Safety technology provider, Peoplesafe, has extended its partnership with the UK’s pioneering personal safety charity and leading stalking authority, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. Combining a wealth of expertise, the partnership will offer an ongoing holistic service to organisations, combining expert advice on personal safety strategy – including policy creation and training – with industry-leading personal safety technology that protects people in every situation.
Working together, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust will undertake a full audit for Peoplesafe’s existing and new clients, providing them with implementation plans to help upskill and empower workforces to effectively assess, mitigate, and manage personal safety risks, while Peoplesafe will work on executing plans to ensure the right technology is used for the right situations and rolling them out at scale.
Established in 1986, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust was founded following the disappearance of 25-year-old Suzy Lamplugh, an estate agent and lone worker who went to meet a client and never returned. Suzy was never found and was legally declared dead in 1993. The Trust is widely regarded as a field expert in lone-working and personal safety training and endorses the selection and use of lone-worker technologies in line with requirements of the workforce to safeguard employees.
“For more than 37 years, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust has worked tirelessly to raise greater awareness of personal safety and stalking issues. Through the introduction of pioneering technology, we are excited to join forces in order to drive our shared vision, to demand systemic change and promote a society in which people are better supported and feel safer” says Naz Dossa, CEO, Peoplesafe.
“The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is delighted to continue its collaboration with Peoplesafe to support organisations in addressing lone-working and improving personal safety. We promote the use of lone worker safety technologies as part of Suzy’s Charter for Workplace Safety and look forward to working across all sectors to embed personal safety as a priority across all workplaces” says Emma Lingley-Clark, Interim CEO of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.
To mark the partnership, Peoplesafe and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust will be hosting a joint webinar, hosted by the Women in Health & Safety group on 19th March.
A systemic cause of patient harm could be better avoided with the help of technology, following the launch of Miya Results Tracking by health tech company Alcidion.
The new digital solution is designed to reduce the risk of test results not being followed up. It has been built to help healthcare professionals in hospital settings to more easily visualise, prioritise and acknowledge high volumes of tests results generated for patients every day, and to take appropriate action in a timely manner.
The issue of results not being acknowledged has become significant in healthcare systems around the world – posing risks including late or missed diagnosis for patients, potentially delayed treatment, and additional cost for healthcare systems.
Academic studies have revealed variation in the extent of the problem but in some cases, literature has shown as many as 62% of test results can go unacknowledged in inpatient settings, and as many as 75% in emergency departments (1). However, it is important to acknowledge that this is often a challenge caused by systems and processes used to manage results, rather than being the fault of busy clinicians.
Dr Paul Deffley, UK chief medical officer for Alcidion, said: “A billion laboratory tests alone are carried out in England and Wales each year at a cost of £2.2bn, many of them in hospital settings – where countless other scans and investigations are also carried out. Disparate ways that such high volumes of results are presented to busy clinicians within healthcare systems, can often create room for error that digital technologies haven’t adequately responded to until now.
“We aim to change that through Miya Results Tracking, which provides healthcare teams with a purpose-built mechanism to manage results more safely, at-scale, from a single screen. This is an important new capability for hospitals in reducing risks and in tackling what has become a critical patient safety issue around the world. It will equip clinical departments and individual clinicians with a digital safety net to help them quickly recognise and appropriately act on diagnostic information.”
The solution works by bringing together and presenting patient results requested in hospital settings through a single screen. Clinical teams can access information from any location. They can filter results to departmental views, and can configure the system to look at relevant results, identify high-priority results that need to be actioned, or to see at-a-glance any outstanding results that need to be filed.
Results can also be filtered at an individual level – both for the clinician requesting tests, and at the patient level. This means clinicians can more easily ensure they have acknowledged and acted on results they have requested, and that decisions can be made for patients in context of a complete set of results.
Staff can create onward plans for patients from the same screen, ordering repeat or follow up examinations when needed, and requesting future review appointments.
Kate Quirke, Alcidion’s CEO, said: “Hospitals need to manage many thousands of results in complex and busy environments. Through Miya Results Tracking, we have built a new capability to help support healthcare teams to do this more safely, whilst reducing the burden on busy clinicians under pressure. We believe this has the potential to help to address an important safety challenge in healthcare, and that strategically this has relevance to digital strategies being progressed in individual hospitals and across integrated care systems.”
Built using the Miya Precision platform, Miya Results Tracking uses the FHIR interoperability standard to integrate with other hospital systems – allowing it to bring data into a single location for clinicians. It tracks a complete range of hospital results including pre-admission results, and those from inpatient and emergency department encounters. Results received after the patient leaves the hospital are also tracked, which is expected to address a complex challenge currently encountered in managing results after a patient has been discharged.
Miya Results Tracking can be deployed as part of a modular electronic patient record, or as a standalone solution, and can be used to enhance other technologies, such as a patient flow solution. For example, hospitals already using Alcidion’s Miya Flow application, will be able to use the new capability to view and manage results from the digital patient journey board.
“Police Scotland have consistently stated that officers in the north-east will continue to investigate all reported crimes, with every case fully assessed and given a proportionate response based on threat, harm and risk. Building and maintaining public confidence remains key to any change in approach.
“Despite deeply challenging financial circumstances due to the UK Government settlement, our Budget for next year includes record police funding of £1.55 billion – an increase of £92.7 million. Scotland continues to have more police officers per head of population than England and Wales and recorded crime is at one of the lowest levels since 1974.”
Once-for-Scotland project uses Tactuum’s Quris platform to make clinical guidance and policy tools available to clinicians when and where they need them
Clinicians in Scotland have easy access to clinical guidelines and validated decision support tools using the Right Decision Service (RDS), built on technology developed by Tactuum.
The RDS is a once-for-Scotland national project funded by the Scottish Government and run by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
It supports or hosts clinical guidance and policy intranets, websites and apps developed by health boards and specialist services, using Tactuum’s Quris Clinical Companion software.
It also holds a unique suite of UK Conformity Assessed decision support tools developed with InnoScot Health as registered manufacturer.
Dr Ann Wales, programme lead for knowledge and decision support at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said: “The Scottish Government set an objective for the Right Decision Service to deliver a once-for-Scotland decision support platform: a single place that users could go to for national guidelines, local guidelines, pathways, calculators, risk scoring tools and other types of decision support.
“Now, we have a single platform, with a single website, and a single app. We have a series of controls to ensure the quality of what is being shown to users, while clinicians can pick and choose what is relevant to them.
“It’s all about providing quick and easy access to validated guidance with the aim of delivering more standardised, safer care in line with evidence-based practice.”
Alongside national advice published by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, NHS boards and partner organisations invest considerable time and effort in developing clinician guidance and decision support tools for their staff. However, these can often be held on paper or on intranets, from where they are hard to maintain and access.
Tactuum’s Quris Clinical Companion has been developed to enable NHS health boards and trusts to manage the development, governance and publication of clinical guidance and policies and make tools available to clinicians when and where they need them.
The Quris Clinical Companion offers templates to help governance leads and guideline or policy creators to develop action-focused content, which is exposed to clinicians through a website, their electronic patient record, or an app.
The tools are available offline, so they can be used even when there is no internet access or in an emergency. Tactuum worked closely with clinical experts in the US and Scotland on the technology.
