Digital Strategy

A Foundation for Transformation

We will build upon the things we’ve already achieved to deliver an excellent ICT infrastructure which is designed to support our transformation aspirations.

Continued investment in our hardware and software is essential to ensure we have a strong foundation for delivering better outcomes for residents and to support and re-design the way we deliver services.

Projects that are scheduled for the early part of this strategy include:

• introduce automated and speech enabled services to increase efficient handling of customer contact
• complete the migration to cloud-based office productivity tools – for email, word-processing, spreadsheets etc. This will bring efficiency benefits, enable better collaboration and make it easier for staff to work from any device – including those not owned by the Council
• delivery of our ‘Customer and Digital’ programme – re-designing services to create a single digital and end-to-end process that is consistent across all access channels
• upgrade our computing platform and wide area network to further strengthen our security compliance and introduce new approaches to the management of our infrastructure
• upgrade the ‘people’s network’ within our libraries, including new public access computers, library management system and self-lending kiosks
• device Refresh – we will provide staff and elected members with the appropriate, fit for purpose equipment and tools they need to do their jobs – increasing flexibility and mobility

To deliver our longer-term aspirations, the strategy is focussed around four interlinking themes:

• Digital Collaboration
• Digital Customer Services
• Digital Borough
• Digital Workforce

Digital Collaboration

Digital technology will enable the Council and its partners to tackle complex issues and work together seamlessly.

Austerity, shrinking funding, fewer resources and the rising demands of social care, demand an increased focus on partnership working and sharing resources – aiming to allow citizens to be more self-reliant, reduce costs, jointly procure services and share expertise.

It is the integration of Health and Social Care which more than any other area will define and shape the future of digital public services. The key challenges do not lie in technology, but in truly placing the individual service user at the heart of service design, dealing with the cultural and governance implications of this.

Integration of health and social care is one of the Government’s major programmes of reform. At its heart, it is about ensuring that everyone can get the right care and support, whatever their needs, at every point in their care journey. It is also about efficient, joined-up and digital services. The demand for a closer integration of health and social care is providing an opportunity for a radical redesign of services.

One important way in which we will collaborate and work in partnership is through our participation and pivotal role in the delivery of the Rotherham Integrated Care Partnership Digital Strategy – developed by Health in conjunction with Rotherham Council. It sets out how the partnership will harness digital tools and information to enable the very best health and care for our local people and their families.

The following represents a selection of the initiatives that we will work on together:

• an infrastructure optimisation programme to ensure all staff can work in an agile manner across our joint estate
• joining up and enhancing our data networks across the Place, ensuring greater coverage for our health and care services
• development, adoption and expansion of the Rotherham Health Record, including the capability to support shared cared plans
• implementation of a specialist portal for recording and sharing the Education, Health and Care Plan for a child or young person with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)
• aggregating citizen-level data (including health, social care, economic and environmental data) and ongoing development of these linked data sets, to support interventions and services to improve outcomes for citizens
• taking a partnership-wide approach to digital inclusion

In addition to using technology to foster closer working between Health and Social care we will also exploit technology to enhance the provision of care services and related support:

• we will continue to promote Assistive Technology to support self-care in the home as part of our agenda to encourage independence and early prevention of health problems
• use of speech enabled devices, such as Alexa and Google Assistant, to provide reminders, service information and develop ‘smart controls’ around the home, for example, lighting, climate and appliances
• explore the opportunity for virtual support systems, networks and care circles to help tackle social isolation and loneliness and extend the number of people who can be supported at any one time
• we will ensure the engagement of children and young people through digital solutions to improve a child’s involvement in their assessment, reviews, case conferences and have their wishes and feelings heard

Digital Customer Services

Enabling Rotherham’s citizens to get the services and the information they need online.

Following the revision of our Customer Access Strategy in 2018, we have developed a cross-cutting programme of work to extend and improve the range and depth of online and other self-service transactions.

We will promote and encourage channel shift, whilst ensuring those who need extra help to access services in this way, receive it through our assisted digital arrangements. Developing and promoting digital access channels will reduce transactional costs and improve service availability.

