ICT and Digital Strategy 2018 2021 - Hello Tomorrow Change is Happening - South Tyneside Council
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
ICT and Digital Strategy
2018 - 2021
...an outstanding place to live, invest and bring up families
Hello Tomorrow
Change is Happening
02
Contents 03
Foreword 4
Introduction 6
Achievements since 2016 6
Key areas of focus for 2018 - 2021 8
Digital Services 10
Smarter Working 22
Technology Refresh 24
ICT Security 28
Roadmap 30
Conclusion & Horizon Scanning 30
Our second priority area is to help all of our staff and members
to work as productively as possible through technology - ‘Smarter
Working’. The transfer back to the Council in October 2018 from
British Telecom (BT) of functions such as HR, Payroll and Finance
provides an excellent opportunity to review and redesign some of
these services and others with the intention of implementing digital
solutions that will help our staff and members work effectively and
efficiently in any location.
Key to this aspiration is ensuring our staff and members have access
to the necessary technology and digital tools and so our third priority
is around ensuring all of our ICT infrastructure is resilient, secure and
fit for purpose. A number of key technologies will be refreshed and
upgraded and this will include rolling out new laptops, tablets and
hybrid devices to all staff and members where a demand exists. We
will work with our staff and members to understand and then deliver
the benefits that the new functionality will offer, in particular the
opportunities around collaboration and shared working.
We also recognise in this strategy that ‘digital’ is now a concept that
extends beyond digital services and the website into many different
parts of the council and society. To help co-ordinate demand and
04
Foreword resources and identify opportunities for joint working we will bring
together different council services and partners with a common
05
purpose of ensuring that all residents, businesses, service users,
partners and visitors to the borough can take full advantage of all
that ‘digital’ in its broadest sense can offer.
The continued growth in the use of digital This reflects our ongoing commitment to providing
The Council is committed to exploiting new technology for the
technologies and solutions in all parts of life, and online information and digital services that are easy
benefits of the Borough and residents and potential opportunities
the increased use of smartphones and other hand to find, accessible on all devices, and simple to use
are huge. However, we must remain focussed on using the resources
held devices by many of our residents, means that and understand. We have also started to implement
available to prioritise our efforts on areas where we can deliver
the Council must regularly review its approach ‘end to end’ digital services that have been designed
real and tangible outcomes over the next 3 years. There are many
to the digital agenda. The ongoing challenges of to make it as easy possible for our staff to do their
opportunities and this strategy takes us on the next step of an
austerity and reduced resources also require us to job, as well as giving our service users and residents
exciting journey.
ensure we provide services in the most effective a fantastic experience when they choose to use
and efficient way possible. We are now half-way one of our digital services. Our new digital leisure
through the delivery of our ICT and Digital Strategy membership service is a great example of the type
2016 -2021 which is an appropriate time to reflect of digital service we will be rolling out in the future.
on the progress that has been made and to revisit Developing more of these digital services and
our priorities for the next 2 -3 years. ensuring that all of our services users and residents
can use them, is one of three key priorities that we
A key project at the start of the strategy was to Councillor Ed Malcolm
will now focus on for the remaining 2 - 3 years of
design and launch a new fully responsive council Lead Member Resources
this strategy.
website. This has been achieved and in 2017 and and Innovation
2018 the council website (www.southtyneside.gov.
uk) received the maximum 4 star rating in the
annual Local Authority ‘Better Connected’ report
from the Society of IT Managers (SOCITM).
What we’ve achieved so far working with
partners such as BT
For our residents and businesses
• Implementation of a fully responsive council website that works
across multiple device types
• Provided information on the website to support the new ‘Let’s
Talk’ service within Adults and Integrated Care to increase
independence, improve outcomes for residents and manage
demand more effectively
• Commenced implementation of ‘My Account’ offering a simple,
secure and a better way to request and manage digital services via
the council website
• End to end digital service delivered for Green Waste and Leisure
Services supporting increased income generation and future
sustainability of services
• Installation of self-service computers at the Customer Service Centre
at South Shields Town Hall, to complement the public access PCs
available within South Tyneside Libraries
• Continued the rollout of superfast broadband within the Borough
with coverage expected to reach 99% by end of 2018
For our members and employees
• Implemented the first ‘drop down’ location to assist employees
working remotely around the borough
• Replaced the existing secure email solution and implemented
a new digital mail solution to help employees to send external
communications securely and efficiently
06
Introduction • Deployed smart phones and tablets to employees and members,
making it easier to work, record and access information remotely
07
• Begun to develop roadmaps for key corporate systems
• Started technology refresh programmes to improve the performance,
In 2016 South Tyneside Council agreed an ICT and Digital Strategy for the period 2016 -2021. This set robustness and resilience of our ICT and Digital systems
out how the council would use technology and digital solutions to support the delivery of the council • Improved approach to disaster recovery to increase resilience and
strategy, the 10 key outcomes identified around People and Place, and deliver improvements around recovery from a major ICT outage and supported services to develop
innovation and efficiency. business continuity plans to maintain essential service provision
• Continued focus on maintaining the security of our ICT
The key themes within the ICT and Digital Strategy 2016-2021 were:
infrastructure and systems
Working with partners
• Scoped the requirements and approach for a new Digital Skills
plan for the borough
• Ongoing work in schools around coding and the technology
Resilience, Recovery Digital by Supporting Public Sector
• Digital inclusion activities to support Universal Credit
and Architecture Design investment in Business Integration
Growth • Participated in the regional programme to move from N3 (the
existing connection to the NHS network) to the new Health and
Social Care Network (HSCN)
• Worked with local NHS partners to improve access to information
and systems for integrated teams e.g. Council wireless network
installed at the new facility at Haven Court
Employment Support E-Safety Advice, Support and Corporate and Service
and Skills Self-Help User Systems
For the next 3 years the key areas of focus for the refreshed ICT and
Digital Strategy, and the council’s core digital and ICT resources will
be the three areas shown below.
