Year 2018: 4 Things Local Governments Need to Prepare For!

Come 2018 and local government will be all busy dealing with a variety of challenges. With the newest technology, tech-savvy millennials on one side and aging population on the other, new reforms and regulations, global competition and also, the pressure to outdo things, councils have to be sharp as a tack. Forward-thinkers must have got their brains running to make most of the coming year. Based on our experience of working with the local government and the latest trends, we have curated a list of 4 points that should be in a council’s agenda for the year 2018-

GDPR

GDPR regulation is a hot potato these days. This regulation aims to safeguard citizens (data subjects) from data privacy and breaches. Compared to the previous data protection directive, GDPR regulation is stricter and tends to bring a major change. No wonder why almost all organisations seem to worry about it. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force from May 2018. It applies to all the organisations selling goods or services in any form to the people across the EU (European Union).

Local councils are advised to appoint a DPO (Data Protection Officer). The concerned authority will ensure to meet the GDPR compliance requirements. Under the GDPR regulation guidelines, councils must have all the consent and permission to access and hold any kind of personal information of citizens. They have to adhere to the citizens’ right to be forgotten, subject access at any time, data portability, privacy policy agreements, data encryption or anonymization and breach notification. There is no room for mistakes.

The GDPR regulation applies to both – the controller and processor. So, councils must make sure that their IT suppliers are well-acquainted with the norms. In addition to that, the system used for storing and processing data should abide by the laws. Joining hands with a cloud service provider is the best way to get GDPR-compliant. For instance, MDM (Master Data Management) can be of real help to configure and manage information.

Social and Health Care

A lot is happening in the social and health care sector. There is a stern pressure to go digital for integrated services and maintain the quality of care. Considering the growth of population aged 65 and over as well as the 85+ generation, the administration needs to prepare for taking care of their needs. No compromise on the availability of emergency services, hospitals, care centres, resources and caregivers. And that’s a big challenge!

NHS and local health care bodies have been aiming to transform the current system. It implies turning existing platform into a completely digital one. The Five Year Forward View promises to provide joined up care services putting the patient in the middle of the system. By 2020, the new service delivery models will focus to streamline the healthcare by bridging the coordination and data gaps. This also means real-time information access and more personalised care for the patients.

Achieving the quality of care within the budget limit is not going to be easy. The authorities need to work closely and take the help of technology. In the recent announcement, the government has granted a £86 million funding for new medicine and technology. This is a positive sign opening doors to innovation. These projects should deliver high-quality services to the taxpayers. The authorities must also address the challenges of the caregivers for a better and healthy community.

Housing and Service Delivery

Councils need a well-planned strategy for providing housing and local services. As more people now prefer staying as a nuclear family, there has been a large rise in the demands for affordable housing. And so is the demand for public services. It’s a tough nut to crack for the local authorities. They have to balance citizen expectations and fiscal limits for better living standards.

For constituting services to the masses, councils can rely on a comprehensive system. The self-service platforms are of great help. Compared to the helplines, emails and letters, mobile apps and web portals create a centralised communication line enabling quick actions. The councils can use collected information to analyse the issues. It will also govern a planned preventive strategy for future.

Citizen centric approach will include the self-service apps. The native apps must address the common requirements of people. These integrated apps will serve as a one-stop shop to avail services, report issues, pay taxes, fine, book public amenities and stay informed about any upcoming changes and events.

Employees and Productivity

Off lately, productivity has been a major concern in the UK. The workforce output has been on a constant low. A recent report indicates that the hourly output is beyond an acceptable level and the situation may still get worse. Low productivity will affect the UK economy in an adverse manner putting more challenges for the businesses and the government.

The authorities need to take initiatives to create a skilled workforce. Failing to rise to the productivity level will put a danger to the income and revenue. Also, councils need to educate their staff and support them for effective working.

Boosting employee outcome with mobile working is one of the ways. Adopting this new-age working helps to achieve more output. This is because the mobile reporting solution frees workforce from the burden of non-productive laborious work. They are inclined to do more productive work at their convenience. Apart from that, some interesting engagement activities, training, and plans can be put into action to accomplish productivity goals at different levels.

So, Are you prepared to welcome 2018?

It’s the right time to get started if you haven’t yet. Connect with our team to gain more detailed knowledge about this digital transformation and learn from the successful council case studies. Furthermore, you can reach our service delivery experts by requesting a tailored demo. Let’s take a step towards a more powerful and compliant system.