We will achieve this by:

• taking a ‘digital first’ approach to delivering more transactional services available online
• develop and promote the take-up of Your Account to make it easy for customers to go to one secure place to view their information online 24/7 and with minimum fuss
• introduce voice enabled services, to help direct calls more cost efficiently
• promote customer self-service as the preferred channel of choice
• explore the opportunity to utilise artificial intelligence and automation capability to handle low-level and frequent customer enquiries, across a range of access channels
• expand assisted digital arrangements for those that need a little more help, for example, offering web chat on our website
• develop our use of social media and other broadcast channels to cascade real-time alerts and notifications, particularly during times of service disruption and inclement weather
• optimise our services to be accessed mobile first and utilise inbuilt ‘location aware’ capability to improve reporting of and access to, information and services
• utilise customer data, allowing us to transform it into business intelligence and use it to inform service planning and policy development

Digital Borough

Equipping Rotherham’s residents and businesses with the digital skills and technology they need to enhance their lives.

While we wish to maximise take-up of all self-service access channels, we cannot leave behind those who are unable or choose not to make the change.

We need to help our residents and local businesses to maximise the opportunities that ‘digital’ can bring and help them to gain the skills and confidence needed to do so.

Equally, we need to ensure Rotherham is well placed to access changes in the technology landscape that will facilitate growth in our economy and create new job opportunities.

We will achieve this by:

• strong Digital Leadership within the Council to advocate and promote the wider adoption of digital throughout our services and the borough
• working with education, our partners and voluntary sectors to facilitate, support and develop a programme of digital inclusion initiatives to encourage citizen to gain digital skills, confidence and motivation to unlock the benefits of being online and digitally connected
• facilitating private sector investment in fibre and Wi-Fi connectivity in Rotherham
• encouraging small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to make good use of regional funding and training opportunities around broadband infrastructure/connectivity and digital skills, which will help further our economic objectives
• evaluating the opportunities that 5G and other emerging technologies will provide, engaging with the commercial sector to help realise these opportunities
• taking a ‘smart cities’ approach to the intelligent management and maintenance of our assets, infrastructure and resources to improve the quality of life and convenience of residents and visitors
• working with the City Region and other local authorities on joint initiatives to leverage infrastructure funding and investment, including collaborative procurement activities

Digital Workforce

Staff will have the digital tools and skills required to deliver services effectively and efficiently.

The Council uses a range of technology (infrastructure, hardware and software) to support its wide range of business requirements. We need to ensure these meet our immediate and future needs, as far as possible. Our staff and elected members need appropriate tools and equipment which are reliable and enable them to do their jobs in an efficient and effective way – anytime and anywhere.

• the technology we provide will more closely reflect what is currently being used successfully in private sector organisations and by consumers
• we will maintain a programme of device refresh with the aim of ensuring no device is more than three years old
• we will encourage piloting of new technologies at small cost and scale to test new ideas, working with our public sector partners and private sector companies
• exploit Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud options where they can be shown to enhance resilience and flexibility, with an aim of ensuring the most cost-effective and secure solution that will also support the principles of maximising availability
• develop innovative, lean and efficient ICT infrastructure capable of delivering Council and customer requirements
• we will continue our journey towards becoming a paper-lite organisation
• continue to support the Public Sector Network (PSN) initiative as part of promoting shared infrastructures and networks and sharing information/accessing systems securely
• digital technology and the opportunities it provides will become a key consideration in service planning and policy development across the Council
• exploit our investment in Microsoft 365 and other complementary technologies to change the way we work, facilitating staff to be more agile and flexible
• take advantage of the emerging ‘Internet of Things’ to redesign smarter public services around Rotherham’s citizens and businesses
• ensure our systems are appropriately resilient and that robust arrangements and procedures are in place to ensure service continuity in the event of a failure
• design and develop the ‘intranet of the future’ to improve staff communication and engagement, facilitate collaboration and support staff to work smarter
• we will engage with council colleagues and Elected Members on digital solutions to best meet their needs and to ensure they have the digital skills they need to work effectively
• we will invest in and deepen our use of data (including spatial) and intelligence to improve services for residents and better inform decisions on a local level
• increase the range of methods to engage and communicate with the public, each other and our partners in efficient and modern ways
• enhance cyber security within the Authority, including developing wider awareness amongst the workforce