Digital Services
Smarter Working
08
Key areas of focus for 2018 - 2021 Technology Refresh 09
At the conclusion of the 10 year partnership with BT in the autumn of 2018, ICT Services, and a number of
other internal and external transactional services, transferred back to the council. This provides an opportunity These areas encompass many of the original themes included in the
to review and refresh the council’s ICT and Digital priorities until 2021, and to begin some longer term previous Strategy and focusing on these particular priorities for the
planning around how ICT and Digital could help the council to meet the ongoing challenge of delivering next three years will ensure that available resources are allocated to
efficiencies and savings whilst improving services and finding new and more productive ways to work. projects that will accelerate the pace of change and delivery across
the council.
The other themes included in the original Strategy will continue
to be progressed using the wider resources of the Council and
partners, recognising that ‘digital’ in its broadest sense is now an
important consideration in many different service areas. For example,
work around Digital Skills will be progressed to support greater
productivity and our emerging economic strategy and to support
coding initiatives and e-Safety in schools. This work will be co-
ordinated within the council and with partners to share learning,
ideas and identify opportunities for joint working.
In 2017/18 over 107,000 digital service requests were made via
our existing e-Services on the council website and more people
now visit the council website using their smartphone than by
any other method.
ONLINE LEISURE MEMBERSHIPS
CASE STUDY
In August 2018 the Council launched a new digital service,
which gives local people the option to sign up for a South
Tyneside Council leisure membership online via the Council
website.
This means that anyone looking to join our leisure facilities can
sign up at a time and location that suits them. Customers took
advantage of this and started using the new service immediately,
and after just 1 month 40% of all memberships are happening
online, with data showing that memberships are being taken
out later in the evening, when the leisure facilities are closed. As
well as providing a more flexible option for customers, this also
reduces the amount of time that each new member needs to
spend at the reception desk, freeing up time for the reception
staff to spend with other customers.
Figures show that the service is being used on a variety of
devices, with 74% of views from mobiles and tablets.
The way in which we will develop our outward facing digital services
will reflect the following principles.
10
Digital Services • We will redesign as many services as possible to enable end-to-end
digital delivery, but only where this is appropriate to the service.
11
We will make services more efficient, by removing the need to
manually re-enter information into other systems or pass on
service requests via phone or email, which will help to deliver the
Expanding the development of our customer facing digital services (including our portfolio of 9 websites), and operational excellence that is fundamental to providing ‘right first
ensuring everyone who wants to use a digital service is able to do so, is a key priority as we recognise that an time’ digital services and giving everyone the confidence and ability
increasing number of our residents and service users want to engage with the council at a time and location to use our digital services as their first choice.
that is convenient for them. The latest national internet usage statistics show that 99% of adults aged
between 16 and 44 have used the internet within 3 months and the gap between regular internet users and • We will move to a more agile way of developing digital services.
non-internet users in all age ranges is narrowing. This will mean that digital services will iterate and improve
frequently and the multi-disciplinary teams working on the
development of digital services won’t be afraid to fail fast, learn
and move on.
• We will help and encourage everyone to use our digital services but
we will ensure that alternatives are available (including for when
digital services may not be available) and we will ensure that no-
one gets left behind through our work around digital inclusion.
• We will use our Digital Champions panel (residents and service
99% over 90% 80% 43% users who have volunteered to help us develop our digital services),
service users, analytics and information to help us research, develop
usage in the usage in the usage in the usage in the
and test our digital services and ensure that they are always easy
16 - 44 years 45- 64 years 65 - 74 years 75 years plus
to use, accessible and relevant.
age bracket age bracket age bracket age range
• We will collect and use measures and performance data to make
sure we are always delivering the best digital services we can and
we will help services to understand the impact of digital services on
productivity, efficiency and effectiveness.
