onwards using electronic tools. 
Almost all of these can be enhanced, and made more cost effective to deliver, once back office systems have been integrated. 
Silverbear's experience in markets where integration has already occurred is invaluable in formulating the approach for these scenarios, whilst maintaining an overview of their impact on the council and its operations.

What about the limitations of our existing software?

Our recommendation to most councils is to beware of replacement without good reason.  By using our technology we can create a bi-directional integration between existing 'legacy' systems and the web.  Our strategy is to revitalise existing systems in the main, by ensuring that the data held in them is both richer and cleaner.  This is achieved by integrating their data sets using our Middleware technology.

Which internal processes will we have to change?

Our experience tells us that once shared data is both reconciled and clean, there is a need for user training/education.  In the past, this has been linked effectively to the phases of a project, so that users know what to expect.  By adopting a skills transfer approach, Silverbear is able to rapidly ‘tool up' local authority personnel so that they can manage and implement complex projects based on the Silverbear e-business methodology. This methodology, proven across a wide variety of industry sectors, provides all of the processes and tools necessary to deliver truly integrated e-government services via the new e-channel.

The Silverbear Corral framework provides a complete environment within which to implement a complex e-government strategy.  Based around the central Silverbear Hub, the Corral framework provides all the secure capabilities required to integrate disparate systems and databases, to provide web based capabilities via the internet, intranet or extranet, and to allow the local authority to proactively reach out to its own staff, partners or citizens to inform them of updates or to solicit their views on key local issues.

How do I make the business case internally?

A successful e-government project plan will operate in a number of sub-projects, each of which deliver a ‘win' to the local authority in its own right.  This ensures the overall e-government programme retains its vibrancy and does not become a victim of the ‘never ending, black hole' IT project syndrome.

Having planned each sub-project, the overall plan is pulled together, reviewed and agreed.  The e-government project plan then becomes a vibrant living entity that is constantly re-reviewed and modified as sub-projects are completed, or new sub-projects (based on new e-government initiatives) are identified.

How will the Single Business Account integrate with our system?

The Single Business Account (SBA) provides suppliers to Local Government with a unique identifier, enabling secure transactions between the business and the local authority.  When linked to the local authority's CRM system, the unique identifier assists in tracking and reviewing all dealings with a given business across all the various local authority departments.  The unique identifier also allows authorized authority staff to access and provide information to a business upon enquiry (e.g. on the status of an application).

This integration provides support and an improved service for business who sign up to the Single Business Account. They avoid multiple registrations when accessing or applying for services from different departments, and can be confident that, when contacting the local authority, different individuals can access relevant information.

The Single Business Account supports your CRM and supporting marketing strategies by providing a better, more targeted and personalized service to businesses.

The local authority benchmarking programme

This allows an individual authority to see its current position in relation to its overall
e-government aspirations, and how well equipped it is to move forward. 
The result is a living, breathing document and, as work moves forward on implementing future e-government initiatives, the document will be updated to provide a 'point in time' snapshot of where the authority currently is, how far it has progressed and how far is left to go.

The successful delivery of any e-government project is dependant upon people, processes and technology, usually in that order. 
Silverbear's benchmarking programme looks at the following key areas:

• Strategic Planning - Looking at real-life scenarios, reviewing priorities and current e-government project plans.
• Key People Review - Looking at the roles that will play a part in each of the e-government scenarios.
• Key Processes Review - Looking at the business processes currently in place to meet the real-life scenarios and detailing those that need to be created.
• Key Systems Review - Looking at the key Back Office systems that play a part in each real-life scenario - this will cover both internal systems and, where appropriate, external partner systems.

Project Monitoring and Quality Control

A significant advantage derived from breaking down the total implementation programme into smaller, more manageable and measurable sub-projects, is that project monitoring becomes more controllable.  Project management effort can focus on those areas that will have the greatest affect on the total programme.  Any sub-project plan deviation can be more readily identified and its impact assessed more easily than would be the case in a much larger planning environment.

With quality control operating at a sub-project and overall project level, any quality issues can be identified and remedied early in the development process.  Each subsequent sub-project, and by effect the overall project, benefits from the adjustments.