Local authorities in Newcastle and Cleveland pool resources to
simplify form-filling, writes Karl Cushing
Two local authorities in the North East have teamed up to buy a
software package that will enable them to develop electronic forms
that will help citizens access council services via the Internet
and in a more simple and interactive way.
The IT departments of Newcastle City Council and Redcar &
Cleveland Borough Council have invested £53,300 and £41,000 in
Mandoforms' E-Forms product respectively. The move means the
councils' IT departments will be able to create simplified versions
of complex council forms online relatively quickly and easily. The
councils also hope the product will help them to capture user data
securely.
A spokesman for Newcastle City Council says that previously the
only electronic forms available through its Web site were for job
applications. The ultimate aim is to produce electronic equivalents
of all the customer-centric paper forms the council currently uses
and make them accessible via the council's Web site.
"In the short-term, these will be the most asked-for forms at
customer service centres by citizens and businesses - council tax,
housing applications, and licences," the spokesman said. "A free
Internet service will be available at libraries for those who do
not have access to a home PC."
Roll out will be made easier because both councils are already
using the same Lotus Notes platform. The Newcastle spokesman
explained that by buying the e-forms software together, the two
hope to speed up the deployment of electronic forms on their Web
sites.
The councils have worked closely over the past year, with the Web
team for the e-forms project liaising with key departments such as
customer services to evaluate the product and make sure it meets
the councils' future needs.
The application automatically tailors questions within each form to
an end-user's previous responses and validates the information they
provide as they type. The aim is to enable faster and more accurate
form completion.
The E-Forms product is also being used by Tameside Metropolitan
Borough Council and other authorities. The idea is that any forms
they develop will be made available free-of-charge for other
authorities to use, modify and deploy on their Web sites.
The two North East councils do not plan to limit their new online
forms to their Web sites, however. Newcastle City Council plans to
use the product for digital interactive television and both
authorities will deploy e-forms on the networks of touch-screen
kiosks they plan to roll out in the region. Newcastle has been
trialling digital television, and on-street kiosks for the past two
years.
The spokesman for Newcastle City Council said the e-forms project
is a key part of the council's drive to not just meet but beat the
2005 e-government deadlines. The council has signed a local public
service agreement to be ready by March 2004.