Greater Manchester’s new Digital City Region lead, Cllr Andrew
Western, has hit the ground running today by adding his voice to
a call to arms to re-energise the local digital agenda.
Working closely with the Government Digital Service (GDS) and the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG),
Greater Manchester Combined Authority is supporting the launch of
a new programme that will help local authorities to secure
improved services and better value from the IT market.
Cllr Western, said: “Through devolution and public service
reform, we’re making massive strides in public services – doing
more with less and reshaping the way we work to provide public
services that are fit for the future. It’s vital that we have the
IT capabilities to match – we need systems that are flexible,
secure, and capable of delivering the advanced online services
local people want and need. This programme will help us achieve
that.”
The programme will help develop best practice building blocks for
IT services, and provide a collaborative communications function
to help local authorities find out about priority projects that
support the move towards more joined-up ‘interoperable’ digital
services.
To launch the programme, MHCLG, GDS and digital leaders from
across the UK, including Greater Manchester, have issued a
declaration that sets out their collective ambition for local
public services in the internet age and their commitments to
realising it.
The declaration commits signatories to: designing services that
best meet the needs of citizens; challenging the technology
market to offer the flexible tools and services people need;
protecting citizens’ privacy and security; and delivering better
value for money.
In signing up to the declaration, Greater Manchester will be
eligible to bid for funds and support from the new MHCLG
programme, will be able to take advantage of collective
bargaining power and more flexibility from IT suppliers, and will
further cement its position as one of Europe’s leading digital
city regions.
The full declaration can be found here:
www.localdigital.gov.uk/declaration.
As well as local authorities and combined authorities, other
supporters of the declaration include:
MHCLG
GDS
Local Gov Digital
SOLACE
SOCITM
CIPFA
Local CIO Council
InnovateUK
GLA