Over a decade, the Scottish Government funded pilots and guideline websites and apps for health boards and national hospital services.
When the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, 25 apps were in use in health and care services across the country, and the decision was made to consolidate them into the RDS single platform, to provide a single, national service and a platform for further development.
Mark Buchner, chief executive of Tactuum, said: “Because we had different deployments of Quris across Scotland, it made sense to integrate them into a single service. It’s exciting to see the RDS in use as a single resource for professionals across the whole country and available to more than 90,000 users.
“Quris has also been able to reduce the number of systems health boards have been using into a single, joined-up collaborative platform. We look forward to working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre on further innovations that directly impact front-line staff and patient care.
“We also hope the success of Quris and RDS will show other health organisations what can be achieved at a range of scales; from individual clinical departments, to hospital, trust or health board level, right up to integrated care system or national delivery of sharable, linked clinical resources.”
Twelve territorial health boards, six health and social care partnerships, six national NHS boards, three national social care organisations, and ten programmes and networks are delivering tools through the RDS.
Current developments for Quris and RDS include the integration of decision support into electronic health record systems and the use of AI to speed up guideline development, management and measurement of impact.
A general election is coming, and Labour is likely to win. At its January meeting, the Highland Marketing advisory board discussed what should be on shadow health and social care secretary Wes Streeting’s agenda for health, care and technology.
A general election must be held before the end of January next year, and most commentators are expecting prime minister Rishi Sunak to go to the polls after the spring Budget or autumn spending statement.
Unless the polls are wrong, or there is a dramatic change in UK political fortunes, Labour will come to power whenever the election takes place. That has triggered interest in what shadow health and social care secretary Wes Streeting has been saying about health, care, and technology.
Streeting has been deliberately ruffling feathers by arguing that “Labour is too nostalgic about the NHS” and the health service needs “reform” more than it needs money (The Sun).
While it’s not yet clear what “reform” would look like, Labour’s “mission” for government talks about a shift towards prevention, to reduce demand on health and social care, and a shift towards community and social care, to ease pressure on the acute sector and improve access for patients.
Willing to face up to the task ahead?
The Highland Marketing advisory board thought this was disappointing and inadequate to the challenge ahead (a week after their debate, a coalition of experts assembled by the BMJ urged the next government to declare the state of the NHS a national emergency).
“Saying ‘there is no more money’ is not an acceptable message,” entrepreneur Ravi Kumar argued. “There are 1.3 million people working in the NHS, and they all vote, so they need to say they are going to find the money.”
Back in 1997, New Labour went to the polls warning there were “24 hours to save the NHS.” Even so, it tried to hold the line on Conservative Party funding commitments and installed the very Old Labour Frank Dobson as health secretary to keep the lid on industrial unrest.
It was forced to change track in 2000, following a winter crisis that unlocked a decade of unprecedented funding increases and The NHS Plan – billed, Wes Streeting might like to note, as ‘a plan for investment: a plan for reform.’
The money paid for new regulators, hospitals, scanners and IT, and the capacity to drive down waiting lists and times. Admittedly, less progress was made on community and primary care reforms and on public health.
Today, both need urgent attention and there will be consequences if they don’t get it, ranging from worsening health inequalities, to further council bankruptcies, to even more pressure on the NHS. However, the NHS is not responsible for their organisation or delivery, which falls to councils and the private sector, so there is only so much that NHS policy can achieve.
“In policy terms, we saw another boost for these ideas in the Five Year Forward View in 2014 and the NHS Long Term Plan in 2019, but not much has come of them,” industry expert David Hancock pointed out. “So, if Labour is going to stick with them, the question has to be: what is different this time?”
Natasha Phillips, the former national CNIO who has just joined the advisory board (Hospital Hub), hoped that Labour isn’t thinking that another round of reorganisation will do the trick.
“I think the first ask of any new government is: please do not re-invent the wheel or re-organise,” she said. “There are no perfect structures, and we all know from repeated re-organisations that changing them takes time and distracts from delivery. What we need to do is make the structures that we have work. That means workforce – boots on the ground and the money to pay for them.”
AI to the rescue!
Labour’s “mission” also puts a great deal of faith in technology. For example, it flags, the potential of AI and generative AI to read scans and deal with routine administration. Andy Kinnear, a former NHS CIO and consultant, said there is no doubt that both will be used widely in healthcare.
“Generative AI has gone from ‘that’s an interesting idea’ to reality in less than a year, and it’s going to rip across every area of our lives,” he said. “So, it’s not surprising Labour is talking about this, but there’s a lot we don’t know. Does radiology cease to exist as a profession, because AI can read the scans for us?
“Do 50,000 nurse vacancies no longer matter, because generative AI can make the workforce so efficient we don’t need those people?” Framed this way, it’s pretty obvious the answer is ‘no.’ So, if AI is going to support, rather than replace, workers and pathways, it’s not going to be a free good.
As radiology expert Rizwan Malik asked: “If Labour is saying there is no money, where is the money going to come from to do this? Because the NHS is recognised internationally as a leader on AI, but most of the things that have been deployed to date have been funded by the centre. Very little washes its face.
“If this is going to be rolled out more widely, local organisations are going to need to get business cases together, and it won’t be easy, when you take into account all the costs, including the server-end costs, and the implementation costs, and the change management…”
To which Natasha Phillips added training and education. “It’s easy for a party to say how much technology they will buy, but it’s not about just buying technology,” she said. “There will need to be investment in the workforce to get the most out of it.”
Jeremy Nettle, chair of the advisory board, agreed with this. “AI is a tool for clinicians and administrators to use, it is not a replacement for them,” he said. “And for it to be a tool, it needs to be funded. If you are going to use technology, and you want to use it to support a first-class service, there has to be the investment required to make it work.”
What about the rest of NHS IT?
It might be easier to make this kind of investment in AI if the rest of NHS IT was prepped and ready. In reality, too many organisations are working with overloaded infrastructure, patchy wi-fi, aging devices, and software systems that don’t integrate with each other – if they exist (fuller discussion, Health Tech World).
NHS England is running a frontline digitisation programme to try and get all trusts up to a basic level when it comes to electronic patient record capability. But successive cuts to the IT funding announced in the 2021 Budget mean it has been scaled back.
Trusts hoping to swap their legacy IT for “next generation” systems or to extend their EPR functionality are likely to be disappointed. Even the target to get EPRs into the trusts that don’t have them has been pushed back a year (digitalhealth.net).
“People are talking about AI as a silver bullet, and we have been down this road before,” said Cindy Fedell, a former NHS CIO who now works in Canada. “You can’t just drive down one road. We have crumbling infrastructure. Some hospitals don’t have EPRs. We need to invest in cyber security. There’s a lot to be done.”
And why do so many tech plans fail?
The latest end date for frontline digitisation is March 2026, which is well into the lifespan of the next government. So far, though, Labour has said nothing about the programme. Nor has it said what it will do about other, more recent, national projects, such as the significant investment that has been made in shared care records.
Yet, David Hancock pointed out, it will either need interoperable systems or something like SCRs if it is serious about integrated care and public health. And, for the moment, it’s SCRs that are the best bet for sharing longitudinal health data with care teams and population health management experts.
