Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Eamonn Mullally and Caroline Haines.

Eamonn Mullally observed the meeting virtually.

There were no declarations.

To receive the Order of the Court of Common Council dated 25^th April 2024 appointing the Committee and setting its Terms of Reference.

The Committee received the Order of the Court of Common Council dated 25^th April 2024, appointing the Committee and setting its Terms of Reference.

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29. The Town Clerk informed the Committee that Dawn Wright, being the only Member expressing their willingness to serve, was duly elected Chair of the Digital Services Committee for the ensuing year and took the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.

RESOLVED – That Dawn Wright be elected Chair of the Digital Services Committee for the ensuing year.

To elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

As multiple expressions of interest were received, a ballot of Members was undertaken and Eamonn Mullally, upon receiving a majority of votes cast, was duly elected as Deputy Chair for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED – That Eamonn Mullally be elected Deputy Chair of the Digital Services Committee for the ensuing year.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on  2021.

RESOLVED -That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 17^th January 2024 be approved as an accurate record.

Under matters arising, it was noted that approval of the Generative AI Standard Operating Procedure had been delayed owing to waiting for review from the Independent Data Ethics Advisory Council.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk relative to the Committee’s appointments to other Committees.

The Committee considered the appointment of one Member to the Projects and Procurement Sub-Committee. The Town Clerk informed the Committer that no expressions of interest were received ahead of the meeting and invited any declaration of interest in the position. Deputy Randall Anderson, being the only Member willing to serve was duly appointed to serve on the Sub-Committee for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED – That Deputy Randall Anderson be appointed to the Projects and Procurement Sub-Committee.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain, concerning the approval of the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Strategy. The Committee had sight of presentation slides providing an overview of the creation of the Strategy, and its strategic outcomes. Following the presentation, Members were invited to ask questions and make comments.

A Member raised Outcome 4 within the Strategy, to transform services through responsible use of Automation and AI and noted that the Committee had received a Generative AI Standard Operating Procedure at its meeting in November 2023. The Member queried when this policy would be approved by the Committee. The Committee heard that this had been delayed due to waiting for the Independent Data Ethics Advisory Council to review the Policy. It was agreed that an addition within the actions would note that these would be in line with the organisation’s Generative AI policy.

Members raised concerns that underlying control of the Corporation’s websites did not sit with the DITS Service. The response was that the website would form part of the Communications Strategy, but that further work needed to be done at an officer level to determine the direction of travel and the risks, given that there were a variety of applications for the City Corporation’s websites. The Committee were assured that the Communications team were engaged with security, and the websites were actively monitored and reported on if issues were found. The Committee heard that the Strategy was intended not to be a static document, and that the website could be incorporated into the Strategy in the future once the work at officer level was completed.

It was questioned what the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) measures or targets would be for the Strategy. The response was that there needed to be further work done to

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain, concerning the future device purchasing for the City of London Corporation and its Institutions, intending to unify the vendor and models of hardware deployed.

In terms of the funding for the device refresh, funding had been identified for parts of the organisation, such as the Members Refresh budget, and the Barbican Centre and Guildhall School of Music and Drama Capital Fund. The remainder would be part of the 2025/26 budget, and the procurement route would be identified before the budget would be agreed in March 2025. The recommendation before Members was for the strategy for the device refresh.

The Committee heard that officers would be working with Commercial Services on the best procurement route for the 6,500 devices.

Officers had identified a preferred device, which would be procured through the appropriate procurement gateways. This had indicative pricing. There would be work on the logistics of rolling out the new devices, including where the devices could be serviced, and there had been consideration of pop-up sites.

For the old devices, these had a National Cyber Security Centre approved software which wiped the device and provided certification as proof. If a device contained highly sensitive information, the device would be crushed.

A Member raised a question on procurement, the response of which had to be heard in non-public session. The Committee agreed, that following its satisfaction to the response received to this question in non-public session, it would agree the recommendation as listed in the report, and that this be recorded in the public minutes.

Later in the meeting, following the response received in the non-public session, the Committee agreed the recommendation as listed in the report.

RESOLVED – That Members agree the move from a mixed estate of five different vendors to a

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain concerning the ongoing replenishment of the Corporate Devices. Following a query, it was confirmed that the project was funded within the capital programme.

RESOLVED –

·       That budget of £750,000 is approved for the delivery of the project

·       Note the project budget of £750,000 (excluding risk)

·       That Option 2 to replace devices that have become faulty, damaged or are now out of support is approved

·       Note the partial approval of the funding for 24/25 of £250,000.

Joint report of the Chief People Officer and the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a joint report of the Chief People Officer and the Chamberlain, concerning an update on the progress made in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Programme. Following a concern raised by a Member, officers responded that they believed that they could meet the dates provided in Appendix 1 of the report with regards to meeting the required decisions within the governance pathway.

RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain, concerning an overview of the Data Lighthouse Project, which supported the need for a Corporate Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

The Committee heard that there had been disparate systems found that were used across the Corporation, but these were not necessary classified as CRM tools. It was intended to focus on areas which required involved manual processes to collate customer data. More services and users could be added to the CRM system. Certain applications which had detailed functions tailored to their specific use (such as social work and housing management) would not be replaced, but the customer data could be used from those applications to measure levels of interaction. There had been a CRM project from 2017 which replaced the CRM 2011 with Dynamic 365, which was a specific use case for the Strategic Engagement Events Management (SEEM). This was a highly customised solution to engage with senior stakeholders and event management at Mansion House, Guildhall, and other areas. This was not being extended as the platform was highly customised and would not be compatible with a Corporate CRM. Data would be integrated from the old platform for customer insights.

RESOLVED – That the report be received, and its contents noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain, concerning a portfolio overview of the Digital, Information and Technology Service (DITS).

It was suggested that future reports contain a short sentence summary of why a risk was red, and any measures taken to address that risk.

RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain, concerning a quarterly update on the Digital, Information and Technology Service (DITS) Business Plan.

Following a Member query, the Committee heard that data would be moved from the H/Drive into SharePoint. The benefits of SharePoint included enhanced version control and ability to collaborate.

RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain, concerning the service delivery summary for the Digital, Information and Technology Service (DITS).

RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk, concerning details of decisions taken under urgency between Committee meetings.

RESOLVED – That the report be received, and its contents noted.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.

MOTION - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 17^th January 2024.

RESOLVED – That the non-public minutes of the previous meeting held on 17^th January 2024 be approved as a correct record.

The Committee considered the report of the Chamberlain, concerning the Device Refresh in non-public session, following questions raised by Members in the public session which required a non-public response.

Following the Committee’s satisfaction of the answers to these questions, the Committee agreed the recommendation as listed in the public report.

RESOLVED – That Members agree to move from a mixed estate of five different vendors to a single vendor for the wider Corporation – including Institutions.

Report of the Chief Information Security Officer.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Information Security Officer, concerning an update on cyber security.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain, concerning an overview of the Secure City Programme (SCP)’s Video Management System (VMS).

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee received a report of the City Surveyor, concerning a progress report on the Oracle Property Manager (OPN) Replacement Programme.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain, concerning an update on the risks faced by the Digital, Information and Technology Service (DITS).

There were no non-public questions.

There was no other non-public business.

To approve the confidential minutes of the previous meeting held on 17^th January 2024.

RESOLVED – That the confidential minutes of the previous meeting held on 17^th January 2024 be approved as a correct record.