Efficient solutions for public service
John Clancy, Head of Public Sector Business with Vodafone Ireland, talks about how government sectors are aligning with industry trends, delivering efficiency in State agencies and helping them to better communicate with Irish citizens.
“Our ambition is to help the Irish public sector become as efficient as possible in delivering services”, says Vodafone Ireland’s Head of Public Sector Business, John Clancy. “Government and public sector bodies, like private businesses, have to be forward-thinking and responsive, as well as efficient and connected. Advances in technology in recent years have overhauled both the way in which public servants work and the way in which citizens access information, communicate and engage. Therefore, it’s vital that public bodies embrace new digital technologies in order to operate as efficiently as possible.”
This has already been recognised in the Government’s E-Government Strategy and Clancy sees his role as ensuring that Vodafone remains the partner of choice for the delivery of that strategy. “According to the strategy, public services should be delivered through the most appropriate channels and deliver demonstrable efficiency and value for money, while online channels must become the most attractive option for citizens to access services. We understand the environment in which the public sector works and we are continuously analysing it to ensure that Vodafone delivers its needs now and in the future.”
Meeting the needs of citizens in the future will see an inevitable move away from the traditional hardware and software approach and towards the cloud. To this end, the Government has decided to build a high-speed and scalable infrastructure called the Government Cloud Network (GCN). Vodafone has won the seven-year contract to set up the GCN, which when complete will offer a high speed cloud network which all government agencies and data centres can access.
But building the network is only the start, according to Clancy. “Cloud computing lets you access public and private cloud -based computing, reducing the need to invest in your own hardware and software,” he explains. “The UK Government has launched what it calls a ‘CloudStore’, an online marketplace where suppliers offer their services to the public sector via its framework. Public sector bodies in the UK can now access some 3,500 different services on the CloudStore on a pay-as-you-use basis. The Irish Government is now embarking on its own plan to deliver a range of services on the GCN. This will allow Irish public sector bodies to avoid long contracts and technical clauses and buy exactly the right level of resources as and when they are needed.”
The Government has put 35 categories or lots ranging from business intelligence to telephony as a service into the Government Cloud Services Catalogue (GCSC) tender. “Vodafone are bidding to be a supplier on the GSCS and we are looking forward to becoming a key service provider on the GCN over the coming years,” Clancy adds.
This move towards the cloud is being driven partly by the proliferation of mobile devices – both smartphones and tablets – across all sectors. “Vodafone is helping government agencies meet their customers’ needs. The citizens of the State want to communicate with public sector departments and agencies in new ways. The increased use of high-spec smartphones and the delivery of the National Broadband Plan will further extend access to high-speed internet, this makes web chat, video and social media available to citizens and they want to use these channels to access government services.”
Vodafone’s services extend well beyond the Government Cloud Network and the company has provided a range of solutions to public bodies around the country including a wide area network and centralised telephony environment for Kerry County Council. “The council had a number of different offices and solutions and wanted to rationalise its mobile and fixed telephony systems,” says Clancy. “We built a core wide area network, centralised telephony in one location and integrated this with their mobility solution. Reporting and analytics tools now allow the council to better manage their communications, including removing services that are no longer needed, and clearly understanding their costs. It also allows staff to use one integrated technology, whether working from home or in multiple offices around Kerry.”
In the case of St James’s Hospital in Dublin, Vodafone built an application framework which has moved the organisation from paper-based clinical processes to electronic processes. Instead of having to physically make changes to prescription record information, a mobile application now allows staff to document prescription information electronically and feed it into a back-end system for ordering medicines. “The legacy system was very cumbersome and costly but the new framework can deliver applications very quickly on Windows 8.1 and other mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android,” Clancy points out.
Road and bus users in Dublin are also benefiting from a Vodafone solution. “Dublin City Council worked with us to implement Real Traffic Passenger Information (RTPI) using Machine to Machine (M2M) technology to give information to the public in real time, through a medium that is easily consumed. Updates on traffic on digital signs on the M50 or updates on when the next bus is arriving at bus stops across Dublin are delivered across the Vodafone network.”
The Nursing Board is the regulatory body for the nursing profession and therefore stores highly confidential information, making data security paramount. Nursing Board staff are mainly based in the field so a flexible, efficient way of working which meets very specific security needs is required.
“By mobilising staff with tablets, the Board was able to improve and streamline business processes,” says Clancy. “Through our Vodafone Office Access (VOA) application, we enable staff on the road to upload files and retrieve critical information from back end servers as if they were in the office so they can complete and send reports directly and securely from their tablet devices wherever they are located. We also deploy our Secure Device Manager so the Board can secure, monitor, manage and support its smart devices while staff continue to get the most out of them. By being able to remotely lock and wipe devices the organisation can feel safe in the knowledge that their confidential data is secure.”
Clancy points out that this device management solution is becoming increasingly important to both public and private sector organisations where there is a move away from business-only smartphones to the use of own personal smartphones at work. “Staff also bring their own devices and operating systems into the workplace and our Secure Device Manager allows clients to manage how confidential company data is accessed by employees on their personal equipment by implementing secure profiles, encrypting data remotely and ensuring lost or stolen devices are locked or wiped.
He believes we are only at the beginning of a revolution in public service delivery enabled by advanced communications technologies: “No one spoke about the cloud just a few years ago yet it is now the preferred service access channel for many citizens. New applications and solutions are constantly being developed to improve public service delivery and Vodafone looks forward to working with Irish public bodies on their deployment in future.”
Profile: John Clancy
An engineer by background, John Clancy has been with Vodafone for five years, initially supplying complex solutions to customers moving from mobility to total comms. He also helped to develop its partner ecosystem and led the technical sales team, and has just taken up a new role as Head of Public Sector Business.
For more information go to www.vodafone.ie/business or to discuss your individual business requirements, email John Clancy: john.clancy@vodafone.com
