Borough digital initiatives

These initiatives show how LOTI can help boroughs make digital innovations better and faster.

Data work
 
Camden have been working to use data to understand needs, deliver outcomes and shape them, along with open data initiatives which enable wider engagement, creation of new services; both for the council using open data APIs and businesses using open data. They are also seeing increasing use of smart / sensor-based data being used and brought into their open data platform.
 
They have also recently embarked on implementation of a data lake that will enable them to share data effectively within the organisation and more broadly with partners such as health, use a lab approach to analysis of data within services and maximise opportunities using unstructured data (such as PDF files or audio recordings) for improving public services and better decision making.
 
Work around partnership and collaboration 
 
Camden are working closely with academic institutions and partners (such as UCL, Nurture programme) whereby they work with students who bring fresh, innovative perspective to solving public services challenges and service improvements (examples of work to date include use of chatbots, social media data and sensors, smart city solutions).
 
Connected community spaces 
 
Camden are rolling out connected community spaces where their residents can come together and deliver their own digital inclusion projects, making use of hardware and free internet connections provided by Camden, as well as enabling spaces in their communities were their Community Learning team can conduct digital training sessions and support residents as their digital skills develop. They expect this project to increase digital inclusion as well as increase community cohesion and empowerment.
 
Connectivity in the borough 
 
A digital rooftop programme since 2015, and BT Wi-Fi kiosks in high-footfall public spaces.
 
Low-powered wide area network/ Internet of Things 
 
Camden are in the discovery phase of developing an LPWAN solution to create a unified and comprehensive IoT enabling network across the borough to support deployment of sensors and devices for multiple applications in spaces such as highways, adult social care and environment. They expect these solutions to support their communities in how they interact with council services and how we can support our most vulnerable residents.  Camden also envisages being able to engage with local and national talent to develop even more innovative solutions within this sphere.
 
Participation platform 
 
As part of their ambition to increase transformative participation such as enabling social action, Camden are developing a new participation platform to be their main resource and tool to drive engagement and increase volunteering with partners and residents. They see this as a portal where opportunities and accomplishments can be displayed and discussed to create an organic and community-led space which can then guide and inform requirements and collaborations. This will give opportunity for council services to be led by citizens rather than the council and develop more innovative responses to local challenges.
 
Integrated care record 
 
Camden Integrated Care Record (CIDR) has been in place for a number of years, well ahead of STP plans, delivering real value to GPs and social workers. They have been working with STP colleagues as part of aspiration to extend this value further into health and especially hospitals (as well as getting more health data back).  

Pothole detection 

Croydon completed a pilot of pothole detection, using connected vehicles and machine learning for early detection of defects and damage on road surfaces.  

They are also running a pilot to monitor humidity and temperature on a social housing unit, undergoing recladding works, to measure the impact of black mould, and build the business case for wider deployment.  

Manage arrears

Hackney have built a tool which integrates GOV.UK Notify with their Manage Arrears system to communicate with tenants and leaseholders who owe the council money. Since its beta launch it has decreased arrears by 12 per cent and automated over 80 per cent of collections. 

User-focused design and iterative development

Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames have adopted a user-focused design and iterative development, together with GOV.UK Notify and Cloud Hosting, to build a social prescribing platform that allows residents to find and self-refer themselves to over 170 local support services and activities.  

Full fibre rollout 

Southwark have rolled out gigabit full fibre broadband to homes and businesses, including community halls and tenancy association halls. Over 20,000 properties have been connected so far and rollout will finish by early 2020. Lessons from how Southwark successfully achieved this are shared across London.

Chatbots

Waltham Forest launched Facebook and Twitter Chatbots which help residents report neighbourhood concerns (e.g. fly tipping). This innovation means it is very easy for residents to report these issues and for the council to respond quicker.