Public sector bodies tighten up investment
Study of 100 local authorities and housing associations by Civica reveal mobile working and process re-design as top targets
Targeted ICT investment is a priority for local authorities and housing associations this year as budgets are squeezed, a survey by VAR Civica has revealed.
The firm surveyed 100 local government and social housing service directors and managers at its annual conference in Manchester last month, and the majority advocated pragmatic service reform alongside cost efficiencies to combat the squeeze.
Top of the cost-saving strategies was process re-design, selected by 63 per cent of delegates, with 61 per cent claiming mobile working would deliver the best results.
In terms of IT investment, 47 per cent of respondents said it was essential to maintaining services, and 42 per cent stated they believed technology was essential to driving service improvements.
Interestingly, one in four said making better use of their existing ICT systems was the key to improving service delivery and making efficiency savings.
Acceptance of shared services more than doubled compared to the previous year’s survey, as 52 per cent of delegates agreed that it is the future for public sector players.
However, there are limits on sharing: 38 per cent felt that public organisations would only be able to share certain things such as senior executives’ roles or technology infrastructures.
Bill Loughrey, managing director of Civica’s local government division, said: "Senior management and ICT professionals clearly view technology innovations – many based on getting more out of previous technology investments – as crucial to maintaining effective local services while changing the economics of delivery in the next few years.
"This is crunch year for councils and their partners. The growing acceptance of new service channels, shared resources and managed services, plus a willingness to use existing technology platforms to reinvent service options, shows a clear drive for innovation within very tightly constrained budgets in the public sector."