Technology
Covid-19 may herald a sea-change in technology Steve White explains why coronavirus marks a turning point in councils’ approach to new technology investment Broadly speaking, we can look at councils’ hosted to deliver an online capability and response to the pandemic in three key stages: those that had not put mobile working the initial onset, the operational phase, practices in place. Often, local authorities when the outbreak was at its height, and the had some kind of digital capability but recovery as the lockdown has eased. while they knew this would sustain them At the outset of the crisis, for a period, they were also aware many authorities it might not suffice over the struggled to implement longer term. They understood the right systems that these weaknesses A s we co and processes to stemmed from a lack of me out of support remote previous investment in l o c kdown and loo working and technology capable k ensure the of supporting of coun to the future cil servi resilience and more flexible ways ces, n continuity of of working. e c e s sity is likely to their service Given all that, as b offerings. we approach the third senses ecome in som ‘th Some had the phase, the long-term e of inve e mother opportunity to recovery and beyond, ntion’ test out home Covid-19 may herald a working scenarios sea-change in technology ahead of the investment as councils government measures. increasingly value the need to Many others were in a position have robust and resilient systems in where they were left hoping that available place to better manage service delivery in equipment and bandwidths would hold up crisis times. This may not, after all, be the as workers increasingly moved back home. last pandemic we see. Many experts are In terms of the operational phase, councils predicting a second wave of Covid later that have struggled most were those that in the year – and councils increasingly did not have their back office systems fully appreciate they need to be ready for that.
Some have already learnt, from previous severe winter weather or recent flooding situations, the benefits that contingency plans, including plans for remote working backed by the latest digital technologies, can bring. Ultimately, after all, having a combination of online hosted back office systems and mobile working in place at times of crisis gives councils a level of flexibility and resilience to manage situations more effectively. They don’t have to worry, for example, about systems going down because they know that a third party will be able to maintain the system for them remotely. Where on-premise systems have been in place, councils have often struggled to fix them on their own in a timely manner during lockdown. Councils have been under pressure to keep at least a minimal level of service running in areas like waste collection. That has meant, especially in the early days of lockdown, some having to switch staff over from other service areas like street cleansing or green spaces. Easyto-use mobile working systems have added flexibility and made operating in this way much more viable. How the pandemic has driven through change As we come out of lockdown and look to the future of council services, necessity E Issue 27.4 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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