Local authority looks to build ‘digital capabilities’
Credit: M J Richardson/CC BY-SA 2.0
North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) is to undertake a £12m transformation programme centred on the implementation of digital and cloud platforms.
The authority said that, as it looks to grow its range of digital services in the coming months, its existing IT infrastructure “will struggle to support the evolving needs of staff, customers and residents”. It is looking to work with a systems-integrator partner to deliver a transformation programme built around the deployment of “cloud, a digital platform and a collaboration suite”.
“NLC requires skills and expertise from an SI to be able to deliver these technologies and operationalise them by embedding them in existing ecosystem,” the council said. “The delivery partner will source and implement these technologies which meet the needs and deliver business value to internal and external customers.”
During an exploratory exercise conducted in Autumn 2018, North Lanarkshire met with and tested technology from Salesforce, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services. However, the authority noted that the tech installed as part of the transformation programme “will not be limited” to products from these vendors”.
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In addition to its examinations of potential new technology, the council has also reviewed the state of its incumbent ecosystem.
“An assessment of the current technology estate has been completed, which details risk areas and components and infrastructure which need to be upgraded or replaced,” it said. “A high-level target state architecture has been developed which identifies the technology components and infrastructure NLC requires. The high-level architecture is technology agnostic and includes a wide range of digital, data and cloud components. This high-level target state architecture will be shared in full with suppliers who reach the tender stage.”
Potential providers are invited to bid, via the government’s Digital Marketplace, until 10 April. Work is scheduled to start on 1 July and the chosen supplier will be awarded a two-year contract worth up to £12m.
The council, which represents an area directly to the north-east of Glasgow inhabited by 340,000 citizens, said that the technology transformation is intended to support its aim to become “a leading Scottish local authority”.
“North Lanarkshire Council has the ambition… to deliver services to customers and businesses using modern platforms and technology, across a range of channels, to meet changing customer demand,” it said. “The technology which underpins the change, service redesign and delivery for North Lanarkshire must be flexible, scalable, and able to evolve quickly to support new services, new working styles and integrate with, or take advantage of, new, disruptive, relevant technologies as they mature.”
