Agenda item

Context:

To receive the iCounty Strategy Business Plan for 2016/19 for Member scrutiny, along with a report on Monmouthshire County Council’s Digital and Technology service and how it aligns with Monmouthshire County Council’s iCounty, People and Place strategies.

Key Issues:

Technology is moving at pace, and digital services need to keep up with the changes in order for the Council to support sustainable communities and economies. In order to ensure that Monmouthshire County Council captures the benefits of digitization, the iCounty Strategy was developed in April 2014 and was agreed through the Council’s committee approval processes in July 2014.

This is the second year of implementation, and the business plan has evolved and has been refined through learning and experience, as well as through collaborating with partners and organisations across the UK to ensure the strategy is robust and sustainable.

Monmouthshire County Council has achieved some significant developments since iCounty was first approved, and the foundations have been laid for a sustainable ICT infrastructure, Council ICT platforms, digital transformation and digital service provision.

Members Scrutiny:

·         Coding events for young people were being run in Monmouthshire’s schools and in Monmouthshire’s libraries.  Young People need to be digitally enabled to ensure more coders were available in the future.

·         The Alacrity Foundation has put 12 to 16 graduates through its scheme providing training for them to start up their own businesses.  The County Council was working in partnership with Alacrity, which was also working with Monmouthshire’s schools.

·         The Education Achievement Services (EAS) was visiting schools with a view to developing IT and digital strategies.  The Authority was also working closely with the EAS regarding this matter.

·         The Chief Officer, Enterprise stated that computer coding is a national issue and the Enterprise Directorate was working with schools.

·         The Authority was investigating ways to provide Wi-Fi provision for all community halls and youth clubs throughout Monmouthshire via the rural Development (RDP) Fund.

·          An Item should be added to the Select Committee’s Forward Work programme to receive a report in due course regarding ways to directly work with schools regarding computer coding for students, as currently the Directorate is having to work around the curriculum with regard to this matter.

·         There was scope for further talks with the Children and Young People Directorate and schools regarding the need to create a closer link with the way Maths, IT, and Engineering are taught.  These are currently taught under the subject entitled STEM.  This could be included in the report that will be presented to the Select Committee in due course regarding computer coding and potential gaps this the provision of this subject.

·         The Council’s infrastructure is very well controlled by the SRS.

·         The Authority is a Member of the Severn Valley Cyber Launch Pad.

·         There are several pillars to the iCounty Strategy.  It enables the community to access the service and work more easily with the Authority.  The more we digitally enable County Council staff will improve the service that the Authority provides to the public.

·         The Community Hub is available for the public to access the Authority digitally.  iCounty can help both businesses and the community.

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s question in which it was suggested that the iCounty strategy might not be focussed enough and was potentially too expensive, it was noted that the Authority’s services were being amalgamated with other authorities which was saving the Authority a considerable amount of money.  Currently the Authority has 80 systems. Using the new technologies available this could be reduced down to thre or four separate IT platforms.  The Authority has invested in the My Council Services application at a small cost. The new systems are intuitive which means that training is not required which saves the Authority money.  If there are products available on the market that are fit for purpose, then the Authority will use them.  However, if there isn’t a product available then we will build it.  The benefits of this are that these products can be sold to other authorities.

·         The efficiency savings being generated could be reported back to a future meeting of the Select Committee.

·         The Authority is working with the SRS and Welsh Government creating efficiency savings.

·         The SRS was trying to build an infrastructure in which the Authority can build on to it in a most cost effective way.

·         iCounty is a Monmouthshire County Council Strategy but requires technology partners to develop it.

·         The Authority is trying to build relationships with industry with a view to companies going into schools to talk to students. Over the coming years, developing this link will be crucial.

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s question staff resources, it was noted that whilst the Authority’s team was small, areas have been identified that require bolstering on a project basis. Currently, the team is performing well.

·         Staff have worked with coders to develop appropriate systems.

·         There are several opportunities available around the region to work with   technology industries. Working with such industries would be massive for the local economy.

·         There was a need to map out and prioritise potential changes over the next three to five years.