Cabinet Office Chief Information Officer

Using technology to support the frontline

Children’s services
The world of children’s services is complex, with an extensive workforce of about half a million across many specialist disciplines. Effective and efficient co–ordination of those services and the involvement of practitioners from multiple agencies are essential if children, young people and their families are to be best served. The Government is investing in a number of IT–based support tools to help achieve this. Three different, but complementary, systems each with its own specific purpose are being delivered:

• ContactPoint [External website] will provide practitioners with an online directory to quickly find out who else is working with the same child or young person. It will not hold case data.
• The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) [External website] will enable practitioners, where consent is given, to gather and record information about those children or young persons with additional needs in a systematic, holistic way, so that they can work out what should be done to address those needs. To operate efficiently the framework needs a secure, electronic storage and retrieval system – eCAF [External website].
• The Integrated Children’s System (ICS) [External website] is targeted at a relatively small cohort of children in need (as defined under the Children Act 1989) and is a case management system used by children's social care workers carrying out their statutory responsibilities.

Bringing the local community to life for kids

The world of DirectgovKids
Phase one of this cross-government service was launched in March 2007 to help 5–11 year olds understand the world around them in a fun and interactive way. This followed extensive development and testing with children, but also with parents and teachers, for whom supporting material is provided on the website.

What a fantastic site!! I will definitely be using this in my teaching.

A teacher’s view

Everyone says it’s great. Our headteacher even uses it during assemblies. It makes learning very fun. Also my friends and I like the children’s rights page, it makes us feel important.

A kid’s view

Schools
Over one million people – teachers, heads, support staff and governors – are supported in their work through technology. Investment in ICT provides schools with broadband connectivity and facilities ranging from interactive whiteboards to browser–based managed learning environments. There are also national facilities available to school staff and governors:

• Teachernet [External website] is a resource website used by hundreds of thousands of teachers every month. It has everything from lesson plans and assembly resources, to an online teacher community, magazine and online publications. The services on it and its sister site, GovernorNet [External website], are being brought together in an even better and unified facility called SchoolsWeb.
• Complementing that is Teacher’s TV [External website] an innovative digital channel with editorial independence that provides access to high quality teaching materials and supports professional development. It also provides news, discussions and facilities such as podcasting.

Innovative delivery
The UK is recognised as a world leader in innovative and effective use of ICT in education. For example, 59 ministers from around the world came to the 2007 annual Moving Young Minds seminar and forum, while BETT, the world’s leading annual educational ICT event, attracted over 600 suppliers and over 30,000 visitors. Examples of different forms of innovation include:

• Using interactive games for learning: such as a 3D game developed in 2007 by Ufi/learndirect which offers learners the ability to experience a day at a virtual workplace.
• Making use of mobile technology, such as laptops and PDAs, to help frontline service professionals
• Using social network websites: a new UCAS island onSecondlife.com where advisers will be present as avatars to offer real–world university clearing and application advice for students.
• Using texting: a text service for parents to help reduce absenteeism is being trialled this year in 400 schools.
• Promoting innovation: the Parent Know–How innovation fund launched in 2007 encourages imaginative and effective ways of sharing parenting advice such as Web 2.0 and SMS. Funding is around £20million covering 2008–2010/11.
• DIUS, A new Whitehall Department, a new way of working: From the outset DIUS wanted to use new technologies to enhance their ways of working and to be more flexible. There are no fixed desks or computer terminals. All staff have been equipped with encrypted laptops enabling Staff to work anywhere, including from home.
  
  DIUS is saving money, improving productivity and helping the environment They have installed a high–definition telepresence systems enabling geographically distant colleagues to be virtually on–site. Policy advisers in Sheffield are now briefing ministers via telepresence, saving hours of staff time previously lost on train journeys.

2007 milestones

On www.direct.gov.uk and www.examzone.co.ukyou can now:
• Find childcare and nurseries in your area.
• Find schools in your area, research them and apply for a schools place.
• Find school term dates.
• Find the best route to school and apply for travel support.
• Find out about free school meals.
• Check on attendance or pay for school trips (in some areas).
• Get your exam results.
• Search for hundreds of thousands of courses and email or book a callback from an adviser.
• Book a callback from an adult learning grant adviser.
• Find a university or college and search for higher education courses.
• Apply for a university place through UCAS.
• Apply for student loans and grants and track your account.

Service Transformation – joining up behind the scenes
In order to improve and personalise services in such a big education system, a lot of joining up is needed behind the scenes. To ensure the seamless involvement of different service contributors they need to share common approaches, standards, facilities and delivery infrastructure.

Our major programme of work includes:
• a cross–system information and identity service strategy;
• cross–system bodies to ensure coherent systems and standards for all;
• a shared, multi–partner learner registration service;
• making use of existing government IT assets, such as Government Connect, to provide public employees with secure access to service information.

Focus in 2008 and beyond

Inclusive delivery
There are a number of linked initiatives which will help widen access to the benefits of the internet and online services and avoid digital exclusion:

• A Get Online Day on 12 October 2007 with UK online centres around the country provided a game–based, fun introduction to the benefits of the internet for parents and their children. It achieved a 98% satisfaction rating from participants, with 81% saying they now feel more confident with the internet and 98% now intending to learn how to do more online – even though 37% of participants had no internet access before the event.
• Myguide has been rolled out during the past year with support provided by UK online centres. This is a service that makes the internet more accessible and usable for people who currently do not use it, whether because of disability or lack of skills and confidence. Research shows that an impressive 84% of users felt it had a positive impact on their lives.
• Know IT All for Parents: over one million free CD–ROM guides to safe and positive use of the internet for schools, with summaries in minority ethnic languages.
• A Home Access Taskforce, bringing together government, industry and the voluntary sector, is exploring how all pupils can have personal access to learning technology and the internet.

This will build on the success of the Computers for Pupils programme that is providing equipment and internet access to 100,000 pupils in many of the most disadvantaged areas in England.