Archive for the 'Local Government' Category

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Cuts being announced – with a plan?

Published on February 24, 2011 in Local Government. 0 Comments

Youth unemployment at 25%, against a background of increased expectations from citizens and a feeling that a lifetime relationship with major organisations is the norm

I have noticed a lot of articles on Local News about Municipal Councils in the UK announcing their “cuts” in order to meet Government Austerity targets.

Whilst these are unavoidable, I wonder at the mix of services being cut, as do many…I guess.  A friend of mine working for a Central government Agency told me he was being discontinued from May this year and his job, his Department and his Agency were not being replaced.  He felt it was cuts first and think later.

With Local Government it seems that the announcement are usually services for young people, street cleansing and a few other items.  The Public Sector cuts will see job openings in many public sector organisations for young people disappear for a few years and these same people will appear on dirtier streets…does not seem quite well enough thought through to me.

That aside, the need for Software to contribute to the “cut first think later” mentality might become apparent in short time.  The 80% of Local Authority workers left in post in April and May will still have the same workload, possibly made more difficult by recent history and will have to deliver to a public where the general feeling is less positive (as always happened with rising unemployment).

Maybe it is time to target the lower resource levels?  Where should you actually empty street litter bins and sweep streets and where should you only do so when you recevei a complaint.

Application for Citizen smart phone

Love Clean Streets will appear in many branded formats throughout the UK soon. "Love Clean London" will be the brand for our Olympic Capital and mayor Boris is behind the initiative...best foot forward chaps

With applications like “Love Clean Streets” that citizens can download to their smart phones, citizens in the less-blighted areas will report instances of overflowing bins and dirty pavements, so why sweep clean streets?

And…just to be crystal clear, I think many councils will cut jobs first, then wonder how they can provide the services that they have been until that point, then conclude that they have to target services, then target using historic data and map-anlaytics tools, then see that some areas have little or no problems with graffitti/fly tipping/litter, then target resources on the blighted areas, then implement systems like “Love Clean Streets” to invoke crowd sourcing….just my opinion on the sequence in >50% UK Councils.

Moving on from Births, Deaths and Driving Tests: A new creed?

Published on January 23, 2011 in Local Government. 0 Comments

New creed - ELCR

I recall a book called “A new creed for the third millennium” that I received one Christmas – people changed lifestyle habits and gained warmth in their homes from plants…lots of plants. 

It made me think of the forthcoming era where there will be little money left for Street Scene Services and the news item today that potholes will be difficult to fill with so little budget left…and we have not even got into the year of front-loaded cuts! 

What new creed will we get into…something that we could not foresee just a few months ago when it was likely we would have another Labour Government and gradual small cuts.  I see signs of Local Government Agencies developing a pro-active approach.  It was said that the only time a Citizen interacted with their Local Council was when something that should have happened did not happen…as with Birmingham’s slating in local radio about refuse not collected.  Yet I received an invoice this year for my green waste collection…not an invitation to participate.  So, tomorrow might move us on from Births, Deaths and Driving Tests to a life-long dialogue about a service provider we come to value (as much as we value our supermarket…perhaps not quite that much  :¬)  ) 

This truly is a sign of how Councils will evolve: best Councils will develop pro-active lifetime relationships with their citizens through the services that are optional and that they promote. 

We, in turn, will develop software to follow this change, this evolution in order to support and “enable lifetime citizen relationships”.  The private sector sees it relationship with its customers this way and develops tactics to maintain and expand its Customer base, cross sell new products and services and deeply cares about how it is spoken about in the blogosphere. 

Leading Councils have a new approach: Lifetime Citizen Relatonship

Multiple dialogues with citizens through the multiple channels of choice, throughout the lifetime of its citizens

Leading Councils are there already.  Leading Councils are promoting their services and looking for multiple threads of dialogue with their citizens, through multiple channels of the citizen’s choice, throughout their lifetime. 