Labour is keen on the NHS App. Its mission says it will become a “one stop shop” for health information, fed by providers but “owned by the patient” to drive more “personalised” care across the system.
This sounds great, but very similar claims were made for putting patient data and information on “the information superhighway” back in 2000, in private personal health records like Microsoft Health Vault in the Cameron era, and portals today.
Indeed, some of Labour’s specific promises are less ambitious than previous commitments. For instance, the “mission” says it will use the Digital Transformation Fund to make sure that patients can “see their medical records through the app.”
When now chancellor and then health secretary Jeremy Hunt was promising patients read-write access as part of his “paperless by 2018” plans (thebmj). The advisory board felt Labour should reflect on why previous efforts to put information into the hands of patients to drive choice, engagement, and better outcomes, have achieved so little.
The constant reorganisation of ministerial and NHS teams and a lack of regulator and press interest in delivery have played a part. But, James Norman, a former NHS trust CIO who now works on the supplier side, felt the biggest reason is that they have been run as projects separate to day to day working.
“Any government that comes in this year will need to recognise that the first thing the NHS needs is to return to stability,” he said. “You can’t just talk about technology and expect it to deliver that. In fact, if you don’t do it right, you’re just going to add cost and complexity. It becomes another tick-box exercise, instead of a whole system change.”
No avoiding the need for leadership – and money
The advisory board felt that getting into fundamentals of system-change will require leadership from politicians, clinicians, and NHS managers. Which is hard to deliver when the political cycle is five-years and NHS leaders make their careers in the acute sector.
However, if Labour is going to get serious about the NHS, it will have to get into it. And find the money. Ravi Kumar said: “If there is a message for politicians, it is that they can shift the current dynamic, but to do it, they need to find the money. Any government can find money, if it wants. They found it during Covid. They can find it for wars. It’s a choice.”
Syniti and HFS Research report shares insights on how to increase data quality and reliability to help unleash full potential of GenAI
Syniti, a global leader in enterprise data management, today announced the results of a study developed with HFS Research to help organisations understand the value they can derive from their generative AI (GenAI) investments. The paper, titled “Don’t let your GenAI project fail before it begins,” provides four guidelines for how organisations can take a Data First approach to achieve better business outcomes, with input from real-world use cases.
While AI has been around for decades, generative AI solutions like ChatGPT have made this technology more accessible than ever before. ChatGPT has seen lightning-fast adoption, racking up 100 million monthly active users in its first two months, making it the fastest-growing consumer app ever. Since then, businesses have raced to adopt GenAI to glean its many advantages. However, organisations are quickly finding their data isn’t ready to reap the value due to lack of data quality and management. In fact, recent HFS research shows that one-third of executives believe less than half of their organisation’s data is actually consumable―highlighting just how many organisations aren’t ready for GenAI.
An improper data foundation can lead to real-world business consequences outside of just poor data quality outputs. If bias exists within the data fed into models, such as gender or racial bias, that bias can be quickly replicated at scale within an organisation. This could cause reputational damage, have regulatory implications, and concern investors. Syniti supports enterprises with a Data First approach, helping to ensure the right infrastructure is in place to break down silos and deliver trusted, usable data to fuel GenAI models.
Naveen Gupta, global data leader, IKEA, said: “The biggest challenge we’re facing in IKEA is having data management practices in place. We don’t have practices for data cleansing, strategy and governance. We need all of that to make sure GenAI is a success.”
Phil Fersht, CEO & chief analyst, HFS Research, said, “Data quality is the cornerstone of any successful AI initiative, particularly in the realm of generative AI. Our joint report with Syniti sheds light on a critical issue facing organisations today: the inadequacy of their data foundation. Without robust data management practices in place, the full potential of GenAI remains out of reach. It’s imperative for businesses to prioritise data quality and reliability to unlock the transformative power of AI.”
Kevin Campbell, CEO, Syniti, said: “GenAI’s potential can’t be overstated, but companies need to approach this technology with the wisdom and respect it deserves. Data quality is critical to all business transformation, including successful use of Generative AI, and it’s shocking how many organisations still don’t properly prepare their data ahead of these initiatives. Companies have a long way to go in terms of data quality and management, but a Data First approach will set organisations up for success.”
Roadwork projects play a vital role in maintaining and improving our infrastructure. However, the safety of roadworkers is often compromised due to the inherent risks associated with working in close proximity to moving vehicles. However, this isn’t the only very real threat to operative safety.
In recent years, there has been a growing concern about the abuse faced by roadworkers from the public. To address these issues, it is crucial to implement easy-to-install solutions that not only enhance road safety but also reduce the exposure of roadworkers to potential harm.
Improved efficiency in these areas ultimately reduces frustration among drivers, decreasing the likelihood of abusive behaviours.
Reducing Exposure
There is only so much control contractors and authorities can assert over the public, and so focusing on overall level of exposure could be the real key. We hear about the danger of the people-plant interface on highways sites, but could it now be time to look at how we reduce the people-people interface?
The less time roadworkers spend on site, the less exposed they are to the public. It’s very simple; By implementing easy-to-install solutions with long-term performance capabilities, roadworker safety is inherently enhanced.
This decrease in exposure helps create a safer working environment and promotes better overall well-being for roadworkers.
The Importance of Easy-to-Install Solutions
When it comes to protecting roadworkers, time is of the essence. The installation process for products should be as quick and hassle-free as possible. Easy-to-install solutions significantly reduce the time spent on-site for operatives, minimising their exposure to the public. By streamlining the installation process, roadworkers can focus more on their primary tasks, ensuring efficiency while reducing the potential for accidents and abuse.
The Role of Performance and Usability
While quick installation is essential, it can’t be at the cost of an effective solution. It is important to consider the long-term performance of safety solutions from an asset life cycle perspective, protecting budgets with decreased repair costs.
Long-Term Performance
However, products that require frequent maintenance, repairs, or replacement can lead to increased exposure for roadworkers. At this point, the risk of abuse returns. The more frequently a solution fails, the more potential for operatives to face abuse during repairs.
Although not all products directly address roadworker abuse, their performance, efficiency, and usability can indirectly contribute positively. Opting for high-quality, durable solutions can help minimise these risks and provide sustained protection over an extended period.
Ironwork: The solution
SHIMPAC®’s Roadshims, a pioneering solution for ironwork seating, has been specifically developed with the factors of efficient installation, durability, and longevity in mind. Recognising the broader impact of these benefits on the safety and wellbeing of roadworkers, SHIMPAC® is dedicated to delivering enhanced protection against potential abuse throughout the UK.
SHIMPAC® understands that the significance of its products goes beyond its technical features. By providing roadworkers with reliable and robust solutions, SHIMPAC® products contribute to creating a safer working environment. When roadworkers can increase overall efficiency of roadwork projects, it leads to smoother traffic flow and reduced frustration among drivers. Consequently, this decreases the likelihood of abusive behaviours directed towards roadworkers, ensuring their wellbeing and fostering a more harmonious relationship between roadworkers and the public.
Quality & correct training means installations are quicker and cause less disruption, and in turn leads to right-first-time installations. This in turn leads to reduced need for more frequent repair. Reducing the people-people interface.
Canary Wharf Group (‘CWG’) raised £84m through a forward sale of 294 Affordable rent homes to the CBRE UK Affordable Housing Fund (‘AHF’), a fund sponsored by CBRE Investment Management.
