COVID-19 spotlights information management shortcomings in local government

Description

News Alert: Disruption caused by the pandemic has put smart workforce collaboration, records integration, and data processing at the heart of local government – but it has also exposed inefficiencies as teams try to access the information they need to progress workloads. Across many councils, work is already underway to support smart workforce collaboration, integrating records, systems and data into a single view. But this must accelerate – the research study ‘Information in Transition: Smarter Working in the new Normal’, revealed that 60% of respondents still rely on paper records to some extent. The research ranged across the public sector – 38% of respondents came from local government. It is clear that workers are widely using unconnected, legacy information systems supplemented with paper-based systems in parts of their operations, making flexible, remote working a stretch goal for many local authorities. ... As councils transition to delivering services in a ‘new normal’ that will almost certainly feature workplaces and working relationships that are more fluid, dynamic and adaptive, the need for digital operations supporting remote collaboration is becoming increasingly important. As a result, platforms that aggregate information quickly, efficiently and reliably and make it available wherever required have become prerequisite for effective business process management.