Industry voice: Capita One says there is a route to exploiting the potential of new technology to transform your organisation and provide better, more joined up services for your citizens
Technological advancements are constantly reshaping the world we live in. Over the past 40 years, we’ve gone from vinyl to cassettes, CDs to MP3s. And now everything is online thanks to the likes of Spotify and iTunes.
From a business perspective we’ve seen desktops give way to laptops and tablets, and tape storage to virtualisation, followed by the rise of cloud technology - supporting increasing demand for mobile ways of working.
Harnessing data to transform services
According to Microsoft, one of the key reasons more public sector organisations are moving to the cloud is to cope with the data explosion that comes with existing in a more connected world.
During Capita One’s recent webinar 'Driving better citizen outcomes using the power of the cloud', guest speaker Robin Denton, local government specialist at Microsoft said: "One of the biggest things underpinning the shift to cloud is how organisations harness data and get the most value from it.”
Despite recognising the value of the cloud, 80% of local authority employees say their council is not embracing the opportunities new technologies offer[i]. For many, the challenge is in managing large volumes of siloed data spread across disparate legacy systems and sources. A lack of integration prevents meaningful information from being accessed, resulting in service delivery delays and a heavier IT burden on teams and budgets.
Having lots of datasets in different places also poses a higher security risk and makes it harder to protect sensitive citizen data.
The cloud opportunity
But for local authorities taking advantage of the cloud, this signals a wealth of new opportunity. For example, hosting key applications in the cloud can help better protect citizen data by keeping it all in one place, while giving employees secure access when they need. With the right information at their fingertips case workers can process benefits claims quicker and save time searching for files or filling gaps of missing data.
Similarly, housing officers with instant access to tenant information can make faster decisions, helping them more quickly and accurately assess those most in need of social housing. According to Denton, “it’s all about empowering every person and every organisation to achieve more with technologies that deliver more value to employees, and better levels of service out to citizens.”
Moving key line of business (LOB) applications to the cloud also gives local authorities the scope to streamline operations, speed up processes, and facilitate self-service for a more efficient public service. And beyond this, it brings the ability to transform lives.
Denton makes a key point that “things like machine learning and AI are no longer way off in distance. People are doing things with these technologies now.”
Already, smart sensors are being used in homes for the elderly, helping detect when falls occur. Similar technology is being used to create smart cities, using data to enhance the performance of urban services from electric buses to smart street lights.
How Capita One can help
The potential for using cloud based data solutions to improve the citizen experience is huge, and this is where we can help. At Capita One our mission is to empower local authorities to do more. Together with Microsoft we’re working to transform technology and the experience of those delivering and receiving public services.
“Even if you think you are not ready for cloud right now, we suggest that you think about it early and start planning, start to have the conversations with us early and we can help you explore the opportunities that are right for you” – David Anderson, chief product officer, Capita One.
“Working with Capita One we create modern experiences that utilise toolsets, reinventing productivity and business processes.” – Robin Denton, local government specialist, Microsoft.
As the local government partner of choice, we’ve helped over a million children secure a school place. We work with over 200 of the UK's largest housing providers to support tenants when they need it most. And we’ve helped councils process services 20 times faster with automation tools – including benefit processing time, which we’ve reduced from 21 to 10 days.
Our Microsoft Azure based innovative technology solutions help deliver effective services that create better engagement, smarter ways of working, and a positive impact on society.
To find out more about how Capita One can help transform your organisation and provide a better, more joined up service for your citizens, view our webinar “Driving better citizen outcomes using the power of the cloud”.
[i] https://www.pwc.co.uk/industries/government-public-sector/local-government/insights/local-state-we-are-in-2019.html