Digital services standards
Individual digital services will be developed using the following
standards which reflect the standards and best practice promoted
by the GDS
1. Where possible our new ‘My Account’ solution will be used
to provide a simple, secure and standardised approach to
accessing all council services on the main council website
2. All of the Council’s digital services will have a user
experience that is consistent with the rest of the website
www.southtyneside.gov.uk
3. We will consider and evaluate different tools and solutions
including any GDS tools that are made available for local
government to use e.g. Gov.uk.pay
4. Security and privacy issues will be understood and addressed
as a priority
5. The Council’s digital services will work on different devices and
meet all required accessibility standards
6. The end to end service will be tested with real users and through
automated testing
7. The Council’s digital services will work first time
8. Each digital service will have an owner within the relevant service
who will be responsible for its ongoing use and development
12 Potholes case study 13
A project is underway to review how customers report potholes
to the council. This particular project is being progressed now
as an upgrade is planned to the system used within the council
Local Digital Declaration to manage and repair potholes. This provides an excellent
opportunity to redesign how we operate so we can make sure
We will also sign up to the Local Digital Declaration Signing up to the declaration may also facilitate that it is easy for our customers to interact with us digitally,
(developed by the UK Government Digital Service access to additional government funding such as and help employees be as productive as possible, rather than
(GDS), a recognised world leader in digital services the Local Digital Fund. building a digital service around how we currently work.
and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and
Local Government) to underline our commitment to A key requirement of the Local Digital Declaration The project has started with a ‘discovery phase’ where we
is sharing knowledge and learning around digital looked at our existing data, including the types of problems
• Designing services around the needs of residents services and we will actively progress opportunities that customers report to us. We will also carry out user research
and service users to work with partners and other local authorities in sessions with residents who have recently reported a pothole to
• Working with partners, residents and service users the region to share solutions and learning. the council to help us to understand our users and what their
on shared challenges needs are.
• Working beyond organisational, professional and
The service will be redesigned to work digitally from end-to-end,
technological silos
removing the re-keying of data and reducing officer time spent
• Senior digital leadership within the organisation dealing with requests. The digital service for customers will be
simple, easy to use and understand, and it will meet the user
needs identified during the discovery phase.
Implementing My Account Case Study
The council has launched a Digital Champions Panel to make
sure that we put residents’ needs at the heart of the digital
services we design.
Before the launch of the My Account, we ran one-to-one
sessions with members of the panel to try out the new service.
Participants were asked to create and manage a new account
online and request services from the council.
We received very positive feedback about how simple the new
service was to use, with customers describing the process as
‘clear and easy to use’ and ‘very straightforward’. Feedback
from the sessions also highlighted key areas where we could
make some simple changes to the design of the service to
make it even easier to use.
This included making it easier for customers to recover if
they have made a mistake, and making it clearer where the
customer is in the process and what they need to do next.
Testing our services with our customers as we develop them
allows us to make sure that our digital services will work first
time and are easy to use. If we find that something isn’t easy
to understand, or find something that could be made simpler
to use, we can quickly make changes to fix problems before
we release new services to the public. More information about
the Digital Champions Panel is available at
www.southtyneside.gov.uk/digitalchampions
The first part of My Account will be live on the council website in
44
14 15
Autumn 2018. This will cover around 45 simple ‘Report It’ services
such as missed bin collection, litter, pest control etc. The full
transition from eServices is expected to take around another 18
months but this will be influenced by the complexity of what is
required and the availability of fit for purpose and future-proofed
Expanding our digital services ICT systems within services to integrate with My Account. Equally
important is resource to help services review and redesign their
business processes for end to end digital delivery and then implement
My Account and test the new digital services. Providing excellent digital services is
An important pre-requisite for the expansion of our digital services is the replacement of our existing an ongoing process that requires planning, resources, wider business
e-Services solution with My Account, a new online portal that will allow residents, service users and change and ongoing commitment as any failure in the digital service
businesses to register, track, update and manage all of their online transactions and data in one easy to will quickly push users back to using non-digital solutions.
use location on the council website.
Revenues and Benefits
Other new functionality provided by My Account will include
This is one of the busiest service areas for face to face and telephone
• An ‘assisted service’ option that allows • Workflow functionality that will assist with the
contact into Customer Services and it is a service that all households
employees with appropriate permissions development of ‘end to end’ digital services
and businesses in South Tyneside will engage with at some time.
to provide direct support and assistance to and reduce manual workarounds
Work is currently underway to integrate the digital services module
those residents and service users who need • Easier integration with third party systems to of the main Revenues and Benefits system with My Account. The first
it. We will work to ensure that the assisted help us achieve our aspiration of streamlined of the new digital Revenues and Benefits services are scheduled to go
service option is fully deployed every time a end to end digital delivery and remove live on the council website at the end of 2018 and we will explore
new digital service is implemented, ensuring duplicate data entry how the introduction of Live Chat could help with these new services.
everyone can use and benefit from the new
Live Chat is an online service that allows Customer Service Advisors to
digital services.
provide direct support to people who are using the council website
and who require extra help to complete their digital service request or
to find the information they require.