Wood Wharf
The affordable homes are part of CWG’s Wood Wharf residential development due to be completed in 2027. The residential community at Canary Wharf, currently numbering 3,500 people, is set to double in size over the next few years as CWG completes Wood Wharf including a 1,308-home private build-to-rent (BTR) scheme and affordable housing in the local area.
The homes are to be acquired by AHF a specialist Affordable Housing Fund delivering affordable and sustainable housing across the United Kingdom. The Homes will be managed by Pinnacle Group in conjunction with CBRE Investment Management (CBRE IM).
The 23 acre development at Wood Wharf is an important part of the ongoing evolution of Canary Wharf from a global financial hub into a vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood offering waterside living with easy access to green spaces, shopping, work and leisure including open water swimming, FairGame, electric go karting, and the premium padel club Padium as well as popular restaurants such as Dishoom, Hawksmoor, Mallow and Fish Game.
“We are delighted to work with CBRE IM to create high quality, affordable homes at Canary Wharf for the benefit of the local community. This agreement between CWG and CBRE IM demonstrates the appeal of the residential developments being constructed as part of the vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood CWG has created, with award-winning buildings, world-class amenities and exceptional transport links.”
Andrew Davey, Head of Liability Matching Solutions and Affordable Housing, CBRE IM, said:
“It’s been a pleasure working with CWG to deliver state of the art, truly affordable, housing in one of the most vibrant and exciting communities in London. The scheme will deliver on the fund’s objectives to make a positive social impact and achieve our investor’s financial goals.”
The Cabinet Secretary was pleased to announce last week the appointment of Cat Little as the new Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office.
Cat Little
Cat, who is currently Second Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury and Head of the Government Finance Function, was appointed by the Cabinet Secretary with the approval of the Prime Minister following an open competition. Cat will take up the role on the 2nd April.
Cat brings to the role a unique combination of experience from both within government and a decade spent in the private sector. As well as leading a Government function, Cat has been involved in policy and strategy making at the highest levels in major departments such as the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice and has also spent four years working in the centre of government in HM Treasury.
The Deputy Prime Minister said:
“I am grateful to Sir Alex for his years of public service, particularly in the Cabinet Office where he has been a champion for reform. I am delighted to see Cat Little bring her extensive experience from both the private and public sectors to this role. I look forward to working with her as we forge a leaner, more modern Civil Service that will deliver this Government’s plan for the future of the United Kingdom.”
The Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, Simon Case said:
“I am delighted to appoint Cat to this role. Cat’s experience makes her uniquely positioned to lead the Cabinet Office through the next stage of its development, ensuring excellence in both the Cabinet Office’s historic role supporting the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet, and excellence in the delivery of cross-government functions. Cat will also continue to lead reform of the Civil Service, working hand-in-hand with senior leaders across the Civil Service to ensure we are equipped to provide the very best support to the government of the day. I wish Cat every success in her new role and look forward to working with her
“I would also like to thank Alex Chisholm for his dedication and service over the last four years, and for his many years of public service before joining the Cabinet Office. I am personally very grateful to Alex for his leadership of the department and his commitment to driving reform across government.”
The Government Digital Service (GDS) – part of the Cabinet Office responsible for digital transformation in the UK – is exploring how generative artificial intelligence (AI) could improve the user experience of the government’s website.
Public sector IT experts are using generative large language models (LLMs) – the same technology behind chatbots such as ChatGPT- to come up with a more intuitive way for people to interact with government departments and agencies.
Instead of searching for information – or scrolling through pages of documents – GOV.UK Chat, as it’s known, allows people to simply tap in a question and wait for an answer.
As you’d expect with an experiment on this scale, the results have been mixed.
Early analysis has found that while most people liked using GOV.UK Chat, there were a few teething problems. One of the issues highlighted centred on the accuracy of some of the replies.
As a blog published in January explains, some of the answers “did not reach the highest level of accuracy demanded for a site like GOV.UK, where factual accuracy is crucial.”
It went on: “We also observed a few cases of hallucination – where the system generated responses containing incorrect information presented as fact – mostly in response to users’ ambiguous or inappropriate queries.”
Our AI journey has only really just begun
For me, the findings – supported by another excellent article from the multidisciplinary team running the experiment – are fascinating and provide insights into a project like this.
As they explain: “Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion about artificial intelligence (AI). So, it’s clear the spotlight is on the opportunities and risks AI presents to governments – and what can be done collectively to use AI for good.”
This is good to hear. The rapid pace of development around AI shows no sign of easing. And I get the sense that many people are running just to keep up.
Take regulation, for example. Yes, AI is exciting, and developments are happening at a fast pace. In that regard, I’m pro-innovation – but not at all costs.
That’s why I’m also a huge advocate for regulating AI. Not at some indeterminable point in the future, but now. Why? Because from where I’m standing, I believe we’ve reached a level where if we don’t, things could get dangerous.
At some point, humanity needs to get a grip on AI in all its iterations to ensure the positive effects it could have are realised.
Regulation and greater knowledge are essential to make AI work
After all, ‘AI for good’ – as highlighted by the GDS team – could have plenty of positive outcomes. It could ease the burden on IT teams, for example, by automating routine tasks like password resets and network troubleshooting. Not only would this be timesaving, but it would also liberate employees to concentrate on high-value tasks.
AI used in this way is like having an extra set of hands, but ones that never tire or falter in their accuracy.
But, we must also accept that not all types of AI technology are equal.
When you train AI, for example, it’s like teaching a child – you’re giving it your view of the world. This is why we need people from different backgrounds to train and prepare AI to get a better understanding of our diversity across the world.
I’m sure those working on GOV.UK Chat are finding out about these issues – and many more besides – for themselves. It’s one of the reasons why their work on GOV.UK Chat is so important.
All the lessons learned will help expand our knowledge of how best to implement this technology. This will be particularly important if it’s to address some of the fearmongering around jobs and other issues.
After all, if we’re to make any headway, the general population needs to understand the benefits of AI, understand the privacy concerns, and understand what it means for their daily lives.
The ICO’s investigation found that Serco Leisure and the trusts have been unlawfully processing the biometric data of more than 2,000 employees at 38 leisure facilities for the purpose of attendance checks and subsequent payment for their time.
They failed to show why it is necessary or proportionate to use FRT and fingerprint scanning for this purpose, when there are less intrusive means available such as ID cards or fobs.
Employees have not been proactively offered an alternative to having their faces and fingers scanned to clock in and out of their place of work, and it has been presented as a requirement in order to get paid. Due to the imbalance of power between Serco Leisure and its employees, it is unlikely that they would feel able to say no to the collection and use of their biometric data for attendance checks.
The ICO has now issued enforcement notices instructing Serco Leisure and the trusts to stop all processing of biometric data for monitoring employees’ attendance at work, as well as to destroy all biometric data that they are not legally obliged to retain. This must be done within three months of the enforcement notices being issued.
John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner, said: “Biometric data is wholly unique to a person so the risks of harm in the event of inaccuracies or a security breach are much greater – you can’t reset someone’s face or fingerprint like you can reset a password.
