With the addition of ‘Housing’ and the switch from ‘Department’ to ‘Ministry’ for the new Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the focus is well and truly on the nation’s housing stock – both current and future.
Social Housing providers are already operating in austere times but the policy landscape is shifting with a focus on supply and meeting demand for high quality affordable housing in the social rental sector.
Do social housing providers today have the operational flexibility, agility and scalability in their data and technology to meet these demands?
It goes without saying that the demand for operational efficiencies and better strategic planning is as strong among social housing providers as in any sector. But this extends beyond the traditional demands to take in the possibilities of using the internet of things in predictive maintenance and assisted living, liaising with social care in preventing the vulnerable from becoming homeless, and equipping themselves to deal with shifts in policy.
However, many are still working with data in the siloes that have come out of ad hoc investments in IT, and need to develop a more streamlined approach to achieve seamless working across allocations, asset management, customer contact, repairs and workforce management systems. They also need to obtain the data, from their own and other sources, to anticipate changing demands, support public health policies and plan for their future investments.
Does all this need new investments in digital systems? And if so, what are the strategic priorities and the common requirements? And how does this relate to needs for technology and data management?
UKAuthority, with support from PowerObjects - an HCL technologies company - wants to identify the common needs and ambition for digital and data in social housing providers. Add your thoughts and requirements to this short online survey.
The results of our investigation into 'Digital & Futures in Social Housing' will be shared next month here on UKAuthority with the full report available for download.
