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Home Vision Public sector issue 02 New government ICT strategy puts collaboration centre stage

New government ICT strategy puts collaboration centre stage

Public sector organisations encouraged to ramp up adoption of video-conferencing, mobile and collaboration solutions to reduce costs and improve productivity

Collaborative working solutions are set to become a de facto standard in the public sector after the Cabinet Office gave them the stamp of approval in its new government ICT strategy.

Offering both financial and efficiency benefits, it’s not surprising that collaboration solutions have been singled out for their ability to help organisations meet the government’s current goals.

The strategy, which was announced at the end of March, encourages greater exploitation of mobile working technologies, collaboration tools and video-conferencing to:

• Enable staff to work more efficiently
• Enhance flexibility
• Reduce environmental impact.

Chris Price, Public Sector Director at Computacenter, comments: “The new ICT strategy recognises that establishing more flexible and collaborative workplaces will help government organisations achieve their strategic goals. Collaborative technologies can be deployed in a relatively short timeframe with minimum disruption to users.”

The public sector’s adoption of collaborative solutions will contribute to considerable growth over the coming years.  For example, according to Gartner¹, the market for telepresence systems will grow at 25.7 per cent per year through 2013, on a base of approximately $547 million in 2010.

Telepresence systems, which facilitate virtual meetings and training sessions through videoconferencing, are just one of the technologies that can help to transform collaborative working practices in the public sector. Collaboration during meetings can be further enhanced through the use of document-sharing systems and interactive whiteboards.

At the same time digital signage provides a consistent and timely method of dissipating information,while unified messaging simplifies communications across multiple sites, such as schools, libraries, health centres and police stations.

Ahead of the game

Some public sector organisations have pre-empted the strategy announcement and already embraced collaboration technologies – with great results. For example, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust uses a video-conferencing solution within its Thrombolysis unit to enable remote stroke assessments.

David Hargroves, a Lead Consultant for the Thrombolysis unit at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust, explains: “By deploying simple off-the-shelf video-conferencing equipment, we have been able to transform our working model for the benefit of our patients. Telemedicine provides NHS trusts with an affordable and accurate way of diagnosing patients, and can provide a vital link between staff working at hospitals and in the community.” 

Other organisations already reaping the rewards of collaboration include Herefordshire Council, which has implemented interactive whiteboards and other audio-visual technologies at Riverside Primary School to create a more dynamic and engaging learning environment.

While in Scotland, Strathclyde Police uses video-conferencing to conduct virtual briefings with its officers, which means staff no longer have to travel up to five hours to meetings in remote locations..

Fiona O’Hare, IT Manager for Strathclyde Police, comments: “The videoconferencing solution has proved a real enabler for the community and the Force. As well as freeing up police time, we’ve also been able to broaden our communication with people living in the Strathclyde area.”

Maximising adoption and ROI

To maximise their investment in collaborative working, public sector organisations need to ensure the solutions they deploy are easy to use or they could face low adoption rates. As Phil Rees, Senior ICT Technical Architect for Herefordshire Council and NHS Herefordshire, says: “Primary school teachers don’t want to be concerned with technology – they just need it to work when they want it.”

Performance and reliability are also essential to encouraging the adoption of new technologies and maximising ROI, as highlighted by Gartner²: “Driving productivity and utilisation from video investments means delivering video quality, repeatability and ease of use.”

With collaboration solutions all reliant on the network, the quality of the end user’s experience will be heavily influenced by bandwidth throughput.

Duncan Gooding, Network Solutions Director at Computacenter, comments: “Insufficient bandwidth will render even the most sophisticated collaboration solution useless. Organisations need to evaluate their existing network capabilities and future requirements to ensure they can support the increased traffic from collaboration technologies.”

As well as the impact on the network, organisations need to consider

• The increased demand for data storage
• Integration with other workplace ICT systems
• Maintenance and support – especially as some technologies will be housed in ‘public’ places.

Lower costs, higher service levels

To help public sector organisations address these and other adoption challenges, Computacenter is offering a free workshop to help accelerate 'time to results' from collaborative working.   

Pierre Hall, Workplace & Software Solutions Director at Computacenter, comments: “The landscape for collaboration technologies is changing fast, so organisations need to ensure they invest in solutions that can support them in the long-term. They also need to mitigate deployment risks to prevent project and budget over-runs.”

By combining proven solutions with repeatable implementation processes, public sector organisations will be able to quickly tap into the benefits of greater collaboration – and pass this on to the taxpayers.

“Collaboration solutions will not only reduce costs but also lead to smarter decision-making and greater efficiency, which will help government organisations deliver more joined-up public services at a lower cost,” comments Chris.

Computacenter is offering a free workshop to kick start collaboration. To register, click here.

Sources
¹ MarketScope for Video Telepresence Systems, Gartner August 2010
² Manage Your Videoconferencing Before It Manages You, Robert F Mason , Gartner, March 2011