Looking for partners who can add citizen value
James I could not agree with you more about the public sector and the opportunity for innovation using new technology .We launched a new service in 2005 designed to help citizens communicate with their local authority and police forces using their mobile phones. It has been met with considerable enthusiasm and thankfully our first reference customers.
I have been pleasantly surprised by the reaction from what we would all recognize as early adopters - god bless them I say but why not the rest! One reason is that I have also been constantly challenged by the rest about how coping with new technology is bringing a totally new dimension to what citizens (that's all of us) expect from our councils.
Most of our prospects are suffering from initiative overload having spent the last five years trying to enable e government based on internet protocols. They think they have reached the finish line and just as they are sitting back to catch breath we come along and respond to even more initiatives from HMG's Cabinet and Home Office.
The thing is the ROI is rapid when compared to alternative channels so it can not be ignored.
So the exciting thing is we are on the government roadmap and no one else has yet picked up the baton with empowering all mobile phone owning citizens. We have had meetings with senior delivery officers in the relevant departments and all have expressed interest in keeping in contact as what we currently provide today will one day come on their agenda.
In the meantime we have been advised to seek suitable business partners who can provide something to our existing offering .What that something is I am not sure .It probably has a fancy stamp courtesy of the OGC Buying Solutions. I am even prepared to contemplate that the value will be more than adding to the current cost of the solution.
Any way I have started the ball rolling with the usual suspects and had some interesting responses already .I have joined this forum to make contacts and to understand the best way forward for my company. Looking forward to sharing with you my experiences online and come next February .
