Broadcasts

Weekly Broadcast  Thursday 23 December 2010

PASC Inquiry

The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) is undertaking an inquiry into the way in which Government develops information technology (IT) policy and the strategy for its implementation. The inquiry will examine the Government's overall approach to information technology including how it identifies business needs, the effectiveness of governance arrangements, and procurement policy and practice. The PASC's Good Governance: the effective use of IT - Issues and Questions Paper invites views and comments on these issues.

Socitm plans to seek the views of its members in formulating a Socitm submission to the PASC by the required deadline of 21 January 2011. Look out for our guidelines, issues and questions that will be posted in the Socitm Blog early in the New Year.

Weekly Broadcast  Thursday 16 December 2010

Jos Creese (President) signs Citadel Statement on behalf of Socitm

The Belgian EU Presidency's 'Lift Off Towards Open Government' Conference on December 14-16th is focused on launching the 'Citadel Statement', which articulates the needs of local government in Europe to national and European decision makers.

Following a successful workshop at the Socitm Annual Conference in Brighton, the Flemish Government and European local government-related organisations, including Socitm, have been working to produce a pan-European 'Call to Action' - known as The Citadel Statement - that will help local government deliver on the key objectives of the Malmö Ministerial Declaration. The Malmö Declaration,signed by EU Ministers on the 18 November 2009 in Malmö, Sweden, outlined a forward-looking eGovernment vision to be achieved by 2015.

The Citadel Statement identifies the top things that national and EU decision makers can do by 2013 to better support local eGovernment and was signed in Ghent on 14th December by Jos Creese on behalf of Socitm.

HOTSEAT 16 December

Why information matters - how taking a strategic approach will help us achieve greater efficiency, improved transparency and accountability, and closer working with partners. This is a Local Government Improvement & Development project supported by Socitm. Go online today and contribute to a briefing that will be aimed at chief executives and senior managers in local government.

Understanding the software market - topline analysis from the Applications Register 2010 available now

Socitm's Applications Register covers a market worth an estimated £500 million a year and contains 30,000 information entries from 526 local public service organisations, covering 2,200 products spread over 160 different business functions. This 8-page summary document highlights the sort of analysis subscribers to the Register can do with the data, including examining market maturity in different functional areas; assessing supplier and product ratings, looking at planned replacement dates and patterns of use. This document is free to download for anyone who registers on www.socitm.net where you can also find out more about subscribing to the Applications Register

Weekly Broadcast   Thursday 9 December 2010

Better information management key to cost-saving 'place-based' public services - New Socitm Insight report

The potential for saving public funds through place-based budgeting could be frustrated without better understanding by public service organisations of how to manage and use information. This is the message from Too many cooks: the information management implications of place-based public services, the latest report from Socitm Insight. The report is based on a study by Socitm Insight of thirteen 'Total Place' pilots, run under the previous government's Operational Efficiency Programme to identify economies and efficiency improvements that might be achieved by taking a coordinated, collaborative approach to service delivery across all public sector agencies in a locality. The report is free to download for Socitm Insight subscribers or can be purchased at socitm.net for £95 (£85 for Socitm members).

Socitm blog posts on proposals for a national address gazetteer database and 'digital by default'

Two posts by Socitm Head of Policy Martin Ferguson in the Socitm blog cover significant policy proposals published recently. One of these is the DCLG's announcement that the Government will bring together publicly owned address information for England and Wales from Ordnance Survey and Local Authorities to create a 'national address gazetteer database'. The other is Martha lane Fox's review of Directgov that includes the idea that government services should be 'digital by default' and Francis Maude's response, that is already stimulating fresh thinking on the part of some of our members. You can share your ideas on these developments by using the comment facility on the blog.

Weekly Broadcast   Thursday 2 December 2010

Secure network connectivity between GCSX and the NHS N3 network now possible

Local authorities can now access NHS Spine services via their existing GCSX connection and without the need to install a separate N3 connection. They can also securely access their local NHS partner organisations data via GCSX and NHS organisations can access local authority data via their existing N3 connections. These developments will facilitate Integration of Health and Social Care through the sharing of information and access to systems across the GCSX N3 Interconnect.  Further information is available on the Socitm website.

Prepare now for Public Service Network and G-Cloud

In this video interview, Socitm Futures Chair Dylan Roberts discusses how to prepare for the PSN, shares his vision for a regionalised approach to enable councils to cherry-pick applications that best suit their needs, and explains how to generate local buy-in for Cloud services. The subject matter ties in with the recent Socitm Insight report Public sector network: case studies of a major shared service.  View the video at: www.socitm.tv/DylanRoberts

Socitm Membership Renewals

Those members that renew their membership in January of each year, will shortly be receiving invoices for 2011 membership.  The invoices will be posted out, so please look out for yours.  This year, there will also be instructions included on what to do if your organisation requires purchase order numbers to be quoted in order to facilitate payment. Don't forget that prompt payment ensures uninterrupted access to member benefits and discounts.