David Cameron recently set out the government's plans for modernising public services. He argued, in a speech at the RSA in London, for reform to be driven by greater competition, choice and independence for institutions. Meanwhile, the Comprehensive Spending Review has encouraged the public sector to review all services and ensure they are operating as cost-effectively as possible. Combined with the decentralisation of powers, these factors mean local authorities have the opportunity to drive real change throughout their organisations. So just how can these services work more efficiently, engage with citizens and communities more effectively and reduce cost without damaging services?
As contracts come up for renewal, central government must look to efficiencies it has gained through specialist relationships and consider how these could be applied to other areas. Quite rightly, the Prime Minister has called for more competition in the public sector. Local government faces a much greater challenge here as only 15 to 20 per cent of local authorities currently have the scale required to attract the level of outsourcing needed for a competitive landscape. In order to achieve better value, management will have to embrace a new way of thinking. By working closely with the private sector, it can develop innovative ideas and collaborate in the most effective way to streamline business processes, improve service delivery and reduce cost.
With proactive collaboration between local authorities, they could consolidate data centres, and share resources and managed services to create better value. All councils are responsible for procuring desktop, network and datacentre services and it is therefore seems logical for these systems to be converged. Utilised in the right way, IT becomes the great enabler to allow public sector organisations to increase efficiency and improve the service provided to citizens and the wider community.
If we look to central government, we can see that Business Process Outsourcing has already proved itself as a driver of modernisation. National Savings and Investments is one successful example. NS&I used to comprise three separate and physically remote processing units with little in common as regards day-to-day contacts or working methods. Paper processing dominated and computerisation was minimal; the system was inefficient and involved a great deal of duplication. Siemens worked with the organisation to quickly integrate the three different sites and five separate legacy IT architectures. Since 1999, funds under management at NS&I have increased significantly, employee productivity has improved by over 400% and customer response times have been slashed from 11 to three days.
More generally, web-enabled services and cloud computing are a key example of how IT can improve services within the public sector. Communications are improved internally, between citizens and a local authority and even between multiple local authorities that have converged systems. The new technology also gives users the ability to access business applications more rapidly and economically in a shared virtual business environment, reducing the risks associated with IT infrastructure investment.
There is no magic formula for making savings in the public sector, but the year ahead will be critical for the government’s modernisation agenda - and this relies heavily on public sector managers’ willingness to embrace a new ideas culture. With public and private sectors working in greater collaboration, IT will be able to help transform business models and make necessary cost savings, thereby delivering more to the citizen and creating a sustainable IT infrastructure for the future.
Nick Sawbridge is head of public sector, healthcare and mobility at Siemens IT Solutions and Services