“Serco Leisure did not fully consider the risks before introducing biometric technology to monitor staff attendance, prioritising business interests over its employees’ privacy. There is no clear way for staff to opt out of the system, increasing the power imbalance in the workplace and putting people in a position where they feel like they have to hand over their biometric data to work there.
“This is neither fair nor proportionate under data protection law, and, as the UK regulator, we will closely scrutinise organisations and act decisively if we believe biometric data is being used unlawfully.”
Mr Edwards added: “This action serves to put industry on notice that biometric technologies cannot be deployed lightly. We will intervene and demand accountability, and evidence that they are proportional to the problem organisations are seeking to solve.
“Our latest guidance is clear that organisations must mitigate any potential risks that come with using biometric data, such as errors identifying people accurately and bias if a system detects some physical characteristics better than others.”
A Serco Leisure spokesperson told GPSJ in a statement:
“We value the hard work of all our team members delivering services for our customers.
“This technology was introduced at the leisure centres we manage nearly five years ago to make clocking-in and out easier and simpler for colleagues. We engaged with our team members in advance of its roll-out and its introduction was well-received by colleagues. The introduction also followed external legal advice which said use of the technology was permitted.
“Despite being aware of Serco Leisure’s use of this technology for some years, the ICO have only this week issued an enforcement notice and requested that we take action. We now understand this coincides with the publication of new guidance for organisations on processing of biometric data which we anticipate will provide greater clarity in this area”
“We take this matter seriously and confirm we will fully comply with the enforcement notice”
Last year, the ICO also published guidance on monitoring employees and called on organisations to consider both their legal obligations and their employee’s rights to privacy before they implement any monitoring.
In 2023, generative AI became steadfastly part of the lexicon. The applications for the technology are potentially vast, but this was also overshadowed by concerns about the impact that artificial intelligence may have on society. Elon Musk, an investor in AI, was among the people calling for a halt in the technology to encourage a discussion about whether there is a need to place limitations on how it should be used and deployed in the near and long-term future.
David Trossell
The Verge revealed on 6th December 2023 that his company, xAI, “seeks to raise up to $1 billion in equity investments, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (as spotted by CoinDesk). The company has raised $134.7 million so far. Founded in April, xAI is Musk’s attempt at jumping on the AI hype train.”
Prior to starting up, xAI, Musk backed Open AI – the company behind ChatGPT – in which he reportedly committed £1bn before walking away from the company over disagreements relating to the speed of OpenAI’s advancements. In total, however, he invested around $50m. The disagreements included his concern about safe AI development, which it is said, he believed OpenAI wasn’t pursuing. Musk then left its board, and backed xAI, which is now a rival to OpenAI.
So, Musk’s thirst for artificial intelligence remains – despite his concerns and the power struggle with other OpenAI board members that contributed to his departure from the firm. You could be forgiven for asking why he contradicts itself. Yes, there is a need to consider the commercial and moral cases for how artificial intelligence and machine learning will impact society, but the technology is beneficial – including to businesses that wish to transport ever-growing amounts of encrypted data over thousands of miles. It can also be used, as xAI proclaims, to better understand the universe.
Public Sector AI
The Alan Turing Institute says artificial intelligence offers huge potential for the delivery of government and public sector services. It argues that AI can make them more responsive, more efficient and more personalised.
The projects it discusses on its website range from using artificial intelligence and machine learning to automated bureaucracy; estimating the potential of AI in government services by quantifying transaction dynamics and by estimating the potential of automation; conceptualising the use of AI in government with a novel typology; using the technology to generate actionable insights from satellite imagery, to understanding the use and impacts of preceptive, predictive and generative AI in the public sector by “surveying workers to understand their perceptions and experiences of AI systems…”
Lord Jonathan Evans also believes. His article by this title on .Gov adds:
“Chat GPT and other AI tools are starting to transform our interactions with a range of organisations, including in the public sector. The benefits and risks involved were highlighted in the media recently by educationalists concerned about the lack of advice for schools on handling developments in AI.
Back in 2020, pre-pandemic, the Committee produced a report and recommendations on how we ensure that high ethical standards can be upheld as technologically assisted decision making is adopted more widely across the public sector.
Honesty, integrity, objectivity, openness, leadership, selflessness and accountability were first outlined by Lord Nolan in 1995 as the standards expected of all those who act on the public’s behalf. They are the basis for codes and rules guiding conduct and decision making across the public sector. But what happens when decisions are made or assisted by a machine?
Our 2020 report argues that adherence to high public standards will help fully realise the potential benefits of AI in public service delivery. All seven Nolan principles are relevant and valid, as AI is increasingly used for public service delivery, but we found AI poses a challenge to three Principles in particular: openness, accountability and objectivity.”
The 2020 report highlighted the need for public sector organisations to improve the transparency around their use of AI and machine learning. The report’s authors – including Lord Evans – called on the government to “to establish a coherent regulatory and governance framework for AI in the public sector, and to produce practical guidance and enforceable regulation on transparency and data bias as a matter of urgency.” While no AI regulator was created, existing regulators were asked to step up to the challenges that AI and ML can present to ensure that they comply with the law.
Elevating capabilities
From an SD-WAN networking perspective, Mushroom Networks says: “Integrating AI into SD-WAN elevates its capabilities [too], enabling more intelligent routing decisions, enhanced performance and improved security. AI-driven SD-WAN solutions can analyse network traffic in real-time, predictively identifying potential issues and autonomously rerouting traffic to ensure optimal performance.”
Ayesha Mumtaz, writing for BNN Breaking, claims: ‘SD-WAN: The Game Changer in Networking and Security’, even though SD-WANs are exactly new. However, she is right to suggest that they have become the preferred solution for many IT leaders who want to tackle the belligerence of latency, packet loss and poor bandwidth utilisation with a virtual WAN architecture that’s proclaimed to be service provider agnostic and highly secure in nature.
She adds: “SD-WAN is no longer an emerging trend; it has proven its worth and is reshaping the modern business landscape. Unlike traditional WAN, SD-WAN offers a network overlay, effectively separating network software services from the underlying WAN links. This innovative approach allows for cost-effective, adaptable and manageable networking options tailored to the demands of contemporary enterprises.”
Networking trends
As for networking trends in 2024, as revealed by Hewlett Packard Enterprises, she comments that SD-WANs highlight the dynamic nature of networking, and she claims there is a need for businesses to stay abreast of technological advancements to remain competitive and secure in today’s digital landscape.” She says the trends include: “the demise of standalone firewalls, the acceleration of zero trust principles, the critical nature of measuring end user experience and the skyrocketing adoption of 6GHz Wi-Fi. These developments will significantly impact the networking and security objectives of organisations, as well as user experience and application performance.”
There is also talk about intelligent WANs, the iWAN, a CISCO product that offers customers capabilities similar to MPLS VPN, such as quality of service (QoS), WAN optimisation and VPN tunnelling. However, Mindsight believes it’s not a new category of networking. It is essentially CISCO’s SD-WAN solution, and yet it’s thought that it won’t be like any other SD-WAN solution.
Sean Michael Kerner’s article for SDXCentral, published on 37th December 2023, ‘10 networking technology predictions for 2024’, predicts that AI will make networking much more intelligent in 2024. He cites Carolina Bessega, innovation lead – Office of the CTO, at Extreme Networks, whom he says forecasts that “AI-based networking tools will help predict, prevent and remediate issues that affect user experience, service availability and service quality.”
