Digital transformation, do you need to do it?

We’ve mentioned before that local authorities deliver an estimated 80% of public services, of which they are rising to the challenges and transforming their delivery processes for their services. However, many are still using outdated systems of working including paper-based documents, cumbersome excel reports and ineffective reporting processes. With budget cuts and challenging targets, councils need to demonstrate creativity and ability in adopting technology in order to meet and manage demand. These transformations can help to reduce staffing hours and therefore save money.

So, how can digital transformation help me?

Digital transformation can assist with cross-organisation and collaborative working across all partner agencies to work in a more join-up manner which is vital to promoting best practice and addressing any barriers to progress. This can create deeper understanding of the patterns in need of interaction, allowing resources to be managed, planned, and directed to where they will have the greatest impact.

Technology allows for more effective demand management and provides service users with empowerment over their data and required interactions that they wish to proceed with. 

By enabling service users to have a self-service platform and supporting peer-to-peer advice whilst giving assistance via social media and other channels provides a more reliable, speedy, and precise handling of routine, repetitive tasks. Allowing costly and scarce professional expertise to be targeted where it is needed the most. 

Technology also offers new and unexpected situations faster access to share data between both internal and external stakeholders, avoiding duplication and saving time with collation. These new ways of working can potentially reconcile goals and provide better quality of the customer experience while cutting costs.

Lets explore this some more

The use of a diverse range of communication channels for specific service needs allows users to interact in more convenient and innovative ways providing flexible approaches for external users but also facilitating efficient and effective administrative processes internally. 

With the declaration of a climate emergency, it is of utmost importance that local authorities use sustainable solutions if the UK is to achieve the ambition of net zero by 2050. This is a challenging ambition but it has to start somewhere. Many councils IT infrastructure could be examined to ensure high usage areas reduce consumption whilst increasing productivity.

For many filming and events offices, their old systems could be aggregated in order to provide accurate data and reduce their carbon footprint. By cutting wasted systems and aggregating multiple systems onto a single more efficient data and application solution you can reduce server requirements and deliver better digital outcomes with agile software packages in a flexible, secure, and compliant manner. Cyber security also offers measurements in achieving sustainable goals via the protection of data and cyber-attacks.

Then there are the social value elements. Social value is about generating social, environmental, and economic benefits through every pound of public money that local authorities spend. The increased importance of social value activity means you can deliver value in more areas than just money. These include:

Economic benefits:

• Promotion employment opportunities
• promote economic sustainability (job creation, retention, upskilling)
• ISO standards
• Promote local suppliers and organisations
• Inequality 
• Reduction in the disability employment gap
• Promote inward investment
• Domestic investment and partnerships

Environmental benefits:

• Don’t confuse delivering a service digitally with home working by your team, they are different
• Reduce carbon footprint and cost for service users by using technology – Paperless, one stop shop approach from home
• Reduce the cost of service delivery by removing inefficiency – duplication, paper, miscommunication, etc

Social benefits: 

• Community engagement
• Social cohesion
• Local culture and heritage

How can Openbrolly’s help me digitally transform?

Software-led solution suppliers like Openbrolly, can guarantee capacity and deliver digital solutions and best practices across multiple locations. We can provide flexibility and easy access to sector-specific digital outcomes with the right capabilities. Said capabilities will help with technology transitions, transformations, operational services, and programme management, whilst improving stakeholder communications, and cyber security and increasing productivity and social value gains.

Importantly, we can advise when digital solutions are not appropriate.

If you would like to find out more about how Openbrolly can help you check out our website here or contact us