Our websites
Within the council we currently support a portfolio of 9 websites.
Annually there are over 2.5m user sessions across all of the
websites and typically around 5400 user sessions per day on
www.southtyneside.gov.uk. The main council website has been
designed to respond flexibly to the different needs of different
services and it can accommodate bespoke designs to promote council
services for various audiences. We ensure that it remains compliant
with accessibility standards and it is regularly reviewed to make sure
it continues to work on different devices as technology evolves.
This approach ensures that we make the best possible use of our
resources and deliver value for money to our residents.
As well as providing a home for My Account and our transactional
digital services, our websites provide tailored, reliable, accurate,
accessible and easy to use information about our services. In both
2017 and 2018 the main council website received the highest 4
16 17
star rating in the local authority ‘Better Connected’ report from
SOCITM (The Society of IT Managers) and this reflects our ongoing
commitment to providing information and digital services on our
websites that are easy to find, accessible on all devices, and simple
to use and understand.
Area Management and Waste Services • In-cab technology to optimise route-based
services; To help maintain these standards we will implement a new web
Area Management and Waste Services also
generates a lot of calls into Customer Services • Improve data to plan and manage service content strategy. Resources will be aligned to particular service areas
and with limited use of technology in the service provision. to further develop our understanding of what we want to achieve
at present there are opportunities to modernise digitally and to support all service areas to proactively manage their
working practices as well as offer new digital own digital content and services. We will also expand our use of
Given the scale of the change that is required it is
services to residents and businesses. Potential analytical tools to learn more about how people are using our digital
essential that the ICT and Digital Services projects
projects include; services and how quickly and easily they were able to do what they
are resourced and managed as part of a larger
wanted.
• Improved digital solutions on the website for business and culture change project. Resource
bulky waste collections and waste permits; will also need to be allocated to the ongoing Our websites are also important marketing and promotion tools,
management of the new ICT systems and Digital often providing the all-important first impression of the Borough.
• Interactive and map based tools to assist residents
Services once they are fully operational. Work This is particularly true of the Invest South Tyneside and Visit South
reporting location specific service requests e.g.
is currently taking place to map out the vision, Tyneside websites and by early 2019 both websites will have been
fly-tipping;
priorities and future road map for ICT projects and redesigned in conjunction with the relevant services and will have a
• Timely, pro-active and responsive communications digital services and all opportunities for ‘quick wins’ new layout, images and content.
with residents via text or email about service will be identified and progressed where appropriate.
disruption (reducing queries and complaints);
• Skills. This will be considered within the Digital Skills plan being
developed by the Council. All opportunities to link digital skills
training with the services that the council and local partners are
developing will be explored e.g. focused training and support for
the launch of digital benefits services.
• Confidence about information security and the quality of the
service that will be delivered.
• Motivation and making the choice to use a digital service because it
is easy to do so.
Giving our digital service users confidence and motivation will be
achieved through the principles we will adopt for the design and
delivery of digital services, to ensure that the service delivered is ‘right
first time’, and by the way that we promote our digital services. As
each new digital service is developed we will identify who the users
will be and we will work with them to understand how, where and
when they might use the digital service, and then work to remove
any barriers that may prevent them from doing so. We will also
18 19
consider developing a common identity and brand for all of our
digital services, to help promote them to our service users, residents
and businesses.
Working with partner organisations will also be key to ensuring that
Digital Inclusion Working across services, partners and other agencies there is additional support for those residents and service users who
our work around digital inclusion will focus on four need it.
Ensuring that all of our residents and service users inter-related areas
can access and benefit from our digital services and • Access to devices and connectivity. Public use
those provided by partners and other agencies and PCs are available in our libraries and other venues Universal Credit Digital Inclusion
organisations is very important to us. Although the across the borough and the usage data suggests Case Study
2018 ONS Internet Users bulletin shows significant that there is scope to expand usage, particularly
increases in recent internet usage in all age brackets, in libraries. We will map the current availability The rollout of Universal Credit within South Tyneside has been
and 2018 OFCOM data shows that 78% of all adults and use of public access devices and free public overseen by a working group comprising of the council and
have a smartphone and 58% of all households Wi-Fi around the borough and we will explore key partners and agencies. As part of this arrangement Age UK
have a tablet, the latest available Digital Exclusion opportunities to make more available, for provide an assisted claims service for claimants of any age. This
heatmap (2017, Tech Partnership) identified that example within our customer service locations. includes a telephone ‘triage’ service to fully understand clients’
based on a combination of social and digital factors The rollout of superfast broadband will continue needs and current skills, and then the delivery of tailored digital
there was a high risk of some of our residents being and we will work locally and regionally to access support from a range of locations including council libraries or
digitally excluded, with acquiring and using basic other schemes and funding to improve the fixed Age UK’s own suite of PCs.
digital skills being a particular area of concern. and Wi-Fi connectivity available to residential,
commercial and industrial properties and all
developments within the borough.ICT Business Applications
The ICT business applications used within services to support service
delivery and manage user / financial / performance data are key
to achieving our aspiration of making it as easy as possible for
everyone to do what they need to through technology. Supporting
ICT business systems, and the data within them, is an important
task that needs to be resourced within ICT and within services. At
present there are around 200 externally provided systems and around
20 21
another 140 that have been developed internally. To make this
sustainable we will look for opportunities to consolidate and reduce
the number of ICT business applications within the council. This will
require fundamental changes to ways of working and migration to
new systems but, if scoped, resourced and managed correctly, it will
Future Developments provide benefits around streamlined processes, access to improved
and shared information and easier reporting. Compliance with the
Customer Contact General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) will also be easier as
there will be fewer systems holding data within services.
