Belfast-based Lagan Technologies has developed a ‘Big Society’ toolkit which includes a range of technology tools that enable more effective links between housing providers and local authorities and the communities that they serve by reducing bureaucracy, improving compliance and providing the public with better access to services via mobile applications, social networks and other web interfaces.
Des Speed, CEO, Lagan Technologies, said, “In his speech launching the Big Society, the Prime Minister outlined its core principles – social action, public service reform and community engagement. He also signalled a commitment to decentralising power from central to local government and ultimately to ‘nano’ level. Lagan’s Big Society toolkit will help housing providers and local authorities manage new levels of community involvement and avoid bureaucratic snarl-ups.”
Built around the latest version of Lagan’s enterprise case management software, the Big Society toolkit includes:
- Citizen Connect – a free iPhone application that enables residents to identify, photograph, location tag and submit details of any issues, from graffiti to refuse collection.
- Online integration tools, including a range of features that will enable local government to receive requests via social media platforms and respond with a request that is configured for the sender’s platform.
- Dashboards to give senior management access a highly-configurable range of data and track KPIs such as performance, speed of response and case resolution rates.
- Employee Mobile – a new thin client for staff who need to perform a large part of their job out of the office.
- A new access- control tool to support the complex requirements of social care and other security-conscious functions.
Lagan said the toolkit was intended to address three core areas: the increasingly mobile needs of local residents and tenants; the growing use of social media; and higher expectations for housing providers and local authorities to respond swiftly to requests from tenants and residents.
