A marriage of convenience

This report reviews the experiences from partnerships and outsourcing contracts involving the ICT service

Better connected 2006: a snapshot of all local authority websites

Presentation by Martin Greenwood at the West Midlands regional meeting 24 March 2006.

A world denied supplement to Better connected 2008

This report supplements Better connected 2008 by providing more detailed analysis of the rationale and results of the accessibility testing carried out for that document.

A world denied: web accessibility the movie

Featuring interviews with a number of key figures in the world of web accessibility, this 12 minute film explains the importance of the topic for all organisations, whether in the public or private sectors. Its purpose is to provide web managers with clear and relevant material that they may need to convince senior decision-makers in their organisations of the need to invest in accessible websites

Application software index 2008

Our application software index provides aunique resource for organisations interested in comparing the performance of different software products and the companies that supply them. The software market covered by our annual survey is worth in excess of £400 million a year (Source: IT Trends 2008). The Socitm database contains information from more than 400 public sector organisations and covers 140 different functional areas.For the first time we provide an executive summary with key findings from the 2008 edition.

Be prepared lessons in experiences from business discontinuity

This report draws out lessons for decision makers at all levels from six case studies of local authorities, and their suppliers, who have experienced major disasters where the lack of an ICT service has disrupted business continuity

Benchmarking the ICT service: summary for 2005

This report summarises results from the Benchmarking the ICT service managed by Socitm during 2005. It is based on the results from 75 organisations that participated in five benchmarking groups that completed their data collection during 2005.

Benchmarking the ICT service: summary for 2006

This report summarises results from the Benchmarking the ICT service managed by Socitm during 2006. It is based on the results from 87 organisations that participated in five benchmarking groups that completed their data collection during 2006.

Benchmarking services summary for 2007

For the first time we have combined our end of year reviews of our two main benchmarking services about ICT performance and user satisfaction to give an overview of the state of ICT services, and to provide pointers to opportunities for improvement.

Benchmarking the ICT service across the UK 2 in 2008 Launch 10 Sep 2008

Presentations given at the launch workshop on 10 September 2008

Benchmarking the ICT service across the UK1 - South West in 2008

Presentation given a) at the launch of the 2008 group, on 6 May and b) at the results workshop on 21 October

Benchmarking the ICT service for partnerships and outsourcing 2007

Presentations given at the launch of the 2007 group, on 26 June and at the results workshop on 7 December

Benchmarking the ICT service in London 2007 launch 20 April

A presentation given at the launch of the 2007 group, on 20 April 2007.

Benchmarking the ICT service in London 2007 results workshop

A presentation given at results workshop for the 2007 group, on 21 September.

Benchmarking the ICT service in London in 2008

Presentations given a) at the launch of the London group, on 22 April 2008 and b) at the results workshop on 1 October

Benchmarking the ICT service in UK1 2007

Presentations given at the launch of the 2007 group, on 4 May and at the results workshop on 16 November.

Benchmarking the ICT service in Wales 2007

Presentations given at the launch of the 2007 group on 22 May and at the results workshop on 23 October. Also the radar charts developed for this group.

Benchmarking the ICT service to schools 2007 - results workshop

Presentations given at the results workshop on 18 April 2008

Benchmarking the ICT service in UK2 2007

Presentations given at the launch of the 2007 group, on 11 September and at the results workshop on 19 December.

Benchmarking user satisfaction summary for 2006

2006 marked the seventh year of our Benchmarking user satisfaction service. By the end of the year, we had completed 23 separate series, with 409 participants representing 206 individual organisations (many repeating the experience at least once). Over this period, increased exploitation of technology and user familiarity with computers has increased customer expectations. How well are ICT services meeting the challenge?

Benchmarking user satisfaction summary

This annual report summarises the results from the 2004 and 2005 series (Series 15 to 20) of the Socitm Insight service for Benchmarking user satisfaction run in collaboration with Wolverhampton Business School.

Better answered? A snapshot of local authority telephone responses

This is the first Better answered? survey of how easy and effective it is for citizens to contact their local council over the telephone. We investigated information about telephone contacts found on each local authority website across the UK. We also carried out a 'mystery shopping' exercise on the phone to a sample of 50 local authorities in order to assess how well they handle requests for information over the telephone.

Better connected 2006 and website take-up service

Presentation given by Martin Greenwood of Socitm Insight at the South regional event on 16 June 2006.

Better connected 2006

This is the 2006 edition of Socitm Insight's annual survey of all local authority websites

Better connected 2007 - Overview for SW region

Presentation by Martin Greenwood to Socitm South West Region 16 March 2007

Better connected 2007

Barking & Dagenham tops the 2007 ‘Better connected’ survey as only local authority website to achieve new ‘excellent’ rating – despite overall improvement in council sites. Three other sites just miss out - Salford City, Surrey CC and West Lancashire DC by just one failure (accessibility) out of nine criteria set for the new rating. Transactional (‘T’) sites double from 60 in 2006 to 121 in 2007. Usability is a key problem, despite overall improvement by many other measures. Take-up has increased in the last year by 27%; user satisfaction with council websites remains high, but is declining.

