North Lankarkshire chooses Idox for elections
North Lankarkshire Council has awarded a contract to software company Idox to support its elections service until 2020.
The company will provide an election management system and deliver all the print requirements for an electorate of approximately 255,000. It will also provide the council’s postal managed service, which involves scanning and verifying 100% of returned postal votes and associated statements.
This follows Idox’s recent contract win with the Tayside Procurement Consortium for electoral services.
Food Standards Agency signs Littlefish
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has signed a two-year deal with Littlefish to manage its service desk, end user computer and network infrastructure. The company will also conduct a series of transformation projects, including a Microsoft Office 365 migration and an end user device estate refresh.
Prior to the deal the FSA used a single source model for its ICT managed services, but it is now disaggregating to a multi-supplier approach. Littlefish will provide support for 1,200 staff in London, Cardiff, Belfast and York.
BEIS puts up money for smart meter solutions
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has called for ideas for products and services that use smart meter data to reduce energy demand in small, non-domestic buildings.
It said it has up to £8.8 million to share out in a competition for relevant projects under the Small Business Research Initiative. Possibilities include providing information such as cost and savings estimates, and tailored messages to encourage the take-up of advice and sustained behaviour.
Smart meters are being rolled out across the country and should be in most homes and businesses by the end of 2020.
Survey shows security is main IT issue
Most senior public sector IT managers regard data and systems security as their biggest priority, according to research carried out for digital workplace provider Invotra.
It showed that 79% of the 252 questioned identified this as their number one issue, while 88% said their organisation is well equipped to defend itself against cyber attacks. In addition, 44% described digital transformation as an important focus, but said the public sector is way behind the private sector. Just 49% said the right amount had been invested to support transformation.
A smaller group – 18%– were sceptical about digital transformation, saying it has little meaning, while a fifth said it is too costly.
Image from League of Women Voters of California, CC BY 2.0 through flickr
