Specifically, we’ll discuss how the two organisations are coming together to accelerate automation across the public sector and improve citizen experiences through the use of this groundbreaking technology, enabling public sector organisations to make genuine data-driven decisions on what, where and how to focus their automation and transformation efforts.

Guests on this episode are Chris Duddridge, Vice President of Sales for EMEA at Soroco; Nina Atwal, Automation Lead at Global IT Solutions and, Simon Perks, the Global IT Solutions Intelligent Automation and Operations Partner.

Areas explored in this podcast include:

• What process discovery, task mining and process transformation means for public sector organisations
• Why Global IT Solutions is partnering with Soroco
• Why the tie-up with Soroco means organisations can now unlock more of automation’s full potential
• Use cases that the public sector can learn from
• The areas where the Global IT Solutions team think this technology will be most useful and the challenges it will address

To discuss this in more detail, we're joined by Jonathan Dowey, Head of Performance and Insight at Avon & Somerset Police, and Kate Hemstock, Principal Senior Data and Insight Consultant at Global IT Solutions.

Sharing their thoughts on these topics and more are Amanda Pujol, Head of Communities and Improvement at Teignbridge District Council, and Adam Gibbons, Housing and Local/Regional Government lead at Global IT Solutions.

Key topics covered include:

• The major internal and external challenges faced by district councils
• How technology can help districts meet those challenges and the technologies that are key
• The problem of skills shortages
• The role of data and predictive analytics
• Examples of where Teignbridge has found new sources of funding and what makes a good business case
• Where transformation leaders in district councils can turn to for help and guidance

The Global IT Solutions podcast: The role of RPA in an award-winning Council

This latest episode of the Global IT Solutions podcast focuses on how Aberdeen City Council is using the robotic process automation (RPA) in innovative ways to drive positive outcomes for the organisation and the citizens, communities and businesses of the Aberdeen City area.

The Council is currently driving the most significant period of transformation in the city’s history. At the core of this unprecedented change is an ambitious and comprehensive technology-enabled redesign of the Council’s service delivery and demand management – with innovation embraced to build the council of the future. The ambitious transformation is already delivering benefits and led to the Council winning the prestigious MJ Awards Local Authority of the Year title in 2020.

This podcast discusses how automation has contributed to this success – and shares key learnings from the first phases of its ongoing journey with RPA.

Sharing their insight in this episode are Andy MacDonald, Director of Customer Services at Aberdeen City Council and Simon Watkins, Managing Consultant for RPA and AI at Global IT Solutions.

Topics covered include:

· What prompted Aberdeen City Council to utilise RPA

· The major RPA successes ACC has enjoyed and what this means for the organisation and the people of Aberdeen

· What ACC is doing well to enable this success

· Key learnings from Aberdeen’s journey

· Advice for other local authorities looking to realise the benefits of RPA

· What the future holds for automation at Aberdeen City Council?

To learn more about the automation of teaching plans discussed in the podcast that freed up the equivalent of 14 full-time teachers, head along to our case study here.

Andy MacDonald

Director of Customer Services, Aberdeen City Council

Andy is the driving force behind the Aberdeen City Council’s digital transformation and champions using technology and data to enable a prosperous future for citizens, communities, and businesses.

He is a performance-driven and results-oriented leader with substantial experience in Transformation, Customer Experience, HR, Finance, Shared Services and Digital & Technology, in private and public sectors.

Recognised by stakeholders for business development, digital transformation, change and project management, customer satisfaction, risk assessment and mitigation, as well as revenue optimisation, Andy has been instrumental in leading and developing cross-functional teams within fast-paced environments whilst expert in identifying and mitigating underlying risks through root-cause analysis.

Simon Watkins

Director of Customer Services, Aberdeen City Council

Simon joined Global IT Solutions with over 20 years of consulting experience within both public and private sectors. He is experienced in supporting high level strategy, project and programme delivery, detailed analysis and delivering new operating models and business change. He has worked with a variety of fields including (but not limited to) Licensing, Revs and Bens, Housing and finance. In addition, his private sector experience covers retail, FMCG, manufacturing, healthcare and banking/finance. He is an experienced Delivery Manager covering ERP, P2P, Master Data Management, Business Intelligence, Business Process Management and RPA.

So too have the demands on public sector leaders, who are navigating their organisations through a period of unprecedented change required to meet rising demand and increased complexity of demand – all against a challenging backdrop of austerity, the COVID-19 crisis, demographic changes and what is arguably the big one – climate change.

Then, of course, there’s the impact of technology on the way we work, how organisations deliver services and how citizens expect to interact with those services.

