Our e-Government Programme

People tend to associate e-Government with technology such as websites and computers. It is about using information technologies but it is also about:

• Business change
• Delivering efficient services
• Improving customer care

e-Government challenges us to rethink the way we do things.

It challenges us to look at how we use technology and to consider how we can use it more effectively and efficiently.

We can apply this e-government challenge to all aspects of our work including:

• Handling telephone calls
• Dealing with routine information requests
• Delivering services
• Working with outside agencies
• Communicating with our residents

e-Government will be part of our drive for improvement. We need to address it in order to continuously evaluate our efficiency and effectiveness.

A new direction

In October 2002 the Royal Borough submitted a progress report, Implementing Electronic Government Statement 2002, to Central Government.

We used this an opportunity to re-evaluate our vision and our strategy for e-Government. We have summarised our new direction below. To view, download and print the full report, see Implementing Electronic Government Statement 2002 [PDF file information]

Note This is a large file 482 Kb.

Our senior managers wanted to ensure that the strategy reflected our business priorities. This involves the use of technology to facilitate core business change to ensure delivery of cost-effective, efficient, customer focused services.

We identified three main themes that are the focus of our e-Government strategy:

• Communicating with residents and others
• Modernising our service delivery
• Improving our internal communications

Communicating with residents and others

Most people prefer to contact organisations by telephone. Sixty per cent of telephone calls are requests for routine information or involve simple transactions. People form an opinion about an organisation based on how their telephone call is handled.

We want to make sure that people contacting the Council by telephone have a consistently good experience.

We can use call centre technology and staff trained in customer care to ensure an efficient and consistent telephone service.

In the future this may develop into an integrated service involving our partner agencies such as the health sector, police, and voluntary sector.

As an alternative to contacting us by phone, we will promote the Royal Borough's website as a fast, effective, reliable way of finding information and carrying out simple transactions such as paying bills or completing forms - from parking permits to building control.

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Modernising our service delivery

All services tend to develop methods for delivery that can become very entrenched. We want to make sure that these methods are efficient and customer focused.

We want to identify any problems that impede service delivery and take a fresh approach when looking for solutions.

Some services already use web technology to allow customers to track the progress of applications online, removing the need to telephone for a progress report on their applications. Others use technology to manage forms electronically and ensure that applications are dealt with as efficiently as possible.

Improving our internal communications

We can make better use of technology to improve internal communications.

For example, staff need access to a wide range of information such as telephone numbers, personnel forms and policies, Cabinet documents and information on services.

A well-designed and maintained document management system is essential to provide council staff with timely, accurate information.

We want to explore the use of electronic procurement and automated financial processes to deliver significant savings.

We can use technology to support efficient working, whether for people working from home or field workers.

Some of the advantages of these improvements include:

• Saving on costly office space
• More efficient working and
• Faster processing of service users' requests

Developing technology

In order to support the themes listed above we need to ensure our technical infrastructure meets our business requirements.

Technology does not drive the e-Government programme. But it needs to be reliable and flexible so that businesses can maximise their potential for modernising their service delivery.

Future themes

There are two other areas in which we think there is potential for technology to support our work - we will work on assessing these themes in the year ahead.

• Working jointly in some areas with other agencies and organisations, such as the health service and police
• Developing new ways of communicating and consulting between councillors, residents and council staff

What progress has been made so far?

We have been working on the e-Government Programme since 2001. In the first year of the programme, we focused most of our work on developing the Royal Borough's website. Significant work has also been done on projects to extend residents' access to new technology.

Website projects

Internet access within the Royal Borough is high. The website attracts over two million visitors a year.

The website is integral to our e-Government Programme.

We plan to promote it widely so that residents are aware of how they can use it to access timely, accurate information and complete simple transactions.

We are continually updating and adding information to the website. We aim to have 100 per cent of our basic service information available on the site by the middle of 2003.

We are working to increase the range of online transactions, such as paying bills or completing forms online.

Extending access to new technology

As a council we are committed to equal opportunities and bridging the 'digital divide'. Many residents already have access to the Internet, but we are extending Internet access and training to those who currently do not have access.

Our Education and Libraries Business Group is leading a number of projects including:

• Developing online centres within libraries with free Internet access.
• Establishing centres within the community (UK Online Centres Project) which offer access to the technology and basic training.

Managing the programme

We have identified two 'e-champions' who have overall responsibility for leading and overseeing the implementation of the e-Government Programme ensuring that the targets and milestones are met.

They are:

• Councillor David Campion, Chairman of the Computer and Communications Advisory Group.
• David Tidey, Head of Information Systems.

If you have any queries about our e-Government programme please contact Information Services