Information Age Strategy

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Executive Summary

What is it about?

Our vision of Reaching Renfrewshire is to let all citizens, businesses and organisations reach information and services quicker and more easily, where and when they want and by whatever means they prefer to empower their full involvement in the local economy and to improve their quality of life". Continuing developments in information and communications technology (ICT) introduce new possibilities to achieve the vision. We hope to implement the strategy on a phased basis within the next 5 years.

Achieving the vision depends on the Council and other service providers putting the citizen or customer first, guarding against digital exclusion of some sections of the community, linking up related services, making access to information and services simpler and more straightforward and supporting employees and others to exploit the potential of electronic service delivery (ESD).

What will it mean for local people?

Reaching Renfrewshire promises to have many tangible benefits for local people, businesses and organisations. These include access to relevant public services online, self service, convenient and easy access to appropriate information and services at any time of the day or night, increased choice of access with digital television (DTV), PCs and mobile phones, more unified services, less frustration and wasted time, a one stop service, enabled digital inclusion, single notification of life cycle episodes, better communication and targeting of services.

Through ESD the strategy provides a new channel for consumers and citizens to contact and do business with the Council. How the public choose to contact the Council will be a matter of their choice and preference. However by reshaping our back office systems, use of ICT will also improve access and response by conventional channels like the telephone as in the case with the call centre, as well as the quality of service received.

What will it mean for the Council?

For the Council the strategy will mean customer focused services, more satisfied customers, increased demand for some services, improved performance in service delivery, better intelligence on customers, opportunities to tailor services to customer needs, reduced bureaucracy, e-procurement, more joined up services and a strengthened position as local community leader.

ESD should be seen in its proper perspective. With Reaching Renfrewshire the greatest change will not be to the Council’s ICT systems but to its whole way of working. Given that the information age is characterised by rapid change we need to change our outlook towards innovation. The most significant factor in this process is not the technology but the transformation of how the Council does business. ICT should be seen as the tool not the driver of change.

Why is it needed?

There are many reasons why Reaching Renfrewshire is necessary at this time.

People are already used to shopping, banking, booking holidays and so on online and are coming to expect a similar service available 24 hours a day 7 days a week in other sectors including from the Council. Our own research indicates that people in Renfrewshire are rapidly becoming ready for this innovation. 40% of citizens in Renfrewshire now have access to the Internet at home and 43% would consider carrying out electronic transactions with the Council if it was made easy. Currently people say they want a more flexible service from the Council principally in the evenings and at weekends but only for some services.

Mass electronic access is forecast to multiply over the next few years enabled by the widespread introduction of DTV, while the new generation of mobile phones will allow people to communicate from wherever they want. The change is unstoppable and non participation is not an option.

There are also sound economic reasons for adopting ESD. It means cheaper transactions with cost savings and represents a vital way for business of gaining a competitive advantage. Fortunately our local economy seems relatively well placed with many businesses already having email and Internet access.

The Government has developed a national policy framework at both UK and Scottish levels. Responding to the digital agenda is seen as a key part of the modernising agenda for the public sector. A range of performance targets have been set to focus attention on the need for electronic access. Councils are expected to play their part in achieving this national policy and to tailor their strategies to local needs.

How is it to be achieved?

Reaching Renfrewshire is our local strategy. It is our response not only to meeting the Government’s agenda for the 21st century but also the public’s expectations of a modern efficient service. The success of the strategy rests on putting in place a set of critical council, community and financial foundations on which to build developments in the future. Valuable progress using ICT is already being made but the strategy signifies an important change by focusing on a more planned and comprehensive approach across the Council as a whole.

1. Virtual Renfrewshire

In order to respond to customer expectations the Council will need to be able to offer electronic access and service delivery through a single contact point as a virtual one stop shop. This will necessitate major changes in our technical infrastructure with the creation of a community portal, the development of the Council’s website, extending our call centre and transforming it to a customer contact centre, completing a wide area network and investigating the need for a public sector smartcard.

2. Customer focus

At the heart of the strategy is giving greater emphasis to designing services around the needs and preferences of the customer rather than the service provider. This will affect the promotion, availability and delivery of services. With ICT, customers will have much more control over how and when they access the Council. Maintaining consultation with customers on their changing views will be essential.

3. Organisational change

Behind the customer interface our information systems will need to be restructured to create a seamless service and our front and back office business processes reappraised assisted by ICT. Underpinning this will be cultural organisational changes which address our outlook towards innovation, creativity, empowerment, sharing, flexibility and partnering. Critically there will need to be strong leadership and effective co-ordination which embeds this change throughout the Council.

4. Workforce enhancement

Improved services will depend not only on ICT but on the skills, knowledge and aptitude of the Council’s workforce. In addition to specialist technical skills there will be a need for staff with sufficient expertise to implement the vision. Current examples demonstrate the value of empowering staff to reshape services using ICT. Training and support plus learning from others will need to be increased and maintained.

5. Partnerships

The Council cannot achieve Reaching Renfrewshire on its own. The strategy is only deliverable if the Council forms a series of strategic partnerships. This will include collaboration with community planning partners aimed at breaking down the barriers between service providers. The Council can only meet the aims of the strategy if it secures essential external expertise. This is necessary to help it to develop the strategy as well as to provide the technical know how to implement it. A critical aspect of the technical partnership will be to work alongside Council staff and to enable skills transfer.

6. Community developments

The strategy is not only about Council services. It is concerned with making real improvements in other areas of vital community importance. The strategy focuses particularly on the scope to extend the competitive advantage of the local economy, to consolidate on our e-learning progress and to promote digital inclusion by ensuring that all people are enabled to have electronic access through personal means like digital television or in community learning centres and libraries.

7. Investment

To fulfil the strategy further considerable investment is needed. Though some of this may come from the government, and partners, the issue will require to be addressed directly by the Council. Broadly, it is projected that the Council will need to commit to a significant increase in its IT expenditure over the next three years if it is to make significant headway in implementing the strategy and to safeguard its future performance.

Conclusion

If the potential benefits of the information age are to be realised in Renfrewshire the change needs to be managed. The Council must play a leading role by setting an example. The strategy is not definitive and in the face of uncertainties will require some measure of flexibility during its implementation. Reaching Renfrewshire promises to be an exciting but testing journey of exacting demands but with rich rewards if we succeed.

If you want us to send you a printed copy of the full report, please email chiefexec@renfrewshire.gov.uk. Alternative formats can be provided