He comments that she also thinks machine learning will go beyond present-state network optimisations to “make the business of the network simpler and easier, faster and, as a result, better”, with large language models being paired with “other types of machine learning and networking big data to create new opportunities between vendors, customers and partners to co-innovate as they create solutions that transform the network into a strategic asset.”
Performant WANs are essential
Yet, the network isn’t just a strategic asset. Without a highly performing WAN, businesses are dead in the water. So, while SD-WANs and WAN Optimisation are good technologies, they often fall short of their promises. This is why, for example, most SD-WANs will still need a WAN Acceleration overlay in 2024.
Unlike anything on the networking market, and while we’ll see how Cisco’s iWANs fare, WAN Acceleration does mitigate the effects of latency and packet loss. In doing so, it accelerates the transfer of encrypted data and WAN performance over thousands of miles. It can also increase bandwidth utilisation – meaning that there may not be a need to buy new and larger pipes. Buying more bandwidth often doesn’t resolve the problem associated with bandwidth being underused.
This doesn’t mean that WAN Acceleration replaces SD-WANs. In 2024, like in previous years, this technology, which uses artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML, and data parallelisation, can be used as an overlay on top of SD-WANs to further improve their performance. Arguably, WAN Acceleration creates an ‘intelligent WAN’ because of its use of AI and ML.
Therefore, enterprises need it in 2024 as much as they did in recent years. To date, it is being used by organisations such as CVS Healthcare, the National Institutes of Health in the US, an F1 company and a household cyber-security firm, amongst others, to ensure that their data is safe, that they can back up and restore data rapidly over large distances and with high volumes of data. This year – 2024 – should therefore be the year of WAN Acceleration, as its use of AI is beneficial to enterprises and society.
Supercharging educational technology in schools . Free internet connection for disadvantaged families . Free 1Gbps connections for community-led initiatives
Schools, communities and homes across the capital are set to reap the benefits of a safe, highly resilient1, superfast2, multi-gigabit, digital network to be installed over the next five years by edtech charity LGfL–The National Grid for Learning and its partner, award-winning Internet Service Provider (ISP) Community Fibre.
“The unique partnership with Community Fibre enables LGfL to install a second, diversely routed fibre connection into schools delivering a level of unrivalled resilience which is now critical given the dependence of a modern curriculum on continuously available internet access. Unplanned outages severely disrupt schools and lessons,” said John Jackson3, CEO, LGfL-The National Grid for Learning.
John Jackson, CEO, LGfL-The National Grid for Learning
“LGfL’s investment means that London will benefit from an advanced , fast and resilient education network that is amongst the best in Europe, if not the world. Building a network of this standard would not be possible without Community Fibre,” he said.
Roll out has already begun with the aim of providing back-up internet services to 500 sites this year. Each school will be serviced with a 100% full fibre installation, which uses 70% less energy than traditional copper, making it a future-proof energy efficient and sustainable solution.
Graeme Oxby, Chief Executive Officer of Community Fibre, said, “We’re delighted that LGfL-The National Grid for Learning has appointed Community Fibre to provide London schools with fibre support. Stable and reliable connectivity is vital for teachers and school children across the capital, and we’re thrilled to roll out a 100% full fibre network to each location using the UK’s most reliable broadband technology.”
LGfL and Community Fibre will also work together on the broadband provider’s Community Investment Programme – to provide free 1Gbps full fibre connection for community-led initiatives and free digital skills training for Londoners. 580 free connections for community-led initiatives have already been installed.
“Digital inclusion and removing the barriers to education are top of our agenda at LGfL,” said John Jackson. “There are an estimated 2.2 million Londoners living in poverty – 25 per cent of its population4. Our intention is to work in partnership with Community Fibre to help identify children and families in need, and pair them with the broadband provider who will deliver free and safe connectivity into homes and community centres. Community Fibre has significant resources as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility programme, and we are delighted to be working with them on this initiative.”
Commenting on the announcement, Theo Blackwell, London’s first Chief Digital Officer – who leads on London-wide digital transformation, data and smart city initiatives at City Hall – said, “This initiative will provide hundreds of London schools with full fibre connections, supporting teaching and learning. It goes hand in hand with our efforts to promote investment in gigabit connectivity to homes, businesses and public buildings – up from only four per cent in 2017 to 89 per cent today. Better digital access is a priority for the Mayor and an important part of making a better London for everyone.”
Further to the completion of the London-wide network, LGfL plans to secure strategic alliances with other telecoms providers and to roll out its multi-gigabit network across the nation. In rural areas without existing internet connectivity, LGfL will offer Starlink, the world’s first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls and more.”
1. Source: Community Fibre’s network has been running for over 99.9% of the time every month since March 2022. Data is measured monthly across all consumer connected homes on Community Fibre’s network.
2. Source: Fastest consumer broadband speeds independently verified by FDM on behalf of Community Fibre 30th November 2023. Community Fibre 3 Gbps Fibre Broadband package offers average download speeds of 3000 Mbps. All other providers listed offer the maximum download speed of 1,600 Mbps or less: Virgin Media, Openreach, Hyperoptic, G Network, 4th Utility, FibreNest, Hey Broadband, Gigaclear, OFNL, Pure Fibre & Switch Fibre.
3.John Jackson – 2022 ERA Outstanding Achievement Award winner, recognised for accelerating the adoption of new technology in schools and his dedication to saving them money, keeping children safe, tackling inequality, energising teaching and learning and promoting wellbeing.
WAN Acceleration company Bridgeworks, has been shortlisted in this year’s Computing DevOps Excellence Awards, which will be hosted on Thursday 14 March 2024 at The Montcalm, Marble Arch in London. IT industry magazine Computing writes that year-on-year, DevOps Excellence Awards showcase achievements from organisations, personalities and solutions that have successfully applied DevOps methodologies. The publication adds: “It’s an outstanding achievement to be shortlisted for Best AI/Automation Project, a very competitive category during the entry stage and to be shortlisted as a finalist is a phenomenal milestone for Bridgeworks.”
Over 150,000* premises in south and east London do not have access to high speed – Gigabit capable – internet connections.
Contrary to perception, hundreds of thousands of addresses in London are affected by slow digital connectivity, causing digital inequalities that impede the lives of people and businesses.
The ‘Sub-regional Digital Infrastructure Strategy’ launched today by Local London and the South London Partnership, identifies gaps in 14 south and east London boroughs. It includes recommendations for driving up the quality and accessibility of services in them and will help channel investment to areas of economic opportunity.
With an estimated population of 3.8 million, Local London and South London Partnership are two of London’s four sub-regions, representing the interests of the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Bromley, Enfield, Greenwich, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Croydon, Kingston-upon-Thames, Merton, Richmond-upon-Thames and Sutton.
There are over 103,000 premises in Local London and 53,000 in the South London Partnership sub-region unable to obtain a Gigabit capable broadband service with many sitting in a ‘not spot,’ unable to receive even a 30 Mbps service.
Mapping out the digitally poor postcodes, the strategy highlights best practices, learning and actions that the public and private sector can take together to build world-leading digital infrastructure for some of the fastest growing parts of London.