Customer Services returned to the council in This will help inform how new and existing ICT and
October 2018. This provides an opportunity to Digital solutions (such as My Account, the existing We will also ensure that all ICT business applications are upgraded
begin work on understanding all customer contact CRM system, LiveChat, email and text notifications, in a timely way, to ensure that the functionality available to services
into all parts of the council (i.e. volumes, methods, alternative payment solutions etc.) can be further remains current and to minimise the risks associated with significant
services, reasons, channels, systems etc.). Collecting developed to provide the best ‘customer experience’ upgrades. All key corporate solutions, such as Oracle (financial
and analysing this information will allow us to for all of our service users and residents, no matter management, income management, payroll, HR and procurement)
develop a ‘Customer Contact’ strategy that will be how they want to engage with the council. and Liquid Logic (social care for adults and children) will have a
complementary to the ICT and Digital Strategy and road map setting out future developments to ensure that these are
focus on how the council will manage all types of planned and resourced accordingly.
customer contact going forward.Some of the other key tools and enablers that would help employees
work in a smarter and more productive way include
• A transactional and responsive intranet (i.e. one that will work on
any device) with significantly improved information and digital self-
service, supported by electronic forms, workflow and integration
with back office systems. This would enable employees to self-serve
in areas such as HR and Payroll and be self-sufficient when working
in any location. The My Account platform that is supporting
outward facing digital services can deliver this type of solution but
resources will be required to update information and streamline
and redesign corporate processes before they are moved into the
My Account solution.
• Refreshed desktop devices (e.g. laptops, tablets, hybrids) and the
Windows 10 desktop operating system. These are key tools for
enabling remote and mobile working but teams and services will
need to be supported to explore the new functionality and to
understand how their individual business applications could be
used in different ways, and what improvements this could offer to
their working practices.
• More apps and solutions available on corporate smartphones.
• Microsoft Office 365. The new version of Office includes
collaboration tools such as Sharepoint / Teams / Skype for Business
that have been designed to help individuals and teams to work
together more productively and in different locations. However the
powerful freedoms and flexibilities that these solutions offer bring
different risks to information and data that need to be understood
and managed, and individual teams and services will need support to
determine how to best deploy the tools to meet their own priorities.
• Digital mail and secure email. These solutions are already
implemented within the Council but to achieve the maximum
22
Smarter Working benefit resource is required to help services review how and who
they communicate with, and why, with the intention of reducing
23
outgoing communications and ensuring those that remain are clear
and easy to understand, do not generate any unnecessary further
engagement, promote digital services where this is appropriate and
Smarter Working projects will be focused on the The ICT and Digital Strategy will deliver the required
are delivered through the best and most secure method.
internal processes and transactions that employees, solutions and ensure that the projects are co-
managers and members regularly undertake as ordinated to optimise outcomes and benefits and
part of their normal working life e.g. finding delivered in line with our agreed digital principles
information on the intranet, completing a form and standards.
Elections Digital Mail case study
for HR or ICT, managing sickness absence or
ICT Services will adopt smarter working by In recent months the elections team have implemented the
claiming expenses. The transition back into the
implementing the following new services over the corporate digital mail system with great results. Using the
council of key transactional services such as HR,
next two years system has removed the need for employees to spend time
Payroll, ICT, Customer Services, Procurement and
collecting letters from the printer, folding them, inserting
Financial Services provides a great opportunity for • Introduction of self-service functionality such as
them into envelopes ready for posting and then taking them
these services to be streamlined and delivered in the online reporting of requests and faults to the
to the post room. A small amount of work is required at the
a ‘smarter’ way through digital technologies. This ICT Servicedesk, resetting passwords etc.
beginning to set up the required letters on the system but once
would help all employees, managers and members • A simpler way of identifying and requesting ICT these are available using the system is as simple as sending a
to become more self-reliant and productive services (e.g. Application and Services Catalog) document to print. A job to create and ‘post’ over 300 letters
regardless of how and where they are working,
• Easier access to information about service that would have previously taken around 30 minutes now
and it would help deliver efficiencies within the
disruption, planned maintenance etc. takes around 4 minutes, allowing employees to work on more
transactional services.
important tasks. Another benefit is the reduced postage rate
• Introduce a workflow-driven ICT asset
Scoping and delivering the Smarter Working compared to franked mail.