Will we see Confirm with a new “Strap-line”, or secondary strap-line soon?  “Enabling Lifetime Citizen Relationships”?  Will it (predictably) be shortened to ELCR?  If you have a Garden Refuse collection, will you want to know about special promotions on municipal tennis courts near to your house and football pitches that your village could use?  Will you enjoy being told about School Holiday activities for children…but only if you have any and only the ones matched to your children’s ages?  These all happen in some councils now, but only through leaflets and the passive website.  A new creed for the third millennium might well be commercially astute Government agencies communicating with us through the channels of our choice, enriching our lives and the lives of our families on the journey from from Birth to Death.

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/

Rhetoric to Pain? Here’s to 2011

Published on January 1, 2011 in Local Government. 0 Comments
Confirm can manage the whole of Municipal Street Scene

Confirm can help Stakeholders, Custodians and Operational workforces to manage the whole of Municipal Street Scene

Happy New Year!

I hope it will be.  Yet I worry that, as we exit a year of rhetoric and enter the year of pain (as promised by our political leadership) Public Sector jobs will be cut savagely as front-end loaded savings are implemented.

It seems that our job in the software solution supply side is to watch, look and listen then to ensure that Confirm can work for the new roles and structures that are being created.

Our four regional users groups provide a platform for PBBI to discuss how different councils are implementing changes at different speeds and then to map the new way or working to existing functionality … in order to see what changes we need to implement and how.

Will Highways Maintenance automate more back office activity and focus on effective field working?  This would indicate enhanced mobile working for Confirm on top of the updates added with version 10 when it was released this year.

Will Street Lighting change as all councils seek to save money by implementing Control Management Systems (CMS) and will there be a benefit in linking these to Confirm…certainly and we have done so in mid 2010, but how much more should we be doing?  The Delta Group in December 2010 set out a number of new ideas – listening to our users was better than just a good idea, for sure!

Hardship fuelling optimism

Travelling in hope, through hardship

The UKPMS annual update brings a high degree of automation to the calculations for the soon-to-be mandatory valuations of Carriageways and Footways, designated complex assets in the CIPFA Code of Practice released at a time of the heightened political interest on 19th July 2010.

And each of the other areas that Confirm covers in Structures and Bridges, Street Works, Property Maintenance, Grounds Maintenance, Tree Management, Street Cleansing, Refuse, Recycling and Waste Management have their own changes.

Many Councils will look to shield citizens from reductions in services by merging departments, reducing the total number of IT systems and outsourcing contracts.  I am sure that we will see “Street Scene” Departments in most Councils very soon and Confirm will be well worth considering as that is precisely what we designed it for in 1991, precisely what we worked towards between 1995 and November 1997 during the beta development period and precisely what we have been working tirelessly to improve since then…making it the “Carlsberg” of Software…”probably the best” street scene software in the world.

As we enter 2011, here’s to (and cheers to) Confirm.

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/

Roads and Highways Maintenance software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/highways-and-roads/

Bridges & Structures software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/bridges-and-structures/

Street Lighting Software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/street-lighting/

Street Works (in the UK) and Permits software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/street-works/ 

Pavement Management software including UKPMS:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/pavement-management/

Property Maintenance Management software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/property-maintenance/

Grounds Maintenance software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/grounds/

Arboricultural Management (Tree Management) software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/trees/

Street Cleansing Software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/street-cleansing/

Waste, Refuse and Recycling software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/waste-refuse-and-recycling/

Finishing a wonderful year

Published on December 24, 2010 in Local Government. 0 Comments
With Austerity measures, snow clearance becomes a DIY affair

With less money for snow clearance, why not make your own snow sculpture and clear the pathway at the same time?

I thought I would end a year of blogging about Asset Management with my favourite links…sort of “all in one place” about the areas of Municipal Asset Maintenance software that have occupied my mind in 2010.

We finish 2010 reflecting on the challenges of decreasing budgets for all Public Sector and we might wonder what the broader effect on the economy will be.  Those of us in a position to do so are getting creative and working with our Customers on Shared Services in Municipal Maintenance for Highways, Lighting, Bridges & Structures, Street Works, UKPMS, Property Maintenance, Grounds Maintenance, Tree Management (aka Arboriculture), Street Cleansing and the newly prestige are of Waste, Refuse and Recycling.

