Ofcom finds strategic partner in NIIT
Communications regulator Ofcom has signed IT solutions provider NIIT Technologies as a strategic partner.
The company will help Ofcom to manage its infrastructure and application systems, with services covering a service desk, data centre and product management. It said it will provide a dedicated service delivery model and new management processes and tools, but has so far provided no further details.
The value of the contract is estimated at £23 million over six years, which includes an initial four and possible extensions of two years.
Northumbria Police sign Updata for WAN
Updata Infrastructure, part of Capita IT Enterprise Services, has been awarded a five-year, £2.1 million contract for the provision of a managed wide area network service by Northumbria Police.
The company said the contract will reduce the force’s annual telecommunications bill and result in additional bandwidth and faster network speeds to police buildings, improving internet access for more than 5,000 staff.
London gets app for 'speed volunteering'
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has unveiled the Speed Volunteer app – claimed to be the first of its kind in the country – to help people find requests for volunteers for a short time.
It reflects the findings in a Citizen Survey by the National Council for Volunteering that more than half of people are deterred from doing so by the lack of time.
The app is available on iTunes and an Android version should be available soon.
Legal Aid Agency upgrades CCMS
The Client and Cost Management System (CCMS), which is used for managing applications for certified legal aid, has been upgraded to include a new merits section for users.
The Legal Aid Agency said this will halve the number of screens used in the online merits interview, enable users to track their progress through the process, and to navigate back and forwards to different sections.
It said that law firms using the CCMS wil be brought online alphabetically, and that it is now processing applications made through the systems faster than those on paper.
Blackpool Trust picks up open source EPR
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has become the third organisation to implement the IMS Maxims open source electronic patient record. It followed Taunton & Somerset and St Helens & Knowsley trusts.
Implementation began in December, and will enable 3,000 clinical staff to share a patient record across its sites, supporting its drive to become paperless.
“We expect the open source approach to cost at least 60% less, compared to a traditional proprietary route,” said Steven Bloor, chief information officer at the Blackpool trust.
Shane Tickell, chief executive officer of IMS Maxims, said: “Being the third NHS trust to opt for an open source EPR adds Blackpool to a growing community, whose clinical and financial objectives are being met by moving away from the proprietary model.”
Image by Michael, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
