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North Ayrshire takes on Sopra Steria for transformation

03/08/16

Scottish local authority places early focus on revenues and benefits and mobile working in shift to digital

North Ayrshire Council has begun to work on two proof of concept projects with digital transformation specialist Sopra Steria as part of a shift towards delivering more of its services through digital channels.

It has begun to explore the possibilities for revenues and benefits and integrated mobile working, after signing a £100,000 contract with the company for its support in the development work.

Both projects are currently in the scoping and planning stage and are expected to run for three months. Sopra Steria is providing the management for both.

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire told UKAuthority: “Both of these are proof of concept (POC) and have clear objectives and outcomes. Essentially, we are looking to completely redesign the way we deliver some of our services by incorporating digital technology to provide a more efficient and effective service for our customers and savings for our council.”

Acceleration

She said the initial deal covers only the two projects, but that “it is our intention to accelerate digital transformation based on the evaluation of delivery against the proof of concept objectives”. Any further projects would have to go out to another tender process.

“The real value will be through ongoing savings, efficiencies and improved customer service achieved through our digital transformation of service delivery,” she added.

A spokesperson for Sopra Steria said the deal has a five-month timeframe from June using an agile delivery approach, and involves a series of two-week sprints.

"The objective is for Sopra Steria to work with North Ayrshire to introduce a new way of working to design services," he said.

The council’s existing online services include reporting environmental problems, viewing council tax, job applications, payments and making planning applications.

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