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Delivering better public services to Kent residents
increasingly relies upon the public authorities in the county
working in partnership and making the best
use of technology.
Kent Connects - the lead technology partnership for Kent and
Medway, set up in 2002 - aims to enable the transformation of
public services through technology.
Its partners include KCC, Medway Council, district councils,
Kent Fire and Rescue Service and Kent Police. It is funded by its
partner authorities and other sources such as Interreg.
Kent Connects offers its partners a single, countywide IT
infrastructure (both technology and people) to enable them to join
up and share their service delivery mechanisms securely and cost
effectively.
They also provide a secure website where partners can hold
online discussions and share documents.
With IT as the backbone of most public services, KCC recognises
that technology is one of the keys to successful and efficient
public services. KCC is leading on a project with Kent Connects to
provide a single public service network for Kent. Significant
service improvements are expected once the network is in place from
March 2009.
KCC is involved in many Kent Connects projects, including:
Collaborative call centre
Kent Connects commissioned a feasibility study looking at
customer services issues, technology and telephony and data
exchange and integration that will inform the Pan Kent Contact
Centre Programme.
Voice Over IP (VOIP)
Kent Connects is undertaking research into technology issues
with VOIP, instead of each authority undertaking their own.
National Land and Property Gazetteer
Kent Connects is leading on a project to give partner
authorities access to a single database of National Land and
Property Gazetteer data. The project has attracted the attention of
the IDeA (Improvement and Development Agency) which could mean the
project expands to include more than 500
authorities. |