Link to my Asset Management definition:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/

Link to Confirm Software home page:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/ 

Link to our new addition to the PBBI stable of solutions – micro traffic simulation:

http://www.paramics-online.com/

Roads and Highways Maintenance software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/highways-and-roads/

Bridges & Structures software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/bridges-and-structures/

Street Lighting Software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/street-lighting/

Street Works (in the UK) and Permits software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/street-works/ 

Pavement Management software including UKPMS:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/pavement-management/

Property Maintenance Management software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/property-maintenance/

Grounds Maintenance software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/grounds/

Arboricultural Management (Tree Management) software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/trees/

Street Cleansing Software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/street-cleansing/

Waste, Refuse and Recycling software:

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/products/asset-management/confirm/waste-refuse-and-recycling/

Next year my role expands to cover all Public Sector software in EMEA and India.  Any advice on the issues facing Public Sector Workers will be most welcome (dominic.mcneillis@pb.com) and, for those Confirm users of ours – YES, I will still be covering the Confirm product and sharing some of my workload with our dedicated Team members.

TTV, ROI and Cost

Published on November 27, 2010 in Central Government, Confirm v10 and Local Government. 0 Comments

The way I read Government spending patterns changing, post austerity measures and in every Country, is that there are 3 tests, ALL of which will need to be passed for Government Organisations to make purchasing decisions.

The first is newly important – Time To Value or TTV.  Of course this has 2 tests itself – empirical and comparative: empirical in the sense that it has to suit the project or business need driving the purchase and comparative in the sense that it needs to be the best compared to alternatives.  With regards to software, I have seen examples of decisions where applications are selected on the basis of TTV simply because organisations do not have sufficient staff for the old-style large projects.  We have seen literally hundreds of wins for MapInfo Pro v10.5 against its more complex competition where TTV is a significant factor and not only in Government procurements.  Of course, our Asset Management and Maintenance Management solution wins out over its competition with wonderful recent examples of projects in 2 major UK Counties.

Asset Maintenance Management picture

Through The Viewfinder is what TTV used to be best known as.

ROI has been much talked about and does not need more said here. 

Finally, cost is a critical factor.  As Dave Clark, DG of SOLACE said when addressing a group of PBBI colleagues a few weeks ago, “Don’t come along asking me to spend lots of money and citing a really good ROI, if I simply don’t have the money…”. He went on to emphasize that, with Government cuts, suppliers must stop thinking in old ways and think the way that Local Government Chief Executives think right now.  If suppliers help Government Organisations to reduce spending, better than any competitor and with a rapid TTV…the ROI will be there – why wouldn’t it be?

If TTV and all 3 tests is the way to evolve, Confirm has a great set of recent proof points and we will soon be pubishing Customer comments about the newly released version 10.  TTV is no longer “Through The Viewfinder”, it’s a mandatory purchaser’s test that must be passed.

What Medway are doing with Confirm software

Published on November 5, 2010 in Local Government. 0 Comments

This link takes you to a page on the PBInsight website where, at the bottom of the right hand menu, there is a recoding of an interview hosted by LGC plus about how Medway Council are using Confirm.  Might be interesting, especially to Highways professionals.

http://www.pbinsight.eu/uk/solutions/by-industry/public-sector/local-government/

20 years of mobile application development

Published on October 27, 2010 in Bridges & Structures, Central Government, Confirm v10, Grounds, Highways, Local Government, Pavement Management, Property Maintenance, Refuse & Waste, Street Cleansing, Street Lighting, Street Works and Trees. 0 Comments
 

Mobile working for Municipal workers started life with heavy duty Mobile PCs

Mobile working in the 1990's

20 years of mobile application development, by John Gomersall, 28 October 2010

I remember being so impressed when I first saw the Husky Hunter 16 and what we were doing with it to support mobile inspection of Trees back in 1991.  It was a DOS based box and we used to write our code on it using Dataflex, which was the same 4GL we used to use for our host application (who says cross-platform development is new).  Synchronisation was via a memory module that plugged into the serial port, but even so the users loved it because overall it saved them time when doing their job.

