Shared services and information were top of the agenda
for delegates at theSocitmConference for local government
IT managers this week.
Local government IT managers attending the conference said
joining their IT systems with other authorities and organisations
is one of the main issues on their agenda.
The conference's theme was the recent
Comprehensive Spending Review, with IT chiefs looking for ways
to combat the expected budget cutbacks.
Colin Shand, head of finance and IT at East Lothian council,
said, "We are looking at joining everything up. The computer
systems need to get better - they tend to be OK on their own, but
they do not integrate."
Kevin Powell, head of IT at Broxtowe Borough Council, said it
was the business side of shared services that is causing
difficulties.
"The main issue is trust with other organisations. We are trying
to encourage take-up of certain security management standards. The
ICT side is easier. By the end of this financial year, the
infrastructure will be in place and we are hoping for standards
compliance with at least four organisations," he said.
Duncan Nisbett, IT business support manager at the Scottish
Borders Council, said he is focusing his time on transformational
government and modernisation.
"Each department here has its own IT staff, and we are looking
to bring all IT staff together under one metaphorical roof. There
is a lot of staff resistance to it, but at the same time we have
got pressure to provide more shared services.
"We have also just completed a large virtualisation project, and
we are looking at thin client technology."
Rose Crozier, head of information services at Belfast City
Council, said she is concerned with how we use and share
information.
"We need to do much more of that. We need to remove barriers,
particularly if we are looking at sharing services across
organisations.
"We also need to understand the community we serve, before
looking at the practical side of how we actually make it happen.
There is a lot of good work going on, and it's about making it more
widespread," she said.