Think tank urges 'm-government'
Kable
Published: 08 Feb 2006 16:00 GMT
Local authorities should embrace mobile technologies in delivering services, according to a report from the New Local Government Network (NLGN) think tank launched on Wednesday.
"Cutting the Wire" argues that councils face the choice of directing moves towards the adoption of "m-government", or hoping that existing structures for representation and service delivery can cope with new expectations. It says that mobile communication technologies — phones, wireless computers and PDAs — are a "key catalyst" for transformational change.
One of the authors, NLGN researcher James MacGregor, said: "We would like all of our recommendations to be considered and adopted where appropriate, in local government, central government and in the private sector by hardware and software suppliers.
"In a more general sense we are trying to popularise the idea that mobile IT can help in specific areas of local government. Firstly, in service delivery, secondly in rejuvenating the democratic relationship between local government and citizens."
Already half of English local authorities use mobile technology in some form, but most of the projects are on a small scale and provide limited functionality. Mobile IT could be used to bridge the gap between front line staff and the public — where messages go astray, paperwork piles up and errors and inconsistencies are generated — says the report.
Norway and Sweden have gone mobile with enthusiasm. Stockholm has been using mobile IT to transform its services since 2001. A city-wide strategy, known as mCity, has been set up to improve citizen-facing services and working environments for staff. One project involves organising cover for social care staff when they are sick or absent: their off-duty colleagues are contacted by text message and offered extra work.
In the UK, Halton MBC has been operating a mobile door-to-door service dealing on-the-spot with benefit claims since 2003. Its computers are connected to back office systems via an "always on" mobile phone data network. The council has said that 98 percent of users approve of the service, and it plans to expand it to create a mobile "one-stop shop".
Local government minister Jim Fitzpatrick said the potential of mobile communication technologies to help transform local government is hard to ignore.
In a forword to the report he said: "The time is ripe to build on the successes of local e-government and develop a new strategy that can truly provoke a step change in local government performance."
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