31 January 2012

Is the public sector serious about working with SMEs? Is it serious about Agile? What are the benefits SMEs could deliver? And how successful has the drive to get SMEs involved been?

13 December 2011

Cookies, metrics, search and citizen-facing websites

Why, where and when do citizens bail out of online transactions? How does this impact digital by default aspirations? And how can you help citizens overcome the blocks? Join ITU live and experts from the new Government Digital Service (GDS) to talk cookies, metrics and search for public sector websites.

6 December 2011

Will Cloud and SaaS reshape Public Service Delivery?

As government plans for the Cloud take shape and move to implementation stage, we bring key players to the debate table.

9 November 2011

How will the 2012 Olympics affect local communities in a digital and mobile world? Are you ready to keep working?

The 2012 Olympics is the first ever to be held in a digital, mobile and always connected world. Indeed, organisers are confidently expecting more than ten times the data traffic experienced in Beijing - which, of course, happened in an age before smartphone, iPhone, iPad and the subsequent explosion of mobile devices.

27 October 2011

eLearning, the Public Sector and the Age of Austerity

In the Age of Austerity, the public sector is harnessing the power of eLearning technology to reduce costs whilst at the same time improve learning outcomes – for both citizens and staff. Is this just an immediate response to budget cuts or the shape of digital learning to come?

16 September 2011

Unifying the digital citizen experience

A few years ago, when digital was limited to websites, email or interactive voice response systems, organisations could get away with strategies that allowed them to take a channel by channel approach to experience. However, with the recent explosion of digital devices and their increased capabilities, organisations have come under fire to not only create but also deliver a unified experience across multiple devices and platforms. The boundaries between devices, channels and behaviours are increasingly blurring.

14 September 2011

Shared Services and the Public Sector

UKauthorITy.com and ITU will unveil the results of new research into the state of play for Shared Services across the UK public sector.

31 August 2011

Open Standards & the Future of Public Sector ICT

The importance of Open Standards to the future of public sector ICT is the topic for ITU Live on Wednesday 31st August. Will Open Standards finally allow the public sector to join up service delivery? What standards are key? And how will they be decided?

28 July 2011

Skunkworks: How can it help you?

Mark O'Neill has taken up the reins as head of the government's new Skunkworks at Cabinet Office. What does this mean for public sector ICT? How can the Skunkworks help your organisation? Mark joins the ITU Live panel on Thursday 28th July to explore what Skunkworks hopes to achieve.

14 June 2011

Collaborating for the Future - Joined up Thinking and Joined up Working

The pressure is on for organisations to foster innovation and to work outside their traditional boundaries - the need to do more with less means that the entire public sector needs to break free from its silos and work as a team to deliver more, with less resource. But with travel bans and cut backs the unavoidable order of the day how can new relationships be built and fostered? Does technology hold the key to building a cost effective virtual front line where the needs of the citizen are met holistically and efficiently in a seamless information flow?

12 May 2011

Simplifying Service Transactions & Business Processes

Public services are moving inexorably online, and the UK population becoming ever more digitally savvy. But how do we take advantage of the best in technology developments to meet the needs of both the organisation and the citizens it serves?

19 Apr 2011

The new era of virtual working - web collaboration, virtual meetings and e-learning

Educational webinar

"What are the trends driving the increased focus on web collaboration? Is cost or experience the key driver? How does technology address the issues being experienced. What benefits can be gained from virtualising training as an example?"

14 Apr 2011 2PM

Delivering and Designing Intuitive Online Services that can be used by all

How can we address digital exclusion and encourage the mass channel shift to low cost online service delivery that we all need?

Digital Champion, Martha Lane Fox, is calling for 'e' Revolution not Evolution with online becoming "the first point of contact" for public services. And the new Government ICT strategy states that the government "will work to make citizen-focused transactional services 'digital by default' where appropriate" - but enable a network of 'assisted digital' service providers for those who are unable to access this brave new world.

14 Apr 2011 12PM

Tackling ID and Authentication for Online Services

Are solving the issues of effective identity and authentication pre-requisites to delivering channel shift to low cost online public services?

The future of public services is most definitely digital: confirmed last month in the Government's new ICT strategy. Indeed, in the Age of Austerity the potential for reducing the costs of service delivery by a switch to digital is too great to miss - but unless we can securely deliver the right service to the right people we risk even greater waste through fraud and further contact.

