The European Information Society GroupEurimlaunched an inquiry intoshared servicesin the public sector
on Wednesday.
The inquiry aims to produce a "quarry of ideas" and case studies
to help and inform policy makers.
Margaret Moran MP, chair of Eurim, said the Transformational
Government Dialogues will look at several issues affecting the way
public services are delivered.
One such issue is how joined-up services are delivered across
private, public and voluntary partnerships.
Digital inclusion and democratisation of delivery - ensuring
consultations involve those most affected - will also be
discussed.
Eurim secretary general, Philip Virgo, said, "It is a challenge
to implement partnerships that really do cross boundaries.
"Central government provides the policy, local government
provides the delivery, while charities and NGOs often do the actual
work. They all have different structures and motivations, and the
question is how do you put them together?"
Virgo said one possibility was the use of social networking to
increase communication between the private, public and voluntary
sectors.
He said, "Data sharing is also critical. We need to provide
workers with better guidance as to who they should share
information with. At that point it is not about technology but
about the people processes, but technology is allowing us to do
things now that we could not have done four or five years ago."
Woking Borough Council and
Citizens Advice Bureau (Cab) are one example of effective data
sharing, Eurim said. The system gives the Cab easy access to
council data that is required to assist customers, allowing them to
deliver better services.
The dialogues will take place in October and reports will be out
at the end of the year.