At IP EXPO this week we heard Liam Maxwell, the UK Government’s CTO, discuss the way in which government digital services have been transformed. It’s a pattern which is being studied carefully by local and national governments around the world because it offers potential for huge improvements for users alongside big cost savings. “Revolution not evolution” Government departments had all… Read more →
We’ve written before about the impact on the public sector of the fact that consumers are getting more demanding. We are all more used to being able to research online before buying, engage with our favourite brands and build relationships, and communicate instantly, and this affects how we approach public services, from cities through healthcare to policing. But are public services… Read more →
More than 50% of the world’s population now lives in cities. And to accommodate their growing populations, cities are growing ever larger. But with increasing pressure on budgets, funds for city administration is not growing alongside the population. This means cities need to get smarter in order to meet the needs of their populations. And one of the ways that… Read more →
As part of Global Transparency Week, the Open Data Institute (ODI) held its first annual summit at the end of October 2013. We’ve written previously about the way in which cities are starting to work with open data, so it was interesting to see this initiative on a more global scale. What is the Open Data Institute? The ODI was founded… Read more →
A recent report published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, makes some familiar points and some new ones, many of which are pertinent to cities across the world. For example, the size of the global market for smart systems for transport, energy, healthcare, waste and water has been estimated by Arup, the global consultancy company, to have the… Read more →
We’ve been writing recently about how both central and local government is starting to use cloud computing more effectively. Many of you have also been asking about how this new architecture could potentially speed up the release of new services. So it was really good to come across this video by Mark Foden. Mark is a change management consultant who… Read more →
Seoul recently topped our ranking of tech-enabled cities, and we’re not the first to give it that status. It has been top of the UN’s e-Government Survey since 2003, and is generally agreed to be one of the most ‘tech-savvy’ cities in the world. But what is it doing which is so special? Seoul is one of a growing group… Read more →
Intelligent communities? An odd term perhaps, but one which is becoming increasingly relevant, particularly in this digitally-driven age. An intelligent community is one which is taking active steps to embrace the challenge of the broadband economy. One which is technically geared to using fast-evolving communications technologies to the benefit of local businesses, individuals and the environment. One which gains an… Read more →
It’s by no means an easy task, which is perhaps why it has taken until now for the World Wide Web Foundation established in 2009, to produce its first ever global Web Index. The ambitious project –fittingly named Web Index 2012 – involves examining, over a five year period, the impact of the world wide web on 61 countries around… Read more →
Throughout 2012 police forces around the world have started embracing social media to mostly positive effect. In Seattle for example, the police force have a crime blog of happenings within the city featuring CCTV footage of crimes in progress with links and phone numbers for contacting the police if any visitors to the site spot’s the suspects on the blog…. Read more →
Conversations with public sector line managers over the past few weeks have highlighted the huge persistent gap between agencies that have embraced nimble IT systems and the rest. In particular, opportunities to create more effective information for their teams and their customers are being missed because the power of APIs have not been understood. So discovering this video providing an… Read more →
Six weeks ago, Salesforce.com joined the UK government’s G-Cloud. This initiative allows government agencies to procure services without the need for separate contract negotiations. Brainchild of Minister Francis Maude, it promotes a cloud-first approach with transparent variable costs to public service delivery teams. What’s in it for Salesforce.com? With this agreement, all Salesforce.com’s services across its six produce lines of… Read more →
Cloud technology constitutes a change in computing and knowledge management, with hosted IT services delivered on a shared, internet-based platform.The real value of this type of environment is the ability to use that platform to combine data access and exchange with access to low-cost computing and applications to provide efficiency and flexibility. Agencies are starting to embrace cloud, but what… Read more →
While it is normal for tech awards to focus on the achievements of IT teams, we also like awards that recognize the use of technology to solve everyday problems without requiring the intervention of an entire IT team. TED’s City 2.0 award does just this.
Kansas Legislative Information System and Services was the recipient of the 2012 NASCIO Award for Open Government in their annual State IT Recognition awards. KLISS was developed by Propylon in partnership between the executive and legislative branches of the Kansas Government involving a complete overhaul of the Legislature’s IT systems. “One Gov” put citizens at the heart of the application,… Read more →
Clay Shirky shows how democracies can take a lesson from the Internet, to be not just transparent but also to draw on the knowledge of all their citizens.