17 Feb 2011

Online Citizen and Business Services

Digital champion, Martha Lane Fox, has urged an 'e' Revolution, and in November called for online to become "the first point of contact" for public services. Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, has convened a ministerial working group on digital to investigate the feasibility of a move to one, single, government domain - based on "agile shared web services".

3 Feb 2011

Cloud, Procurement and Utility Computing in the Public Sector

Cloud, Procurement and Utility Computing in the Public Sector Within the context of the tightest Spending Review in recent history, do new technologies such as Cloud hold out the hope of low cost 'utility' computing? And does the reality of such technology make cost saving shared services not only desirable but easily attainable? The panel discusses the pros and cons of these technologies and the benefits they could bring to all parts of the public sector - and how the public sector procurement model needs to change for technology to deliver promised benefits.

26th January 2011

Learning Technologies - Adobe Webinar

Panel debate on the use of technology to facilitate Collaboration, Engagement & Interactivity in the learning environment, facilitated by Helen Olsen, managing editor of IT in Use magazine.

6th October 2010

Open Government, Transparency and Inclusion

Over sixty councils have started to put details of expenditure above £500 on their websites in line with instructions from Secretary of State for local government, Eric Pickles. With just 61 working days till the start of the new year, Pickles says that the clock is ticking for councils to open their files so that the public can see where their money is being spent. So, will councils meet this challenge? The ITU Live panel explored the implications for local government – the costs, implications, risks and benefits this open agenda brings.

29th September 2010

Customer Experience Management - What makes a great customer experience?

Three factors - usefulness, usability, and how enjoyable the experience across all interaction channels - are key to creating happy customers, says Forrester. The analyst's research also concludes that these three indicators are not only measurable, but critical to an organisation's success.

28th September 2010

Customer Experience Management and the Citizen - Can a focus on citizen experience drive down costs in public service delivery?

With the emphasis on budget cuts and next month's Spending Review, the panel discussed how technology and a focus on customer insight - user experience - can cut through organisational silos, drive up service standards and deliver much needed efficiency savings.

September 2010

Webconferencing: Sophisticated collaboration tool? Or cost effective and green replacement for face-to-face meetings?

Travel costs have been specifically targeted by the new government as an area for immediate cuts, and many local authorities have already put travel restrictions in place.

Can technology help the public sector to reduce these costs - and its carbon footprint - whilst maintaining effective, collaborative relationships with colleagues? ITU Live's latest interview explored how new communications and collaboration tools can replace traditional face-to-face meetings to both cut costs and improve efficiency. During the interview, live audience polls suggest that yes, these new ways of working can bring the sector great benefits - but changing 'the meetings culture' would be a challenge.

July 2010

Government websites, budget cuts and public services

David Dinsdale, programme director at businesslink.gov.uk; Guy Ker, Publishing Director, Directgov; Bob Gann, head of strategy at NHS Choices; and Alan Banks, managing director, Adobe UK, joined Helen Olsen on ITU Live to discuss government websites, budget cuts and public services - it's no longer a broadcast world, but an interactive one where cost savings can indeed be made.

May 2010

Coalition - What does that mean for Frontline Public Services? And does technology have a part to play in meeting the challenges ahead?

The new spirit of cooperation and collaboration signalled by a Conservative-Lib Dem coalition implies a massive step change in both culture and public sector policy. But it also signals the start of swingeing £6bn cuts to the public sector modus operandi - and not only is the new Cabinet team widely expected to be ruthless in pushing through spending cuts in its emergency budget next month but the forthcoming spending review in the autumn will be austere. So, what will this mean for Frontline Public Services? And does technology have a part to play in meeting this challenge?

February 2010

eForms and the transformation of citizen services

Using technology to improve services whilst getting the most from existing infrastructure; and cutting core costs

December 2009

eForms in a Digital Britain

Interviewees from BIS, the MoJ, Hampshire County Council and Adobe explore both the findings and their own experiences in implementing large scale eForm projects. The panel agreed that full integration with back office systems was key to delivering savings. It was indeed difficult to achieve back end integration - requiring open and honest analysis of process workflows and forward planning - but the results that could be achieved in terms of savings and service transformation are more than worth the task.