In this time of austerity, and the upheaval of change being experienced through all tiers of the public sector - everyone is looking for new ways of doing things, no – not tweaking things – but radically overhauling how services are delivered, and in turn saving money for frontline service delivery.

The Government has issued a challenge to the public sector www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/spendingchallenge, with David Cameron’s challenge to all

“Don’t hold back. Be innovative, be radical, challenge the way things are done. If you think you can make things better for less money don’t just complain to your colleagues about it – tell us about it so we can make it happen”

Debate rages as to the role of ICT in helping to address the challenge – is it just another overhead – or is it an effective means to facilitate change and save resources? Are organizations undertaking ICT projects, business change projects or transformation projects?

Part of the motivation (IMHO) for such debates – are that many ICT projects fail to deliver, and this is more common in the public sector than in the private sector, according to organizations such as the National Audit Office.

Here at Singularity – successful project delivery is the product of 2 things – agile technology AND an appropriate methodology – which when combined – can leverage very powerful results. So how does it work? Today I’m going to cover project initiation – which is a critical launch point.

For business problem solving and project initiation – we use a technique called HotHousing
• The objectives and scope are set in advance by an executive sponsor
• Cross-functional teams – with representatives from relevant parts of the organization, are picked in advance to go head-to-head
• The event itself happens over a fixed period of time – 3 days (for reasons which will become obvious)
• The outcome is judged by the executive sponsor – at the end of each day, and at the end of the HotHouse there is a winning team
• The outcome can include solutions, a viable business case, a project plan and requirements
• It is entirely permitted (encouraged in fact) to take and use the ideas of the opposing team, and adapt those

The reason this works (so well) – and reflecting the key aspects of making projects successful
• It builds in executive sponsorship from the outset
• It is aligned with senior management objectives – who wouldn’t want to please their boss?
• Competition does truly drive innovation
• It leverages the skills, experience and front-line experience of staff – working in cross-functional teams
• It starts to deliver from the outset – so that people can see results, be encouraged by it – and spurred on to deliver
• It focuses on business value versus cost incurred so that priorities are established early on
• It builds teams and ownership amongst those who are then responsible for delivery

This is a powerful technique – which does deliver results, and sets successful projects on the correct footing to meet business needs. It also addresses many of the key reasons why IT projects fail which are recur in reports from organisations such as NAO.

Ultimately ICT is just an enabler – to help motivated teams to deliver on aligned outcomes, in a timely fashion!

Author: Paul O’Neill, Singularity

Public sector services are definitely facing a period of upheaval, with conflicting views of needs and impacts, but clearly underpinned by two priorities, preserving frontline services, and achieving that more efficiently!

I came across a topical article to this extent, regarding what is likely to happen in relation to magistrate courts and comments from Ken Clarke the Justice Secretary. http://www.ukauthority.com/?tabid=64&id=2833

This brings to mind one particular aspect of work that we did with a large central government agency. This project relates to a new piece of legislation which provides a non-court based alternative to bankruptcy – whereas the latter does actually require a role for the courts. The courts system is one which moves at a certain speed (and substantial cost), and perhaps is not one which has adapted to the advent of new technology – therefore not responding to the needs of a society which is more mobile, 24/7-oriented and operating via multiple channels. These are all challenges that many public sector organisations, and local authorities in particular, are facing today – causing them to look at new service delivery models, and the use of their real estate.

Delivery of the project was based on the following:-
• It operates in tandem with approved 3rd sector intermediaries – who would typically already be engaged as part of debt counselling services – in effect a “1-stop shop” approach
• An application is made electronically via the intermediary, rather than on paper
• Fees associated with the process are substantially less than before – about 80% less – and can be paid electronically via a number of different convenient ways. (This is also a key outcome for citizens in terms of how the service is achieved!)
• Once initiated – the service is highly automated, with relevant legislative checks being applied – to ensure entitlement initially. This saves a substantial amount of effort – and ensures that the service is delivered both quickly and cost effectively.
• Communication with affected stakeholders is streamlined – whether this is to the applicant or the relevant stakeholders
• The design of the service delivery aims to provide maximum technical support to the staff who are operating the service – again facilitating efficiency

Overall I think that this project has a lot of relevance to modern public service delivery in terms of
• Intelligent design of public services – e.g. in association with intermediaries and more cost-effective channels
• Using the right technology, such as the Singularity Process Platform to integrate people, process and technology
• Providing the right support to staff on which to deliver effective and efficient services
• And finally …  an agile and adaptable platform on which to meet the challenges of an uncertain future

To read more about how Singularity have helped one large central government agency please click here

The fact that this project picked up the Customer Service award from Government Computing this year demonstrates that this is how citizens expect such public sector services to be delivered - and is perhaps a guide going forward for future projects.  For more information please see http://www.guardian.co.uk/gcawards/winners-2010

Author: Paul O’Neill, Singularity