Better connected 2008

This is the tenth edition of Better connected. A special feature identifies those councils that have done consistently well in our rankings, compares innovations then and now, describes how our annual report has developed, quotes from those who have contributed a foreword in the past and contains predictions about the next ten years by a selection of commentators. NB A special supplement on website accessibility was also published in April.

Better connected: aiming high

This report in the Better connected series provides Version 2 of the ' useful, usable and used' framework for local authority websites.

Better connected intranets: emerging good practice in driving internal efficiency

Investment in websites for local public services has to date been targeted on the public-facing website, leaving intranets relatively under-developed. Yet in the longer term service transformation now advocated by the report from Sir David Varney must be founded upon a workforce that is, firstly, well-informed and, secondly, fully engaged with the services to its customers. This is where the intranet has a major contribution.

Better marketed achieving success with online services

The take-up of online services should be high on every council’s agenda as a way of improving customer satisfaction with services and at the same time achieving efficiency gains. Accordingly, the audience for this report is broad and the search for case studies to illustrate good practice has been extensive.

Building a perfect council website

Presentation by Martin Greenwood at the Socitm Insight/Headstar seminar on website accessibility held 11 July 2006.

Building usage of council websites (Issue 1)

This first briefing from the website take-up service contains a summary of the key messages using data from December 2004 with supporting case study information.

Building usage of council websites (Issue 2)

This second briefing from the website take-up service contains a summary of the key messages using data from May 2005 with supporting case study information.

Building usage of council websites (Issue 3)

This third briefing from the website take-up service contains a summary of the key messages using data from February 2006 with supporting case study information.

Building usage of council websites (Issue 4)

This fourth briefing analyses the results from the website take-up service using data from July 2006, with specific reference to the national take-up campaign in England

Building usage of council websites (Issue 5)

This fifth briefing analyses the results from the website take-up service using data from February 2007

Building usage of council websites (Issue 6) - Nov 2007

This sixth briefing analyses the results from the website take-up service using data from September 2007

Building usage of council websites (Issue 7) - Apr 2008

This seventh briefing analyses the results from the website take-up service using data from March 2008

Benchmarking user satisfaction active data

Latest mean scores for participants in Benchmarking user satisfaction Series 20 - 25 inclusive.

Modern public services: business process management

It is vital to understand the techniques associated with business process management (BPM). This report makes extensive use of case studies to help heads of ICT understand the wide range of methodologies and select the most appropriate one for their situation

Challenge of transformation

This report, the first in a series on transformation, explores the reasons why local public service organisations should transform themselves.

Channel management take-up and efficiency

A pre-CSR07 briefing for elected members, chief executives and senior managers

CIO as an agent of transformation

A presentation given by Chris Head (Socitm Insight) on developing the capability and role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) and was delivered to the Socitm South Region Professional Development Day on 16 November 2006.

Customer Access Improvement Service Briefing Issue 1

This is the first half-yearly briefing and results summary from the Customer Access Improvement Service. This new publication is a development of the Website take-up service briefing, expanded to cover findings not just from the Website take-up service but also from the Channel value benchmarking and GovMetric services.

Delivering the ICT service

This report, the second in the series on improving the ICT service, examines the overall issues affecting the delivery of the ICT service.

Developing user capability

This report, the fifth in the series on improving the ICT service, describes the five critical elements for developing capability

Directory of ICT services (Version 3)

We provide the context for this new version of the Directory of ICT services by setting out its purpose, scope and key concepts. We also provide a full list of the new service elements that reflect the new role of ICT as the front-line service enabler as well as the traditional back-office support.

E is for efficiency

This report identifies the efficiency gains that should be achievable through investment in ICT, illustrating them with three in-depth case studies

eAccessibility of public services in the EU

This report presents results from a comprehensive assessment of the eAccessibility of government online services across the European Union.

Exploiting technology

Realising the investments in existing ICT infrastructure, e-government through transformational government, and CSR07 add to the pressure for ICT-enabled transformation. Exploiting the technological opportunity involves not only knowing what is possible, but also engaging and enthusing service managers.

Flexible working

This report covers the range of modes of flexible working, their benefits and challenges, including: working at convenient times (flexi-time); 'hot-desking'; peripatetic working; working from home.

Freedom of Information in 2005

This report asks questions about the state of readiness of public sector organisations for the Freedom of Information Act.

Green IT report

Whilst many think that ICT is the hero of environmental action and indeed, it has the potential to be so, currently it is one of the villains, since ICT-related CO2 emissions rival those of the aviation industry. This report provides a practical guide for ICT managers who want to know what can be done to change this situation.

ICT for elected members Not for kissing babies

The transformation of public services cannot succeed without the involvement of informed and enthusiastic elected members.Using the technology on a day-to-day basis is the best way to find out what it is, and is not, capable of doing. Elected members who use technology have found it a benefit to them in many different ways.

