Agenda item

Community and Children’s Services - Technology Overview

The Director of Community and Children’s Services to be heard.

Minutes:

The Sub Committee received a verbal update and presentation of the Director of Community and Children’s Services on his Department’s use of Technology.

 

Members were informed that the department has 14 housing offices managed by the City of London across different locations. The Department was one of the early adopters of agile working, as part of its business continuity and reduction in travel time for staff.

 

The Director spoke of the success of using the MOMO App, which has enabled the City of London to engage with its younger generation of residents.  The MOMO App allows the young people to tap into the department resources in an innovative way. Although the Department uses its technology to advance its objectives, it is also mindful of the fact that the human touch needs to be visible when dealing with vulnerable residents.

 

Members were further informed that the new Housing Management System will allow advanced usage. The system will allow the use of social media to act as a sign posting service and will enable improved business intelligence. Furthermore, the new system will allow residents to access a range of services through self-services online.

 

The Director spoke of the need for moving away from being paper based and allow room for innovation and growth. An example of the need for innovation is the current system to book any of the City of London’s Community Rooms.  Currently a hirer has to call into a dedicated phone line to check its availabilities. A paper booking form is completed, and an approval process is engaged. If charges are incurred, an invoice is prepared. All of this is expensive and needlessly complex. Going forward the Department would like to be able to allow its customers to check availabilities, make bookings and pay for the room booking via an online system.   

 

A Member asked how the department measured its targets and effectiveness. The Sub Committee was informed that at present the Department is looking at mapping out customer processes and customer requirements.  This work which will take a further 3 months will better inform the targets and measures the department develops to measure effectiveness.

 

A Member queried how much of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can the City of London embrace to provide a better service. The Committee was informed that using AI technology is on the roadmap, but we are not making use of any AI systems currently.

 

The Sub Committee was advised that the City of London has information sharing agreements with relevant partners to improve the integrated and joined up service that can be provided to customers. The City of London continues to learn from others and shares its own good practices too.

 

RESOLVED – That the Sub Committee notes verbal update.

 

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