I have less fond memories of the “Touch PC” which we tried to port our application to back in 1997.  It was the size and weight of a small brick and I we tried to out-source the development to a third party.  A prime example of why waterfall doesn’t work, we told the company what to do rather than giving them empathy for what the customer needed to achieve.  I don’t think we ever sold any of those…L

Mobile working started to evolve

Mobile working with advanced text based field computers

We had a more successful result with outsourcing when we ported to the Psion Workabout soon afterwards.  We put a lot of work into specifying the requirements in terms of user tasks, rather than strict screen design.  What we were finding was that each device has its own style of user interface and you need to adapt to fit with that, rather than forcing a square peg into a round hole.

My first experiences with mobile GIS were with a company called PenMetrics.  They had a product called FieldNotes which provided a forms engine built around mobile mapping.  We used to run it on Compaq Tablets running Windows 95 for Pen Computing.  One of the main issues there was that it was really easy to get a simple form up and running to capture data, but it was virtually impossible to create a workflow around a task that originated in the back office, e.g. investigate a complaint about a pothole…  This was my first big lesson on the need to build the solution around the workflow and not get too overwhelmed with the cool and groovy map in the centre of everything.

Mobile computing started to become popular as Windows was introduced

Mobile computing on the PocketPC: Windows was introduced

We had a lot more success when we started to use MapInfo as our mapping engine, which we controlled via DDE from the main application.  This gave us a lot more control, but was still pretty clunky from a user-experience point of view.

When Windows CE came out around 1999 and subsequently the PocketPC platform we were really excited and I remember thinking “this is it, finally a platform and form factor that will have some longevity”.  We were finally able to fully embed the map into the application using MapX Mobile, and apart from a couple of major re-write’s moving from C++ to eVB to C# the software has lasted up to the present day.

New style mobile computing

Mobile computing hits the masses with i-Phone and Android

What has changed, however, is the process we follow to develop the software.  Adopting a combination user centred design and agile practices has been essential in minimising the time to value for our customers.  We now get the developers and customers together on a regular basis on “Customer Advisor Panels”, to work through and prioritise requirements.  At these sessions, which occur every 2 or 3 sprints, we are able to demonstrate production quality software that customers can take away and start using once their minimum threshold of capability has been reached.

 Looking forward I’m really excited about HTML5 as a platform for building truly cross-platform mobile applications whilst providing a rich UI that is specifically tuned to the device.  Watch this space…

7.1% for the next four years

Published on October 20, 2010 in Bridges & Structures, Central Government, Grounds, Highways, Local Government, Pavement Management, Property Maintenance, Refuse & Waste, Street Cleansing, Street Lighting, Street Works and Trees. 0 Comments

That’s about the size of it: 7.1% cuts for each of the next four years. 

GO George GO? How do you feel? Encouragement for him or advice...after today's CSR

George Osbourne announced how Public Spending will change in his CSR review this afternoon and Local Government cam off particularly badly. 

What will be different in each Local Council will be how the cuts will be implemented to achieve these numbers.  Being at SOLACE last week, I noticed CEOs were busy networking; some trying to collaborate with adjacent Councils, some discussing ideas or nurturing proposals founded in prior conversations.

I guess that staff on the front line will get to know about their Council’s “Vision”, “Strategy” and the specific activities that work towards these cuts in due course.  Meanwhile, here are a few ideas being tossed around, recounted in true Chatham House Rules fashion:

1. My Highways Department can be outsourced – we simply name the amount the Service provider can spend in each of the next four years.

2. My Highways Department can collaborate with adjacent Highways Departments

3. We are sharing Senior Management and front line services will be protected

4. Mobile working will help us merge several departments into one large Street Scene and Asset Management Department (like they do in Australia)

5. Combine IT systems whilst forcing through the realisation of IT savings (do not accept the IT charge for each department is a fixed price “conversation”)

6. Put IT systems into the cloud and transfer CAPEX to OPEX

7. Don’t buy any IT systems until you have checked if an existing system will “do for now”.

8. Based on proposed reduction in staff numbers, we need to work out beforehand how to deliver services (harsh but certainly being talked about)

9. Core services only (a Mantra of not just a few!)

Love to hear any comments, feedback or what your Authority is planning.  (BTW – have you noticed that the Chancellor’s initials are GO – is this encouragement or advice  :¬) )

My “Tool Box Theory”

Published on October 3, 2010 in Confirm v10 and Local Government. 0 Comments

Tool Box Theory

My tool box theory

When I got my first bicycle, I purchased an all-in-one spanner, two tyre levers and a puncture repair outfit.