Commissioned by the Mayor of London’s Infrastructure Coordination Service, the ‘Sub-regional Digital Infrastructure Strategy’ is part of a wider pilot which will deliver an interactive mapping tool and an online digital toolkit that will assist borough officers to deliver digital infrastructure to their sites and leverage additional commercial digital infrastructure investment in the sub-regions.
The ‘Sub-regional Digital Infrastructure Strategy’ provides a compelling argument for actively pursuing digital investment along with step-by-step guidance to public sector officers to attract investment and promote better quality and more accessible services, including:
Map and statistics illustrating clearly where poor digital infrastructure issues lie.
Recommendations for public sector resourcing and roles, industry engagement, procurement options and commercial models, and key components of a successful delivery strategy.
Case studies and examples from across the UK demonstrating successful ways of working and benefits gained.
The strategic, commercial, financial, management case and options analysis.
Theo Blackwell MBE, Chief Digital Officer, Greater London Authority said “Widely available, easily accessible digital connectivity is essential for people to reach public services and is key to helping cities grow through driving innovation and the creation of new businesses.
“Yet there are still parts of London that suffer from a lack of commercial investment in digital infrastructure, and this results in gaps in internet coverage or ‘not spots’.
“We must address these gaps and drive up the quality and accessibility of the services that are already available, to help the capital to be a fairer, more prosperous, and more equal London for everyone.”
Cllr Baroness O’Neill of Bexley OBE, Chairman of Local London and Leader of London Borough of Bexley said “We are delighted to launch the ‘Sub-regional Digital Infrastructure Strategy’ with our colleagues at South London Partnership. This provides step-by-step guidance to public sector colleagues for unlocking inward investment and maximising existing infrastructure to benefit people and businesses in the area. Along with the database and digital toolkit, this pilot approach will help all 14 boroughs tackle the digital divide, whilst also creating a legacy of learning that have even wider benefits.”
Cllr Gareth Roberts, Chair, South London Partnership and Leader of London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Council commented “This joint strategy demonstrates the benefits of a cross-boundary approach. Addressing the issues at a sub-regional level, with colleagues at Local London, this strategy provides clear guidance for unlocking rapid deployment of next generation wireless infrastructure and gigabit capable full fibre, to align us with other urban areas in the UK, whilst responding to the distinct social and economic needs of each borough.”
A new guide outlining how concrete construction is best placed to meet the requirements of the Building Safety Regulator has been published by the British Association of Reinforcement (BAR).
The Building Safety Regulator is the Building Control Authority for higher-risk buildings. This includes buildings that are at least 18 metres in height or at least seven storeys. The Regulator was a key requirement of the Building Safety Act 2022. The Building Safety Act forwards the majority of recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry – the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 tragically resulted in the death of 72 people in the worst UK residential fire since World War II
The Grenfell Tower tragedy underlined how fire safety must be an essential key consideration in the design and use of buildings and structures. The subsequent Building Safety Act is designed to provide greater safety, quality, transparency of the building process and accountability of the professionals involved and provide key stakeholders, such as residents, with reassurance and confidence that the buildings that they are utilising are safe.
BAR maintains that the inherent fire resistance of concrete enables owners, developers, designers and constructors fulfil their legislative and regulatory responsibilities and deliver, with confidence, the necessary fire safety.
Concrete is one of the most fire-resistant construction materials. Under European Standards (EN 13501-1:2007-A1:2009), it is classified as an A1 material – the highest grade of fire resistance. The construction fire safety of concrete is underlined by the fact that it is non-combustible, is non-toxic and has low thermal conductivity.
This means that concrete does not easily transfer thermal heat and does not react easily with other substances (meaning that in the event of a fire there are no noxious gases released). These inherent benefits make concrete one of the safest and most effective materials for structural fire protection. Indeed, in most cases, concrete does not require any additional fire-protection because of its built-in resistance to fire.
This resistance also means that concrete buildings can provide a high level of fire resistance and safety well above that required for life safety. This provides greater evacuation and rescue time plus increased structural integrity and safety for fire fighters entering burning buildings.
Steve Elliott, BAR Chairman, said: “The inherent fire resistance of concrete means that, compared with other building materials, it can meet the stringent requirements and inspections of the Building Safety Regulator with long-term assurance and provide the necessary safe built environment envisaged by the Building Safety Act.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office has just gone out to public consultation on its new data strategy.
The ICO teamed up with Oakland, an independent data consultancy, to develop its data strategy using the Government’s new Data Maturity Assessment for Government framework.
The data strategy sets out a clear vision for responsible innovation in the use of data, aiming to provide real value for the organisation and its customers.
Commenting on the project, Rob Holtom, executive director of digital, data, and technology (DDaT), transformation, and delivery at the ICO, said: “The data strategy is a hugely important piece of work that will put our own use of data at the heart of how we operate and transform as a regulator. It was important to seek external views, and we teamed up with an experienced team at Oakland to deliver this milestone project.”
“The collaborative partnership has developed a strong foundation on which we can build internally and with our external stakeholders. We hope sharing it will also inspire others to optimise how data is used to create value and improve outcomes in any organisation.”
The teams worked in partnership to develop the data strategy. The project identified the key initiatives and activities to improve data capability and set out the behaviours and beliefs needed to drive a better data culture.
Craig Lambert, senior data strategy consultant at Oakland Group, said: “The team at Oakland worked in a true partnership with the ICO on this project. Building a data strategy is a wide-ranging effort that covers an organisation’s capability, effectiveness, and readiness to use data fully. For the ICO, this data strategy is fundamental to delivering better public services and regulation of such a rapidly evolving market.”
Almost all UK central and local government organisations are skipping key steps necessary to deliver successful major transformation programmes, according to new research from ArvatoConnect.
ArvatoConnect provides customer experience and business optimisation services to public and private organisations.
The findings show that the majority of organisations don’t set key performance benchmarks, secure citizen and employee buy-in or have a data strategy in place.
Many organisations also admit their strategies are led by technology over citizens’ needs, or are driven by an effort to keep pace with other government departments or private businesses.
ArvatoConnect says this is significantly elevating the risk of projects falling short of their potential or missing the mark completely.
Many UK public sector organisations are missing key steps necessary to achieving their digital transformation objectives, a new report reveals – creating the risk that public transformation projects fail to fully deliver their intended benefits.
Nearly two thirds (65%) of public sector organisations currently delivering digital transformation projects don’t have an overarching data strategy, while 71% can’t effectively gather, collate and manage data and 68% aren’t confident they can protect it once they have it.
The research, published by ArvatoConnect – formerly Arvato CRM Solutions – and which surveyed* 200 customer experience, IT and transformation decisionmakers in UK central and local government bodies also found that four in five (83%) haven’t gathered feedback from citizens on how their existing solutions are working and nearly nine in ten (87%) haven’t trained employees on new technologies or processes.
Similar proportions admitted to not gaining employee or citizens’ buy-in on their transformation plans (both 79%), or even setting key performance indicators (KPIs) (78%).
ArvatoConnect, which provides customer experience and business optimisation services to central and local government organisations and other public sector bodies, says that organisations are misplacing their confidence and that skipping these important steps is creating a ‘digital deficit’ – a disconnect between transformation plans’ objectives, and the reality of what they are likely to achieve.
