Open4:LocalGovernment

 Local Councils should be making substantial savings in administration by providing electronic services to their citizens. The ability for citizens to be able to book squash courts or report uncollected bins automatically saves administration effort and enables 24/7 cover. But delivering all services automatically is not so easy, because when paying benefits or providing social care, it is essential to ensure that the system knows who the citizen is, and that he is entitled to what he is seeking when electronically accessing the Council’s services. Recent events demonstrate what serious fraud and theft can arise from not doing this effectively. Many Councils are establishing partnerships with each other, and with other Agencies, in order to improve their e-services. Citizens are often unaware of which Agency or Council provides a given service, so if this can be transparent, it will be easier for the user, and more efficient for the partnership. Knowing the citizen and what he is entitled to do in this environment, becomes an even more important and complex issue.  Sharing information and services between Councils and other Agencies to provide improved services is a laudable goal, but has to be very carefully controlled, because each organisation has its own legal and fiduciary duties to uphold. It must ensure that its partners use the information it provides according to its own rules and policies, so that it cannot be compromised. Trust and accountability must underpin information sharing for partnerships to work effectively.

Rules and policies reflect current business circumstances which are set in context.They change frequently and rapidly to respond to changing circumstances and care relationships.

Line and staff managers and administrators are responsible for setting these rules and policies, and need to interact with IT systems to adjust them as required, as they may be time critical.

This is not a job for IT staff, who are remote from day-to-day business decisions. Policies are a management responsibility.

Policy & Identity Management Solutions