When I got my first computer, it came with an operating system.

Later, I got a racing bike and purchased an adjustable spanner, some pliers and a screwdriver. 

Later, I bought a basic spreadsheet, word processor and a few games, which I played for hours.

Then I turned 16 and purchased a Lambretta GT200, so needed a few more tools: I found out why I needed circlip pliers, some ring spanners and some open ended spanners.  For Christmas that year, I received some box spanners and a tool box, for the first time.

Then I upgraded to a bigger computer, which came with my first copy of MS Office.

Seeing the wisdom in four wheels, I went on to purchase my first car along with a workshop manual and a few more tools.  In those days, cars were fairly basic and a whittled down broom handle could function as a clutch alignment tool when taking an engine in and out.  My first experience with Car Garages involved getting MOT’s and the remedial work that accompanied them.  My car regularly broke down and I learned how to fix it by the roadside, carrying my toolbox in the boot of the car.

I saw that I should learn some basic programming, to help me to understand how these programmes (that I had been using) were put together, so purchased a copy of Visual Basic.

Then I got a good job and had far less time.  I could not afford a car breakdown and possible delay to arriving at a key meeting, so started asking my local garage to service the car at regular intervals.

Then I got a good job and had far less time.  At work we purchased adequate computers with Spreadsheets, Word Processors and Access.  Some people wrote simple programmes in Access that helped and, after a while, we found a supplier who made great programmes specifically for our Industry and geared to the solving the business problems my department addresses for our Customers.

Over the years, I have found a garage I can trust with simple questions like “Is it worth keeping the car for 2 more years or should I replace it?”  They advise me on costs and other aspects that I may not have considered as they have knowledge that I do not.  Recently, I spent £1,000 on the air conditioning system, allowing me to keep the car for two extra years and that balances against the depreciation that a new car would suffer over the same period (£10,000)…good advice and not untypical of my garage.

Over the years, our solution supplier has fully participated in our industry, gone to the events we go to, read the articles we read and embedded functionality into our solution required by Legislation, Codes of Practice and Best Practice in my domain.  We sometimes purchase extra modules, but work with our supplier to calculate the ROI before we place an order.  We trust this supplier.

My tool box evolves into a truly Symbiotic Relationship

I no longer own a Workshop manual and my tool box is not used except for the most simple of tasks – change a tyre, fill up with oil and so on. 

I no longer know how to write VB code, or create Programmes in Access and my PC is functional.  I use it to deliver my organisation’s products and services to our valued Customers.

If I had another make of car, I might use another garage.  My garage own specialist tools that I could not afford, nor would I want.  They certify their staff externally as capable of analysing what is wrong with my car and putting it right with genuine parts.  I trust my garage to help me keep the cost of owning a good car to the absolute minimum.

If I worked in another department or another industry, I might use another supplier.  My supplier saves me large sums of money in a truly symbiotic relationship.  They certify their staff, externally, as capable of executing their role and keep them in touch with my industry trends and changes.  I trust my supplier to help me keep the cost of owning a good system to the absolute minimum whilst showing a proven return on my investment.

Lloyds Bank and Hockey sticks

Published on September 28, 2010 in Local Government. 0 Comments

So, if the Government’s investment in Lloyds Bank is worth between £22 and £25bn, depending on the exit strategy and market price, is the clever CEO of a Local Authority going to plan their 25% savings over the next 4 fiscal years in a Hockey Stick shape…sort of 3% 4% 5% 8%? 

When it comes to year 4, will they be hoping that the contribution of Government Banking Share Sales will make so much of a difference that the Government will be claiming a better than anticipated recovery and thus ease off the planned cuts on Public Spending ahead of the forthcoming election?

If a Government in power wanted to counter an opposition party who might go into the next General Election with some form of “build the economy now that we are over the worst” theme, would the sale of Government Shares in Banks be a useful tool?

How likely is a scenario like this, therefore what are the canny planners going to do.  Late October and early November, we will see, for sure.