James Towner, Chief Growth Officer, ArvatoConnect, said:“While our research tells us that many public bodies are confident in delivering successful digital transformation projects and have such projects underway, this confidence may be misplaced.
“Transformation is critical to delivering better and greater value public services, but the programmes that are missing steps like gathering citizen and employee feedback and even setting KPIs is concerning.
“These steps constitute key foundations of successful digital transformation projects, and organisations must take this into account and focus on closing these ‘digital deficits’.”
ArvatoConnect’s report also uncovered that many public sector transformation strategies were being driven by technology or competitive impulse, rather than by organisations’ or citizens’ needs.
Nearly three quarters (72%) of decisionmakers admitted that their transformation strategies were being led more by available digital solutions than what their citizens or organisations actually require. Meanwhile, two fifths said their plans were being shaped by simply trying to keep pace with other public bodies (40%), or even private businesses (36%).
This type of transformation approach could mean that common customer experience problems are left unaddressed. A separate YouGov poll of UK adults**, commissioned by ArvatoConnect, found that nearly half (47%) of UK adults had experienced an issue when contacting a government body in the last 12 months, while more than two thirds (68%) had experienced an issue contacting a company.
James Towner continued: “Any transformation programme needs to be grounded in a clear understanding of the needs of the organisation, its customers or its citizens.
“Organisations mustn’t fall into the trap of spending time and money on developing solutions that are then left looking for a problem to ‘fix’.
“Taking the time to get the basics right – and seeking the right support with digital transformation planning – will only generate better results over the long term.”
The Digital Deficit report is the first launched by ArvatoConnect, formerly Arvato CRM Solutions.
The business is a trusted partner to government departments and local authorities, with clients including Crown Commercial Services and the Department for Education.
The new brand – launched in February 2024 – reflects the expansion of the business’ proposition to incorporate both customer experience and business optimisation services, underpinned by innovative, technology-led solutions.
Lunaz upcycled electric vehicles (UEVs) achieve the highest Direct Vision Standard (DVS) for driver visibility
Responds to ongoing demand from London borough councils
New tech maximises vision for operators; makes streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and other road users
Lunaz UEVs ready for deployment in the capital and other metropolitan areas
Supports long-term plan to increase production to 1,100 UEVs per year
Lunaz begins 2024 in a strong position to continue its journey towards producing 1,100 upcycled electric vehicles (UEVs) a year, with confirmation that its upcycled refuse trucks achieve the highest five-star Direct Vision Standard (DVS) rating for driver visibility.
The DVS has been developed by researchers, academics and representatives from the freight industry, Europe’s leading HGV manufacturers and regulatory bodies. Vehicles are rated from zero stars (poor) up to five stars (excellent).
The DVS five-star rating for Lunaz UEVs is significant because under Transport for London (TfL) rules, HGV operators can apply for a permit without needing to provide any additional evidence. However, from 28 October 2024, HGVs rated zero to two stars will need to be retro-fitted with a Progressive Safe System.
The five-star rating clears the way for Lunaz UEVs to enter service in London without any further documents or modifications being required.
Safety in focus
As a ‘better than new’ upcycled electric vehicle, each Lunaz refuse truck is equipped with a suite of technologies to help drivers see around the vehicle from all angles.
The external camera monitoring system comprises two assemblies containing three cameras mounted on the top corners of the vehicle, which send images to screens on the dashboard display. The original wing mirrors are replaced with digitised versions that eliminate rear and blind spots around the UEV.
Unlike standard mirrors, these mirrors operate under all conditions, including rain, snow and total darkness, dramatically increasing visibility and safety. The driver can also see what’s directly in front of and below the vehicle via a dedicated downward-facing camera.
In addition to the cameras and mirrors, an object detection system instantly picks out cyclists, pedestrians and other potential hazards, alerting the driver via the dashboard display screen.
Looking ahead
The green light for service in London is another major step towards the wider adoption of Lunaz UEVs by local authorities as replacements for their end-of-life diesel refuse trucks.
By reusing and recycling existing vehicles, Lunaz seeks to break the destructive replace-with-new cycle, preventing unnecessary landfill and minimising the overall lifetime environmental impact of operating commercial vehicle fleets. A Lunaz UEV is cleaner and better equipped than an all-new electric equivalent, while the restoration and conversion process captures more than 80% of its embedded carbon.
Better for the taxpayer
It can also deliver a 25% lifetime capital saving over its as-new equivalent, providing greater value for money for local authorities, business operators and taxpayers. Indeed, over a normal seven year life-cycle a Lunaz UEV matches a polluting diesel refuse truck for ‘Total Cost of Ownership’ (TCO) meaning Local Authorities and private operators can make the transition to zero emissions vehicles without pressurising existing budgets.
Lunaz has pioneered commercial vehicle upcycling and electrification, a sector predicted to grow tenfold over the next five years, driven by the global transition to net zero and clean-air mobility. Lunaz itself expects to employ 350 staff by the end of 2024 – up from just five when it was founded in 2018 – in pursuit of its stated long-term goal of producing 1,100 vehicles per year.
“From the outset, we’ve built our upcycled electric refuse trucks to meet the DVS five-star standard for driver visibility- the highest available. This accreditation enables operators to obtain an HGV permit from London boroughs without any further documentary evidence or vehicle modifications. It’s also in line with Mayor Sadiq Khan’s pledge to eliminate road deaths in London by 2041. Having our UEVs fully prepared for operation in the capital is an import step towards widespread adoption. They’re cheaper and better-equipped than their all-new electric equivalents, representing greater value for money for local taxpayers, alongside the environmental benefits of our clean-air technology and upcycling process. It also means we’re heading into 2024 in a strong position to continue our journey towards a projected production capacity of 1,100 vehicles a year.” – David Lorenz, Founder, Lunaz
These are the organisations that need to know with confidence who their customers are when it comes to onboarding and managing them. For them, digital ID will be a gamechanger. However, digital ID is complex and confusing, and the OIX continues to see high levels of uncertainty among those organisations that will come to rely on it the most.
According to the OIX, many do not truly understand what digital ID is, how it will work for them or what the benefits for their business and their customers will be. It is also shrouded in myths about fraud and privacy issues that need dispelling.
The OIX believes that it has now become increasingly urgent that these organisations – across various sectors including, finance, property, employment, travel, gambling, telcos, insurance, legal and any age restricted service – understand what digital ID is all about and why it will be a positive development for them.
Some of the benefits include enabling instant access to services for customers, moving away from forgettable passwords, no longer needing customers to find and provide paper ID documents and being able to easily update details as customer data changes.
Ensuring that digital ID works well for these organisations is a key focus for the OIX, so as part of its education work, the OIX has launched a series of short and clear educational videos to provide clarity on the key questions being asked.
Nick Mothershaw, Chief Identity Strategist at OIX, said: “All businesses are going to be impacted by digital ID one way or another. It’s a major focus all around the world. Specifically in the UK, the government is certifying private sector digital ID providers to start working with the businesses that will come to accept and rely on these digital IDs. In some countries, it is now the primary way people can access both public and private sector services.
“What this means for businesses is that there is digital ID ecosystem in place. They cannot ignore the fact that digital ID is ready to be adopted. The sooner they take steps to make it key part of onboarding and managing their customers, the better.”
The full series of videos about digital ID can be found here.
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