One Scotland PortalProject Name: | Current Stage |
SRO:Ruth Parsons | |
Vision |
PM: Lois MacFadyen | Project Commissioning |
Project Initiation |
DA Lead | Assets |
Design |
KM Lead | ConstructX |
Implement |
Ruth ParsonsSE lead officer: | |
Estimated Project Cost | Operate |
Estimated End - end July 2008 | |
What is the background to the project and the context in which it was established, what were the issues/drivers/opportunities which led to its inception- why?Background and context: |
Scotland is well behind many other countries which have public sector portals ranging from simple signposting services to existing websites to fully transactional websites through which services are directly offered. In Scotland, there is a proliferation of public sector websites which have evolved in response to individual business requirements. Likewise The Scottish Government funds a range of third sector websites which are often intended to serve a particular business need rather than a range of business needs. While there are some good examples of partnership working and joining up of a range of information, the absence of a strong strategic approach to the management of public sector websites means that it is difficult for citizens to find what they are looking for and the public sector generally is spending a lot of money on website design, development and hosting. There is a real opportunity in Scotland now to initiate development of a public sector portal, in particular to join up with the work already being developed under the Customer First programme, particularly the Citizens' Account. Customer First is a Scottish Government sponsored programme which is being delivered by the Improvement Service in partnership with all 32 Local Authorities. At the Strategic Board meeting of 9 August 2007, it was agreed that a more strategic, integrated approach to public sector websites should be taken and, as a first step, The Scottish Government, its agencies, NDPBs and local authorities would work in partnership to build a citizen facing portal which would provide a simple signposting service and which could be launched alongside the Citizen's Account. |
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Objectives & Benefits -What are the aims/objectives/benefits & deliverables that the project is seeking to achieve, what improvements will there be as a result of this project - what? |
The aim is to develop a phased approach to development of a citizen-facing portal for access to public services and information. This project will deliver Phase One: the portal itself will contain relatively little content and will act primarily as a signposting function out to content on existing websites. It will link with the Citizens' Account which is being developed through the Customer First programme to enable citizens to maintain their basic personal details and to personalise their services via the portal. The first phase of the project will concentrate on services and information delivered by the Scottish Government, its agencies, NDPBs, and local authorities. The primary benefit of Phase 1 of the portal development will be to provide a single, memorable and convenient point of access for citizens to interact with The Scottish Government, Agency, NDPB and some Local Authority public services and information. This will help citizens to find what they are looking for across existing citizen facing websites without having to understand organisational boundaries or be familiar with the myriad of public sector websites already in existence. Subsequent phases will be dependent on development of business cases and funding approval but are broadly conceived as follows: Phase Two -Further content migrated into the portal, signposting to additional public service providers represented, introduction of the Citizen Account to other/additional services, more strategic marketing approach aimed at people already using the Citizen Account Phase Three -a fully integrated one stop shop service, deep content, single seamless log on and authentication through Citizen Account, delivery of shared services through the infrastructure, wider Scottish public sector representation, better control over public web site development and governance, personalisation and high functionality utilising the existing infrastructure |
The project is seeking to achieve the following savings Phase 1 of this project will not deliver savings - the primary purpose is to improve the service to citizens. Significant efficiency savings from a public sector portal will only be achievable where services are transformed for delivery within the portal and these will need to developed on an individual business case basis. | Improvements / Benefits as a result of this project will be: The primary benefit of Phase 1 of the portal development will be to provide a single, memorable and convenient point of access for citizens to interact with The Scottish Government, Agency, NDPB and Local Authority public services and information. This will help citizens to find what they are looking for across existing citizen facing websites without having to understand organisational boundaries or be familiar with the myriad of public sector websites already in existence. Potentially, longer term benefits will include: 1.Seamless citizen access to all public services and information with a single customer account and authentication system to underpin all transactions - leading to improved customer satisfaction. 2.Seamless service delivery for citizens e.g only having to notify a change of address once. 3.A consistent approach can be taken to designing services around the needs of the citizen, ensuring that accessibility and usability issues are managed. 4.Personalised services for citizens - quick access to relevant services. 5.Reduction in website design, development and hosting costs as some existing websites are closed down and their content migrated to the portal. 6.Supports shared services e.g. reduction in development costs for ICT solutions by providing re-usable components within the portal e.g. a single payments engine to manage payments across the public sector. 7.Improved co-operation across public sector organisations through a shared approach. 8.Meeting the i2010 strategic objectives. 9.Significant efficiency savings will be delivered where services are transformed for delivery within the portal and these will need to developed on an individual business case basis. |
Stakeholders and governance-Which organisations are involved in delivering the project, what are their roles and responsibilities, who is accountable? Who are the key stakeholders to whom the project is relevant?- who? |
The Scottish Government - project management. The project is managed under Prince2 methodology and there is a Project Board in place to oversee delivery. The Scottish Government will work in partnership with the Improvement Service as the portal will be built upon the Customer First national infrastucture and Sopra Group will provide technical support for the development of the portal. The key stakeholders from a business perspective are public sector organisations in Scotland which deliver citizen facing services or information. For this project, it will be primarily The Scottish Government, Agencies, NDPBs and Local Authorities. |
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Work plan-What are the timeframes, milestones and deadlines for these activities to be undertaken and how much progress has been made with these activities to date- when? |
User Acceptance Testing currently underway. Launch of portal likely to be July 2008. |
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Budget-What is the overall budget for the project and how is this to be released? What is the spend to date, is this as forecast?- how much? |
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Risks-What are the main risks in terms of project management, stakeholder engagement and communications, delivery approach and benefits realisation? What can be done to mitigate against these risks?- what if? |
Risks | Impact/Probability | Actions |
Breakdown in collaboration and lack of buy-in from public sector organisations resulting in the project not being delivered to scope and impacting future developments. | High/Low | Reduction: active management of Communication Plan. |
Inadequate support arrangements if Customer First programme has not established support arrangements in time. | High/Medium | Acceptance: work with Customer First to define support arrangements. |
Phase One of the project will not demonstrate enough benefits to support further development. | High/Medium | Reduction: success measures will be established. |
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