Two Devon councils have signed a contract with supplier Civica for the provision of shared ICT services worth £1.5 million.
South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council, which have a long history of procuring shared services, tendered in January for the contract.
This latest deal will help both councils to digitise and redesign internal operations and public services, in an attempt to improve efficiency and improve public access to services.
Darren Cole, head of ICT and customer services across both councils said: “We recognised that with ever-increasing financial challenges and the changing needs of our customers, a more transformational approach was needed.
“It became clear that technology should play a key role in this.”
Civica will supply the councils with solutions covering electronic document management, telephony, workflow, payment, CRM and mobile working.
Its contact management tool will be used in conjunction with Civica EDM and workflow systems to create an online portal – where members of the public can create an account to interact with the authority and use services.
The council said that the customer journey will be integrated into back-office processes in real-time, giving council staff better access to accurate information in an attempt to increase productivity and service-levels. Five other suppliers bid for the business.
The two authorities, which manage a rural area of more than 700 square miles, have worked together for eight years and merged management structures in 2007.
This new agreement iforms a part of their joint transformation project software procurement, which aims to modernise technology in line with the government’s digital by default agenda.
Chris Ginnelly, managing director of information and engagement solutions at Civica, said:, “Local authorities across the country continue to face the challenge of doing better with less.
“The organisations doing so most successfully are those embracing technology as a way to transform how services are delivered to citizens.”
