Issue - meetings

To approve the Digital Strategy  

That the Digital Strategy be APPROVED.  

56.1           The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 33-41, set out a new Digital Strategy for the Council which Members were asked to approve. 

56.2           In introducing the report, the Lead Member for Customer Focus explained that, over the last few years, the Council had been catching up in terms of its digital ‘presence’; however, it was now one of the leading authorities in terms of embracing digital technology. The strategy before the Committee was about what the Council was aspiring to do and contained three themes as set out in Paragraph 2.2 of the report: digital customer; digital workforce; and digital place. In explaining the themes, he advised that “digital customer” referred to the Council wanting to interact with customers in a way that suited them and to improve how it communicated with them i.e. keeping them updated automatically without the need to telephone or email. Digital workforce was about supporting the ‘one Council’ approach to the Council’s commercialisation and business transformation journey with the digital approach aiming to drive improvements and efficiencies and create an environment where Members and staff were empowered to make positive change. Digital place referred to the importance of working with partners to increase the capability of those who were digitally excluded as well as those who were online but lacked the confidence and knowledge to make the most of it. Each of these was supported by five principles: to put the customer first – digital by preference but access for all; make digital services as simple as possible; embrace change and show openness to new ideas; have a ‘one Council’ approach so everyone was pulling in the same direction; and to use evidence and insights to drive decision-making.

56.3           In response to a query, the Corporate Services Manager confirmed that the IT and Digital Teams would be undertaking the review of the Council’s website with engagement from services across the Council. The Digital Strategy would sit alongside the Communications Strategy which was also about how people communicated with the Council, and vice-versa, and both were important to ensure access for all.

56.4           Accordingly, it was