This changing and challenging landscape raises questions around the skills leaders of public sector organisations need – and how these skills are shifting, which is what we talk about in this podcast.

Discussing this in more detail are a trio of individuals who combine an understanding of executive leadership excellence and the skills required to successfully lead organisations – from both academic and public sector delivery viewpoints. Ioanna Rossi is Strategy and Partnerships Officer at the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and Lecturer on sustainable and ethical environmental management at Ravensbourne University London. Andy Cook is Ravensbourne’s Vice Chancellor, and Paul Sternberg is Director of Postgraduate Studies and Principal Research Fellow at Ravensbourne.

Key talking points from this podcast include:

• The evolution of leadership skills across the public sector – and any gaps that exist

• The impact major events such as COVID-19 and the climate emergency have had on leadership

• Why public sector leadership skills need to be aligned with sectors including the third sector

• The ‘power skills’ needed by today’s leaders

• The measures leaders can take to ensure they have the necessary skills

As discussed in the podcast, Ravensbourne University London and Global IT Solutions have launched a strategic partnership to design and deliver a high-level executive programme for senior leaders across the public sector.

We are seeking your views on this programme and would welcome your views on how new approaches to public sector leadership and development can be supported. The questionnaire takes no longer than 5 minutes to complete and can be found here.

This discussion focuses on the Global IT Solutions team and the agile delivery methodology that ensured a smooth, effective and fast implementation of the Blue Prism Cloud technology, which has transformed the way ESR processes are run. This builds on Episode 6 of the Global IT Solutions podcast, which discussed the project from the perspective of the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in episode 6 of the Global IT Solutions podcast.

Topics discussed in this podcast include:

• The discovery process that helped Global IT Solutions work with NHSBSA to identify ESR as a suitable process to automate
• The approach Global IT Solutions took to ensure the project was successfully delivered, including why delivery was broken down into parts
• From a development perspective, how any difficulties were overcome
• How Global IT Solutions built confidence within NHSBSA and the ESR team ahead of going live
• What’s next for this project – and the wider partnership

This RPA implementation is a prime example of how the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) is using the technology to deliver efficiency gains, enhance service delivery and bring benefits to team members within the organisation.

To discuss the work that has taken place in more detail, we’re joined by Ivan Barber, RPA Programme Manager at NHSBSA and David Booth, Head of Systems Integration at the ESR NHS Central Team. Topics covered include:

• The need to automate Electronic Staff Record processes

• How NHSBSA identified robotic process automation as the right technology to use

• The methods followed in order to plan and implement this project

• Benefits realised so far and the impact this automation will have on people within internal teams – and to organisations across the NHS

• Key learnings from this RPA project and advice for others at similar points in their automation journey, or those just starting out.

Ivan Barber, RPA Programme Manager, NHS Business Services Authority

As Programme Manager for Robotic Process Automation at the NHS Business Services Authority,  Ivan is focused on delivering organisational wide efficiencies by the introduction of process automation through an RPA cloud environment. With over 25 years’ experience in IT, Ivan has developed a broad range of technical and project management skills working in the private and public sectors.

David Booth, Head of Systems Integration at the ESR NHS Central Team

David has led the NHS ESR Interface Team since joining the ESR Programme in 2002. Having been responsible during roll out for the delivery of a GL interface to each of the 650+ NHS Organisations on ESR, the team is now responsible for the 1300+ interface implementations in use on ESR.

Global IT Solutionsand Family Support worked together to develop a continuous quality improvement app called Family Quest, using Microsoft Power Platform, that can be implemented within social care settings to simplify case audit procedures and evidence a really high-quality process that includes continuous learning.

In this podcast we’re joined by Cat Miller, Service Manager at Family Support, to discuss how the Family Quest app has transformed ways of working for the organisation.

Topics discussed include:

• The work of Family Support

• The need for the Family Quest App

• How it was developed in partnership

• The problems Family Quest overcomes and how it supports the delivery of services on the frontline

• The App’s ability to increase efficiency, reduce cost and staff time, and streamline audit processes

• How Family Quest helped the organisations deal with the pressures and restrictions of Covid-19

• Tips and tricks learnt from the rollout of the App

• How organisations in a similar position to Family Support can utilise Family Quest.

Further information on Family Quest can be found in a detailed case study. Click here to download.

In this podcast we also discuss the roadmap that will help us tap into the potential of technology and importantly, what this means when it comes to skills.

