Agenda item

Purpose of the report:  Policy Development and Review

This report provides an update after 6 months on the progress of the Digital Transformation Programme.

Witnesses:

Chris Millard, Strategy Manager

Mark Edridge, Digital Programmes Manager

Joanne Juniper, Consultant (Business Analyst)

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Strategy Manager introduced the 6 month progress report.  It was noted that the Digital Transformation programme included four exemplar projects that aimed  to prove that a digital approach could help solve problems faced by the County and its residents.  Officers demonstrated examples of the Vulnerable Adults and the Customer Management systems to the Committee.

2.    The Committee was informed that the vulnerable adult’s list exemplar was an outcome of the recent challenges brought about by flooding challenge in the County. Information about vulnerable adults is currently held by a number of agencies including health services and District and Borough’s.  Sharing information was currently a manual process across many systems and agencies; an automatic process system was being developed as part of Digital Transformation programme to pool information regarding vulnerable people based on location.  The system would assist professionals involved in emergency response situations to identify and locate vulnerable people.  Engagement activities and collaborative working had taken place between the Emergency Management Team, Adult Social Care, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service  and other external services for data contribution and to overcome any concerns regarding information governance.  The service was working with Adult Social Care Information Governance Team to address provisions of holding data.

3.    It was clarified that on the new system emergency officers could search at ‘street level’ such as Fire Fighters on the way to an emergency to help prioritise when responding to an incident.   . The system was currently a prototype and was estimated to be fully functional by July 2015.

4.    With regards to the Customer Management System, it was noted that the Contact Centre currently must log into eighteen different systems to access information across the services and communicate with residents and customers.  The new approach aims to reduce the number of service delivery systems used by the Contact Centre and provide  one central inbox for incoming enquiries.

5.    In an effort to reduce the number of service delivery systems the Contact Centre makes use of, the Customer  exemplar project was focussing on highways enquiries. The Committee heard that the service was working with Kier and Highways to integrate systems with a Customer Management System.  The Committee suggested Members be alerted to certain trends as their local knowledge could assist the programme.

6.    Members asked how innovative and pioneering the Council was being in terms of the digital transformation programme.  Officers responded by citing Central Government progress and noting that Surrey County Council was amongst the first wave of Council’s to be taking this approach.  As the problems that the programme was looking to solve were similar across a number of organisations, there was the opportunity to share best practice and potentially generate income through systems generation. 

7.    The Committee queried whether income generation could be sourced through the programme; officers responded that this could be possible.  It was suggested that predictive data could be used to assist ambulance services and the distribution of flooding equipment in certain areas.

8.    Members thanked officers for the update and congratulated the team on the progress they had made since they last presented to the Committee. 

Actions/Further information to be provided:

·         Officers to return to the Committee with a progress report in 6 months, or when the work to connect the Highways system with the Contact Centre system  was ready to demonstrate (whichever is sooner).

Recommendations:

The Committee recommend that the Cabinet Member for Business Services works with the Leader of the Council and partner organisations to encourage all relevant partners and stakeholders to share data for use within the system.

Committee next steps:

To receive an update in 6 months.