The roundtable offered an outstanding opportunity to discuss the issues facing everybody involved in local authority service delivery with people from all aspects of the community – councillors and officers, policy-makers, managers and consultants.
An overriding theme of the event was the shared sense that much more can still be achieved to enhance services and improve outcomes by using the right technology in the right way. There is also a greater role for technology to play in those really important issues which matter most to citizens, and where the greatest financial savings can be made – those areas where the magical marriage of enhanced services at reduced cost appears to be most achievable.
One example raised at the event was around the potential for telecare to improve patient experience while radically cutting costs. This is particularly relevant today, as we await the planned publication later this month of the whole systems generator, in which Cornwall, Kent and Newham councils will report on their three-year study into how holistic telecare services can be deployed for lower costs and better citizen outcomes.
Substituting one channel for another, meanwhile, such as a mobile phone for a PC, might also provide a bridge across the digital divide for those in danger of disenfranchisement as more services move online. Indeed, this is already happening, driven by the recognition that mobile phone-ownership – 91% of UK adults – outweighs internet access – 73% of households.
One delegate spoke of a contact centre which can identify a mobile phone call, sending a link to it that the caller can use to access a website to simultaneously improve the quality of service and reduce the cost of delivery. The study also looked at how new and evolving social media channels can be used to identify vulnerable citizens and to intervene accordingly. Such thinking is merely the tip of a vast and fast-evolving iceberg.
A number of actions are necessary to keep up with its speed of change. Listen to what people want, and understand how demographic differences influence their channel preferences. Watch and interact with trends, being prepared to change existing practices and systems and introduce more efficient, technologically-enabled alternatives which drive new behaviours among citizens.
And, above all, do not exclude anyone. Everybody at the event was delighted to hear how, in one council area, volunteers are training citizens to use technology and ensure their digital inclusion. And that's the kind of initiative which makes channel shift a practical reality for all.
Nigel Bates is strategic development director with Serco Local Government
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