New report sets out how councils can embrace new technology

The County Councils Network (CCN) has partnered with BT to publish a new report today, which sets out how local authorities can embrace and deploy new technology that has come to the fore over the last few years.

The report takes key conclusions from an expert roundtable at CCN’s Annual Conference, which looked at societal shifts post Coronavirus pandemic and how digital technology is being rolled out by local authorities.

Download the report Unlocking Local Government here, released as part of CCN’s Dialogues series.

The report looks at how technology can help in three areas councils have responsibility over, and how it can be rolled out:

• Future wireless: Futureproofing wireless infrastructure across a council’s estate to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, especially in the era of hybrid working.
• Smart messaging: The report argues that cost savings can be made through councils embracing smart messaging (such as text messages) rather than traditional mail and telephone calls.
• Digital workplaces: The study explores how local authorities’ workplaces have evolved in the wake of the pandemic, and sets out solutions to maximise this technology’s potential. In hybrid meetings, this means making sure that those working remotely can see and hear everyone at that meeting in the office. In turn, people in a physical room must be able to converse with people joining remotely seamlessly.

Below, watch Nicola Millard from BT give an overview of the report and some of the technology opportunities that have arisen for local authorities in the last few years: