County council believes software can expedite the launch of new services
Credit: Lewis Clarke/CC BY-SA 2.0
Devon County Council (DCC) has invested £750,000 in a low-code platform it believes will allow it to create and launch new services more quickly.
Following a tender process, the authority has awarded a contract worth an estimated £750,000 to low-code platform specialist OutSystems. The deal, which commences on 2 January, runs for an initial term of three years, but could, at DCC’s discretion, be extended to last as long as 10 years.
In the contract notice, the council said that it “aspires to deliver high-quality digital services to users”.
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“To support this ambition, DCC wish to take advantage of the added simplicity, speed and functionality offered by the latest application infrastructure technologies to develop better services for both citizens, staff and partners that have become commonplace in the internet enabled world,” it added.
The authority decided that it wished to proceed with a low-code development platform – which allows users to build applications using a graphical user interface, rather than simply via traditional text-based computer-programming language.
“We believe that a properly configured, highly functional and well-integrated low-code development platform will permit much faster delivery of new services by a wider range of staff,” the council said. “By enabling the integration of various third-party and legacy systems, together with any new capabilities that are required, we wish to provide an environment that allows us to redesign, transform and deliver existing and new services. This will allow us to not only deliver better services in the way that users want them, but to deliver strategic benefits such as more efficient delivery of services, reduced demand, better data on processes and the opportunity to innovate.”