management system to support the self-service
projects for each service area will need to be owned management of assets and automatic auditing of
and resourced by the relevant services with support the devices held by employees
from senior leadership.Other refresh projects
Users and devices Other refresh projects that are currently being scoped and
planned include:
• Replacing SQL databases where required
2300 Smartphones • Refreshing the infrastructure that supports desktop telephony
Network
330 100 • Refresh of some firewall solutions deployed across the estate
Desktop devices - laptops, PCs, • Refreshing key parts of our corporate Wide Area Network (WAN)
tablets, public use devices Locations on the council network
Users which links all of our buildings across the borough. This will include
including council buildings and
2800 partner buildings • Refreshing network switch and router hardware across the WAN
within our 2 datacentres (one located in the Town Hall and the
second back up site in Jarrow)
• Replacing end of life circuits (which connect buildings)
Network
• Replacing some wireless point to point hardware for building links
Systems and applications switches
with the most cost effective solution while maintaining or improving
360 Servers - hosting 400 performance
business applications
Externally and infrastructure
procured and
internally
solutions Networks
developed Some servers have The corporate network is fundamental to securely exchanging
systems been virtualised but Firewalls - help
500 70 a significant number maintain the information between systems, employees, partners, service users and
security of the the outside world. It comprises fixed lines, council- owned fibre, circuits
Interfaces (enabling the remain in both data from external providers and wireless point to point links. The key
centres council network
movement and sharing of 50 elements that require upgrades or refreshes in the next few years are
information) listed in the previous section.
The ongoing development of our network is closely linked to the
council’s accommodation strategy and a key challenge is being
able to respond to changes in how and where services are delivered
24
Technology Refresh as there are often fixed external timescales and costs associated
with network connectivity. Joint planning with Estates and Asset
25
Management services is a key requirement going forward to identify
the most cost-effective approach to replacing end of life or inefficient
network connections in line with the council’s building rationalisation
The council has a large and complex ICT estate which reflects the wide range of services we provide and the
programme.
different locations we work from. Some key facts about the current corporate ICT estate are shown above.
Network connectivity is particularly important to delivering integrated
Ongoing technology refresh projects Desktop devices and laptops services with partners. The council is currently implementing the new
Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) which will be used in the first
Work has begun on a number of projects that will The new laptops will offer an improved specification instance by Public Health and Child Protection Services but in the longer
refresh the ‘backbone’ technology that supports in terms of weight and portability and the new term it will be one route towards closer working with NHS partners in a
the corporate ICT estate i.e. key hardware, network, Windows 10 operating system will be deployed broader range of areas.
storage and software solutions. This is driven at the same time. Tablet / hybrid devices will be
by the need to ensure our ICT estate is secure, available for those employees whose working Other planned projects for the network include:
resilient, supported and future-proofed. Some of patterns would benefit from such a device. The
• Introduction of new technologies to allow multiple networks to
the changes will happen in the background with rollout of devices to employees will begin in early
operate securely across the same physical infrastructure, maximising
minimal impact on systems and users while others 2019 and will be complete by the end of 2019/20.
our investment in network hardware and lines.
will bring more obvious benefits. The exact timescale and scheduling of the rollout
within individual services will be determined by a • Investigation of the potential of technologies such as ‘Software
number of factors including the compatibility of Defined Networking’ (SDN) to help improve performance and reduce
Windows platform operating system
other software and systems with Windows 10. The support overheads.
Updating the Windows platform operating system work to help employees, teams and services gain • Create a dedicated network for CCTV to enable it to be physically
for the on-premise server estate and replacing the maximum benefits from their new devices will be segregated from the main corporate network. This will increase the
server hardware where required. This is a major progressed through the Smarter Working theme. usability of CCTV and increase the security of the corporate network.
project that will take several years to complete as
it requires all in-scope systems to be checked for
compatibility with the new operating system, and in
some cases system upgrades will be required.A Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) exercise will be undertaken to
estimate the likely costs and savings of moving to 50% cloud
solutions within 5 years, even though it is unlikely that more than
20%- 30% of our solutions will have migrated during this time.
Microsoft Office 365 (O365) is likely to be the first major cloud
service we will roll out with a gradual 2 year programme to move
email and files to Office 365 and drive adoption of new end-
user functionality such as Sharepoint, Skype for Business Teams,
and other collaboration tools. This will help increase employee
productivity and support our smarter working aspirations.
Other actions will include:
• A review of the current system and software portfolio and
discussions with system suppliers to understand their cloud
strategy and support
• Enhancing the design and architecture of the existing network
and datacentres to provide capacity to use Microsoft Azure cloud
-based solutions. This should be available by early 2020.
• The planned refresh of the current datacentre hardware will be
designed around a ‘Hybrid Cloud’ approach to maximise the
investment in hardware and licensing and with the intention of
using cloud services where possible and preferable.
