Your London Wins Best Shared Services Award Submitted By: Gray Matter PR Friday, 16 June 2006

Your London Wins Best Shared Services Award Submitted by: Gray Matter PR Friday, 16 June 2006

Portal receives Government Computing BT Award for its ‘Report It’ facility London Connects, June 16, 2006: Your London (www.yourlondon.gov.uk) has received a prestigious Government Computing BT Award, winning the ‘Best Shared Services’ category for the portal’s ‘Report It’ facility. Report It is a centrally hosted facility for residents of the capital to report problems such as litter, noise, broken street lamps, blocked drains and breaches of planning rules, to their respective borough. It is an innovative example of how shared services can benefit local authorities and citizens alike. If a resident wishes to report a burnt-out vehicle, they can click on a map and the Report It website will display the local authority responsible for the disposal of the car. It also helpfully displays a red car icon to show whether the problem has already been reported. A hyperlink then takes the user to an online form to log details. This is another example of how Your London is providing a genuinely useful service to people in and around London. With 33 borough councils to choose from, residents, visitors and commuters cannot be expected to know the boundaries and responsibilities of every council. www.yourlondon.gov.uk, makes it easier for users to navigate London’s online public services by directing the user to the relevant authority and providing greater accessibility. Report It was piloted by six London boroughs and the Your London portal over six months and has now been rolled out to other London councils with a 100% uptake of the service. Authorities can easily join by linking from their website to the Report It facility and can include their own branding. Customer service agents can also use it in their contact centre to log problem reports made over the phone. Even where problems happen to occur just outside of their council’s borders, Report It will automatically forward the report to the correct authority. Judges of the awards commended the Report It facility and said, ‘it demonstrates a strong focus on the citizen, providing a joined-up user-friendly customer interface.’ The Report It facility was implemented by software developer Tagish in partnership with London Connects using the NonStopGov eGovernment product and has been integrated into Your London by web solutions company System Associates (http://www.systemassociates.co.uk), lead development partner for Your London. Other facilities on Your London include a geographical search facility for open spaces, playgrounds, cash machines, tube stations, pharmacies, public toilets and sports centres. Pan-London school e-admissions are due to pilot shortly. - ends – Press enquiries:

Page 1 Kimberley Gray – PR Consultant Tel: 0118 969 4904/07884 405 835 Email: [email protected] Other enquiries: Claire Simpson – Director, System Associates Tel: 01628 511662 About Your London The operational release of Your London – the official online guide to London’s public and community services – took place on 25th April 2005 and represents the first building block in the development of the single, most comprehensive point of reference for residents, visitors and businesses. Your London, led by the London Connects partnership, will provide the definitive starting point for access to all London public and community services. By joining together, London’s public services will be able to establish a stronger, richer dialogue with the community. All those living, working, studying or investing will benefit from vastly improved access to London information and services, regardless of borough boundaries. About London Connects London Connects is the public sector partnership that promotes the effective use of technology to meet the future needs of Londoners, the city's businesses and visitors. High profile projects include Your London and Government Connect. Partners include the Greater London Authority, the Association of London Government, and London Boroughs; together with other cross-London service providers and agencies, including Health agencies, London Development Agency, Transport for London, London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, Metropolitan Police Service, London Grid for Learning, London Libraries Development Agency, and the London Voluntary Services Council. About NonStopGov NonStopGov is a highly configurable, multi-channel eGovernment solution incorporating contact management, online forms, interactive ebookings, epayments, case management, licensing, email newsletters and business intelligence. It enhances the customer experience through extensive self-service facilities and intelligent use of customer profiles and transaction histories. NonStopGov is used by over 30 public service providers in Britain. About System Associates (http://www.systemassociates.co.uk) System Associates specialises in the delivery of integrated web services including advanced web management such as high availability hosting, security and support. Working for organisations such as HM Treasury, British Library, Greater London Authority, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Buzz Airlines and the London Connects London Portal project, its product portfolio includes portal technology, bespoke content

Page 2 management, search engines, spider technology, media asset library, Freedom of Information workflow, single sign-on and large online registration solutions. System Associates boasts particular expertise in e-GIF and government-related specifications, accessibility, technical architecture, project management, databases and integration. The privately held company is ISO9001:2000 and BS7799 accredited, has achieved Investor in People status and is Windsor & Maidenhead’s Small Business of the Year. The company is located at: 16 Grove Park Waltham Road White Waltham Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 3LW Tel: 01628 511660 www.systemassociates.co.uk Email: [email protected].

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