Questions discussed in this episode include:

• Why do we need a digitally enhanced care sector?
• What technologies will really drive digital transformation? How will they improve the situation?
• What’s holding back technology adoption?
• With that in mind, what does the roadmap/journey entail if we are to achieve a digitally enhanced care sector?
• What role will NHSX play in this?
• As a result of all that’s going on, do you expect to see the care sector becoming much more of a single system/service?
• How does the care sector attract staff with the right skills – or is it more a case of focusing on training and skills development?

In this latest episode of The Global IT Solutions Podcast we’re going to be talking about how an effective partnership approach is essential if transformation is going to be successfully delivered – and the benefits fully realised.

The discussion focuses on the work Global IT Solutions has been doing with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) over the last year, most notably migrating nationally critical healthcare systems into the cloud, which provided the foundations for future digitalisation as well as the necessary resilience and agility to ensure service continuity throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Joining us on this podcast to share the story of how a modern, effective partnership between the NHSBSA and Global IT Solutions developed, and the benefits this has brought NHSBSA, are Nick O’Reilly, Chief Technology Officer at NHSBSA and David Wild, Cloud Partner at Global IT Solutions.

Topics covered include:

• The need for a modern, partnership approach that offered flexibility and responsiveness as NHSBSA migrated to the cloud

• How this way of working has helped to overcome challenges

• The importance of cultural change when adopting new ways of working

• Why transformation involves the whole organisation, not just IT

• How the work that had taken place – and the partnership approach – helped NHSBSA to deal with the Covid-19 crisis, while continuing the cloud migration programme

Guests

Nick O’Reilly, Chief Technology Officer, NHS Business Services Authority

Nick has been a CTO/CIO/CDO for over ten years and has led technology departments through times of austerity in both local government and now at the NHSBSA. Nick drove a cloud adoption programme at Derby City Council in 2015/16 and is now doing the same at the NHSBSA using the opportunity of the end of a traditional IT outsource contract to achieve greater flexibility through cloud platforms.

David Wild, Cloud Partner, Global IT Solutions

David is an experienced public sector IT Services Director specialising in leading technical teams and successfully increasing performance whilst reducing cost and inefficiencies. David has led numerous high-profile infrastructure projects in his time with Global IT Solutions, most recently focusing on cloud-based transformation.

Helping Hands, which is built on Microsoft Dynamics 365, enables authorities to track both outreach to the ‘vulnerable persons list’ that the NHS has produced and the specific needs of any citizen within its area – and has been adopted by councils up and down the country. Crucially, it also brings together organisations from healthcare and the third sector, with local authorities.

In this podcast we find out:

• Why North Lanarkshire Council opted for Helping Hands to help it deal with the Covid-19 crisis
• The features of the solution that really stood out
• How it has enabled the council to deliver essential services to the most at risk citizens through the period of lockdown and beyond
• How Helping Hands has evolved, and the role North Lanarkshire Council has played in this evolution
• The value of multiple authorities working together
• Why Helping Hands will continue to prove valuable as the authority moves into recovery phase and beyond?

Susan Cloke

Susan Cloke has worked in local government for 35 years in a range of roles, originally training as a planner before moving into regeneration policy and then corporate and community planning. Susan is currently based within the Chief Executive's Office and leads the business intelligence function within the Business Solutions Team in North Lanarkshire Council, taking responsibility for the corporate intelligence function linked to business planning, improvement and performance. Susan also provides strategic support to the Children's Services Partnership and the Community Justice Partnership and supports the development and delivery of the Council's improvement programme. Outside work Susan is an avid Glasgow Warriors and Scotland rugby supporter, as well as a keen gardener.

Linda Johnston

As the Business Strategy Manager at North Lanarkshire Council, Linda has extensive experience of change and transformation programmes, redesigning public sector services to meet the varying needs of service users and communities. Linda has chaired national policy groups and has delivered high profile events including the Commonwealth Games 2014 and European Championships 2018. Currently leading the council’s digital change programme, at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, Linda led the strategic discussions to source a solution to support the needs of the communities across North Lanarkshire and to support other councils in their quest for similar support mechanisms.

James Stevenson

James Stevenson is Managing Consultant and Head of Business Development for Scotland at Global IT Solutions. An experienced C-level business professional with a track-record of developing and implementing high value, multi-phased, multi-location contracts across the public sector, James has wide ranging experience of software development, systems roll-out, ongoing support and service functions, cradle-to-grave IT outsourcing and the development of new applications and IP rights.

Austin Clark

Austin Clark is an experienced content writer and journalist specialising in organisational transformation and digital solutions, specifically in local government and healthcare.

Austin is former editor of GovTech Leaders (DigitalbyDefault) and has written features, hosted podcasts and presented events for numerous leading public sector titles during a 20-year career.