• Investigation of cloud based Disaster Recovery with off-site
backup storage to move to the cloud within 3-5 years. This will
reduce the requirement for the 2nd datacentre currently based in
Jarrow.
26
5G Technologies 27
The council was part of the recent regional bid for Urban
Connected Communities (UCC) funding to support a testbed rollout
of 5G connectivity. Although the bid was not successful the bid
reflects how we will collaborate with partners to exploit the full
Voice communications Cloud Computing benefits of innovative and emerging technologies where this is
appropriate and beneficial.
The council has recently implemented smart phones Cloud technology is already utilised within the
to help employees remain in contact and access council on a small scale for the Public Health Change Recognising the particular relevance of 5G technologies to the
their emails and appointments when working 4 Life system. It will become more of a consideration IAMP (International Advanced Manufacturing Plant) and other
away from their desk. Opportunities to develop as our suppliers begin to redevelop their existing major infrastructure developments such as the new Integrated
and enhance the data based services available on on-premise solutions and migrate them to the cloud. Transport Hub we will continue to identify opportunities for its early
the smart phones will be progressed as part of the In some cases this may force the council to move to deployment.
‘Smarter Working’ theme discussed previously. a cloud-based solution and so it is important that
we begin to understand the implications of a larger Other potential opportunities for 5G technologies include:
The corporate desk-based telephony solution scale cloud deployment now and consider what • Advanced manufacturing
(Avaya) will also be reviewed, to understand the would be required for the council to adopt a ‘cloud
expected lifespan and to explore longer term • Smart cities - traffic management, streetlight control, waste
first’ strategy at some time in the future.
requirements, opportunities and costs around management and smart grids
technologies such as Unified Communications Key considerations when considering moving to • Industrial predictive maintenance - identifying imminent
which could offer benefits to employees working in cloud solutions include security, authentication, equipment malfunctions
different locations e.g. single reach phone numbers impact on integration and information sharing
• Retail logistics - fleets of connected / driverless vehicles
which provide voice connectivity on a range of with other systems (including our digital services),
devices via a single number. technical resources required to migrate systems and • Improved public service delivery - e.g. transport; wearable health
capacity within services to manage the business sensors to reduce pressures on primary care / A&E; augmented
change which will arise from moving to what may and virtual reality for education
be fundamentally different solutions. • Support Local Full Fibre Network deployment to improve
broadband connectivity and speeds across the boroughOther planned activities include
• Investigate streamlined authentication and sign on processes,
including bio-metrics (e.g. finger print) to reduce the burden of
managing multiple complex passwords for different systems and
reduce the risk of employees documenting password insecurely.
28
ICT Security • Develop proactive Cyber Security processes and response protocols
29
to reduce the probability of a cyber-attack.
• Implement a proactive programme of vulnerability management.
• Improve the assessment of security related issues during the
Maintaining the security of our technical Employees and members will be supported to
procurement of external ICT solutions and review how security is
infrastructure and the data and information held play their role in maintaining the security of our
managed within ICT contracts.
within it is paramount. The ICT and Digital teams infrastructure and information and will receive
will continue to work closely with colleagues in up-to-date training and guidance on managing • Improve the proactive monitoring of systems and threats across the
Information Governance to ensure all ICT and passwords, devices and external cybersecurity council to ensure there is early insight and notification of potential
digital solutions are secure, reflect best practice threats. issues.
and meet the latest legal and external accreditation • Improve awareness of security and cyber threats within the ICT and
requirements including PSN and GDPR. Digital teams and train employees to support the proactive analysis
of security issues.
Security, data protection and privacy requirements
will inform how we design, procure, deliver and • Implement greater segregation of systems and services to reduce
manage all of our ICT and Digital solutions and we the threat to the corporate estate and data if a single system is
will support services to complete a Data Privacy compromised.
Impact Assessment at the beginning of all ICT • Play an active role in national and regional forums and events to
and Digital projects to ensure that these issues are share best practice and learning.
identified, understood and appropriately managed
• Investigate the issues, risks and opportunities for security linked to
from the outset.
