CASE STUDY

Industry Sector - Government

e-Government Project to Deliver Savings to East Lothian Council

Scenario:

East Lothian Council wished to implement a solution to cut down on use of printed documents, bring information online and increase knowledge sharing and efficiency.

Background:

The announcement of Central Government guidelines focused on council services being available online by 2005 had concentrated minds on devising ways achieve this, whilst achieving greater efficiency and openness in local government as a whole.

Intranet development was identified by East Lothian Council as one effective way to reduce the production of paper-based communications and so increase efficiency, save money and improve the flow of information across departments and organisations.

Infographics’ proposal to build a flexible easy-to-use Intranet based on the latest Microsoft technologies was identified as the best way to achieve these goals.

Implementation:

Infographics was selected to partner with East Lothian Council to develop and install its Intranet system. The solution was tasked with providing a comprehensive Online internal network, accessible by all employees.

From this brief, Infographics developed an Intranet that allows users to access a range of council-related information Online, including: an internal contact book, an A-Z of services, committee minutes, an active bulletin board, press releases, and detailed information on finance, training and organisational structure.

Information circulated via the Intranet will eventually be made available to members of the public through the council’s website, marking another important step towards more open local government in East Lothian.

Business Benefits:

  • Net publishing replaces paper – with significant savings returned
  • Easier access to and sharing of information
  • Improved internal services
  • More open local government
  • Move closer to being fully Online by 2005

East Lothian Council anticipates achieving significant efficiency savings through electronic publishing and circulation of documents.

John Lindsay, Chief Executive of East Lothian Council, said: “The council’s key goals in investing in the Intranet were to improve access to and exchange of information, and to achieve significant cost savings through replacing traditional publishing with electronic publishing.

“It is estimated that savings could amount to as much as 20 per cent per year of publishing costs once the Intranet is fully operational. This is a very exciting project to be involved in and we are confident of achieving our aims.”

Technical Overview:

The Intranet site, designed by Infographics specifically for East Lothian Council, integrates with Microsoft Site Server and moves the council closer to meeting e-Gif requirements.

Operational Requirements:

  • Extremely user-friendly, allowing those with no IT training to benefit equally with those who do
  • Fast, efficient, cost effective
  • Facilities for drag-and-drop publishing in a controlled environment
  • Comprehensive search engine for easy location of information

Summary:

Online solutions represent the future for local government bodies that are keen to utilise and gain from the efficiencies and improved communications offered by today’s electronic technology. East Lothian Council has been quick to respond to pressure to bring more information Online and so is already well on the way to meeting set Government targets.