Agenda item

(Director of Resources) To consider the attached report.

The Select Committee noted the update on ICT projects. They noted that work on projects within the ICT Strategy for 2013/2018 was still on-going. Overall projects were on track and progressing well, in line with expectations. Previous years have seen ICT concentrated on implementing new systems to facilitate mobile and flexible working. This year we had been concentrating on fine tuning these systems and consolidating the processes required. Changes in the way we use the systems has also impacted on the way we licence these products and a lot of time has been spent liaising and negotiating with our suppliers to ensure we are correctly licenced for their products. In the future, most products will only be available as software as a service (SaaS) which will again change the way we use and pay for our software. Nowadays we have to rent software, while in the past we used to buy it outright. The suppliers are more stringent with the number of people using their software to get more money from us.

It was noted that:

·         The Banker’s Automated Clearing Services (BACS) required replacement in order to comply with stricter banking security regulations, this was achieved;

·         The Civic Office rollout for the UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) was now complete. Remote sites would be completed early in the financial year;

·         A remote PC management tool has been introduced to save time by removing the requirement of having to return a unit to base for essential upgrades;

·         The replacement service desk for the running of both support functions within the same system had been delayed until May 2016;

·         The upgraded version of the Virtual Private Network (VPN) had now been successfully installed, which along with increased stability replaced the physical key tokens with a software equivalent;

·         The set up of off site servers for disaster recovery had now been set up to enable telephony resilience and data replication. This was now under testing and completion was scheduled for July 2016;

·         Following a recent demonstration of the Northgate Mobile working solution for Building Control (BC), ICT approached the supplier regarding the potential for a similar solution for Development Management and Planning Enforcement. This upgrade was capable of transforming the way Development Management officers can work when out of the office – with or without mobile connectivity. Northgate were planning to launch this product during this year, but required business input into the design process – EFDC ICT and Development Management working in partnership will provide this business input. The system will enable officers to work on site, and also to remotely update back office systems, for Officer’s with casework it also offers the potential to change their work patterns as case load and visit details can be picked up from home in the morning – removing the need to attend the office to collect work;

·         Following the recent purchase of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle under the invest to save scheme, ICT GIS staff will after suitable training and accreditation by the CAA, be able to fly the ‘drone’ and undertake aerial surveys and 3D modelling. It was noted that the recent BBC report was factually incorrect and officers had asked the BBC to update their report; and

·         Links to the Corporate Gazetteer Integration needed to be implemented for all property based systems not currently linked.

The Chairman asked if these were all weather drones. He was told that they had to be careful of windy conditions. Councillor Whitehouse asked if we had polices for the use of the ‘drones’. He was told that was part of the CAA course, to develop a manual and policies for the use of them. Following on from this training the draft policy will be completed.

Councillor Lion noted that the mobile planning system worked very well and he would like to extend it to other directorates when they have ICT databases for the public.

Councillor Kane asked how current the disaster recovery data was. He was told that it was a timed backup not a real time constant update.

Councillor Kane asked where we stood legally in terms of the privacy law, with the impending use of a drone. He was told that we were complying with all the relevant laws. The drones were initially bought by planning for mapping purposes; the GIS officers know the rules and were being very careful with it.

RESOLVED:

That the progress of on the ICT projects for 2015/16 was noted.