the adoption of cloud services.2018/2019 2018/20192019/2020
2018/20192019/20202020/2021
2019/20202020/2021 2020/2021
• Begin to pilot 0365 with• Begin to pilot•0365
eServices
with•fully
Begin
replaced
to pilot•by0365
eServices
withfully replaced •
byeServices fully replaced by
• My Account phase 1 live
• My Account phase 1 live • My Account phase 1 live
services services My Account services My Account My Account
Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q1
• New mobile voice and data
•N • Ongoing
ew mobile voice •rollout
and data of My voice
New mobile • Ongoing rollout
and data • Additional
of My • O O365
ngoing rollout
• Additional
of My O365 • Additional O365
Q3 Q3 Q3
contract operational Account contract operational
contract operational Account functionality
Account
deployed functionality deployed functionality deployed
• Business Case and plan •for Business Case•and‘Cloud
planFirst’
•for
Business
strategyCase• and
‘Cloud
planFirst’
for strategy • ‘Cloud First’ strategy
• Oracle roadmap agreed• Oracle roadmap agreed• Oracle roadmap agreed
transactional intranet transactional intranet
prepared transactional intranetprepared prepared
Q2 Q2 Q2
• Phase 1 Revenues and • P hase 1 Revenues
Q2
• Revenues
and •and
Benefits digital digital
Benefits digital services live services
services live
Benefits
Phase
Q2
completed
Benefits
• Revenues
1 Revenues and and• Benefits
digitaldigital services
services live ICT
Commence
Q2
• Revenues
completed
and Digital
work on and
digital
next
Strategy
• Benefits
Commence work on next
services ICT
completed
• Commence work on next
and Digital Strategy ICT and Digital Strategy
Conclusion & Horizon
• New websites for Invest• N ew websites• for Invest•
Smarter
South Tyneside and Visit South Tynesideimplementation
New websites• for
Working
and Visit South plan
Smarter
Tynesideimplementation
and Visit
• Scope opportunities
InvestWorking
around
• Scope opportunities • Scope opportunities
• Smarter Working Scanning
plan Smart City / Data around
implementation plan Smart City / Data around Smart City / Data
South Tyneside South Tyneside South Tyneside and Analytics opportunities and Analytics opportunities
and Analytics opportunities
• Corporate ‘customer • Corporate Q3 ‘customer
scoped • CorporateQ3 ‘customer
scoped Q3 scoped
• Area Mgt / Waste Services
•A rea Mgt / Waste Services
contact’ • Area Mgt / Waste Services This refreshed ICT and Digital strategy sets out the main areas of work
Q4 Q4 Q4 strategy preparedcontact’ strategy preparedcontact’ strategy prepared
ICT and Digital plan ICT andQ3 Digital plan ICT andQ3Digital plan • RoboticPA
Q3 / ‘Bots • RoboticPA / ‘Bots • RoboticPA / ‘Bots that will be delivered between now and 2021, supporting the Council
• Roadmap for internally • Roadmap for internally • Roadmap
opportunities scopedfor internally
opportunities scoped opportunities scoped and partners to achieve key corporate priorities. Other emerging
• Begin rollout of new • B egin rollout of new • Begin rollout of new
developed solutions developed solutions developed solutions areas of technology and data analytics will be explored during this
desktop devices and desktop devices and desktop devices and • Completion of network• Completion of network• Completion of network
Windows 10 Windows 10• Desktop device and 10• Desktop devicerefresh
Windows and • Desktop devicerefresh
and refresh timeframe, to fully understand what benefits they offer the council
Q4 Windows 10 rollout Q4 Windows 10 rolloutQ4 Windows 10 rollout and partners, and the investment and other resources that would be
• Priorities and scoping for
• P riorities and scoping for • Priorities and scoping for • Windows Server 2016 roll • Windows Server 2016 roll
• Windows Server 2016 roll
completed completed
Q4 completed
Q4 Q4 required. These include:
Smarter Working Smarter Working Smarter Working out completed out completed out completed
• The ‘Smart Cities’ agenda - the use of smart devices and the
• Finalise next ICT and Digital
• Finalise next ICT and Digital
• Finalise next ICT and Digital
Internet of Things to improve traffic management, parking,
Strategy Strategy Strategy
lighting, waste management etc .
• Data and analytics - using customer insight, analytics, open
data and other information to understand, model and change
behaviour, identify opportunities for early intervention and develop
30
Roadmap different service models.
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and ‘bots - business process
31
automation tools to provide routine data entry from standard
forms and simple AI tools that support text based services to
resolve simple customer queries.
Our high-level roadmap for the refreshed ICT and Some of this resource will come from within
Digital Strategy is shown above. This shows when the relevant service area, where there is greatest • Information and data sharing - with partners (and especially the
some of the key outcomes will be delivered and it understanding of the current processes and NHS) to support closer working and the development of integrated
will be expanded and maintained as other projects opportunities for improvement. There will also service models. eg The Great North Care record.
are scoped and scheduled. Progress on delivery will need to be ongoing ownership and management
be monitored by the ICT and Digital Programme of digital services. This will be supported by a small Some of these are part of the broader digital agenda within local
Board with regular updates to SLG and members. corporate team to speed up delivery, ensure the government and we will keep an active and watching brief on
consistent application of the principles included in these issues. However all are likely to have some future impact on
A key dependency for the delivery of projects this strategy, help resolve any issues and ensure that the council’s underlying ICT and Digital infrastructure and will be
that will change the way service users and residents the impact, benefits and outcomes are measured. reflected more prominently in the next ICT and Digital Strategy.
interact with the council (Digital Services), and
help our employees work more productively
(Smarter Working), is the availability of resources
to help services and teams review, redesign and
streamline their processes to optimise them for
digital delivery and then manage the digital services
on an ongoing basis.If you know someone who needs this information in a different format, for example large print, Braille or a different language, please call Marketing and Communications on 0191 427 1717.
You can also read