ICT governance

Our research shows that governance of ICT in the UK public sector lacks maturity. At best, this impairs the exploitation of ICT to enable service transformation. At worst, it equates to poor-decision-making leading to wasted resource and inappropriate expenditure.Our report explains what comprises good ICT governance, how to design a suitable framework, and the steps to implementation.

Independent living for older people

This report describes a pioneering partnership approach in West Lothian between practitioners from the health trust and the local authority using assistive technology.

Influencing strategy

This report, the fourth in the series on improving the ICT service, describes the four key factors that must be in place if the ICT unit is to really influence the way in which the organisation achieves its broad aims and objectives

Insight briefing for 2007 subscriber satisfaction survey

Special briefing with the key messages from the 2007 survey of Socitm Insight subscribers.

Making ICT secure

This report, the seventh in the series on improving the ICT service, describes the four critical elements for developing capability

Managing ICT employees

With the current government focus on ICTprofessionalism as a policy priority, this is a timely examination of how ICT employees should be managed, especially the crucial issue of developing their skills and competencies in managing a servicethat now lies at the heart of change in the public sector. Never before has it mattered so much that their performance as team members and individuals should be enhanced and that their personal development matches the organisation's changing needs.

Managing procurement

This report, the third in our series on ICT service improvement, provides expert advice about the way in which the procurement of ICT goods and services should be managed

Managing projects

This report, the sixth in the series on improving the ICT service, describes the four key stages for managing projects with a significant ICT element

Meeting the needs of customers

This report, the first in the series on improving the ICT service, examines the key ingredients in meeting the needs of the customers of the ICT service.

Modern public services: shared services

This report investigates the potential of shared services involving the ICT service and the practicalities for making them a reality. It contains advice on the implications of shared services for the ICT function, the steps to take the initiative forward and the different models for collaboration.

Planning for ICT (V2) - the process guide

With so much to do today, why bother with a potentially difficult and time-consuming activity such as developing a new ICTstrategy? Won’t the old one suffice a little longer? No, it will not, and we explain why.

Planning for ICT - the information and technology architectures

We provide an overview of this guide in the context of an integrated set of publications. Next, we describe the principlesbehind the design of the ICT architecture as a major component in building an ICT strategy, and explain the set of architecturesinvolved.

Planning for ICT- the service framework

We provide an overview of this guide in the context of our integrated set of publications on planning for ICT, and describethe principles behind the design of the service framework as a major component in building an ICT strategy.

Planning for ICT - version 1

ICT investment in the public sector should now drive innovation in service delivery, stimulate the redesign of business processes, enable partnershop working and lead to improved services and overall savings. Producing an ICT strategy that allows for this transformation is an essential step in ensuring that the organisation gets full value from its technology investments.We look at the process of planning for ICT, the service framework it must support, and the technology architecture that provides the foundation.

Policies about Better connected

The purpose of this note is to set out our policies with regard to the annual Better connected reports on topics about which we have from time to time been asked questions. If there are any queries or comments about them, please contact insight@socitm.gov.uk.

Professional ICT service management

Professionalism in ICT covers a wide range of subjects from project and programme management to service management, from strategy development to implementation. This report focuses on the professional approach to managing the ICT service.

Role of CIO

This report considers the case for chief information officers (CIO) leading the change, the skills they will require to deliver the transformation and the actions they will need to undertake to be successful.

Singing from the same hymn sheet

Our survey of senior local authority managers shows very different outlooks on ICT from chief executives and ICT professionals. Why should there be mis-alignment? What does this mean for exploiting ICT and transforming services?

Technology challenge for 2007

Our annual review of technology provides an overview of IT trends and insight into the dynamics of the IT industry. Continuing the redesign from last year, we have related nearly all our analysis to the components in the Planning for ICT framework and provided a printed executive summary and a detailed report available on CD-ROM (April 2007).

Technology challenge in 2008

Our annual review of technology provides an overview of IT trends and insight into the dynamics of the IT industry. Continuing the redesign from last year, we have related nearly all our analysis to the components in the Planning for ICT framework and provided a printed executive summary and a detailed report available on CD-ROM.

The technology challenge 2006

This annual report analyses the latest strategic trends in the development of ICT as presented by Gartner and relates them to the world of local public services.

Transformation in practice

This report, the second in the series on transformation, analyses in detail 35 case studies that demonstrate proven transformation in local public services that have been enabled through ICT.

Web 2.0 Executive briefing

Widgets, mash-ups, tag clouds and user-generated content: we cover all you ever wanted to know about Web 2.0, but were afraid to ask. It is called Web 2.0 with good reason. The new facilities that not just designers, but now users, are exploiting bring a new richness to websites, and encourage contributions from visitors. Although lacking a precise definition, Web 2.0 is the next revolution in the information age. Our report explains the scope of Web 2.0 and explores many of the issues and implications.