10 Ways Technology Can Cut Costs And Boost Efficiency In The Public Sector

http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/37044

Very nice article, but 2 problems:

1) The savings we seem to be looking for are upfront savings - it doesn't seem to matter how much it night save in the longer term. In fact, we see the government shutting things down, saying this will save £x as if all it was doing is wasting £ rather than investing it, which must have been a possibility. Investment in tech may well be better in the long run, but how do we pay for it now?

2) Efficiency = fewer jobs, either as a euphemism, or because technology achieves greater efficiency and less need for humans. Fewer jobs is seen as bad, making efficiency bad.

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Make the workforce more effective

#1 Allow location-independent working

Work should be an activity, not a place. Virtual office solutions will free employees, allowing them to work from any location as effectively as in the office. Location-independence also means being able to work anywhere within a building – wireless networking can improve access to information and boost worker efficiency.

#2 Unify communications

From Voice Over IP (VOIP), voicemail and instant messaging, today’s unified communications technology can reduce costs by consolidating telephony into an organisation’s ICT. Unified communications results in lower equipment costs, reduced operational expense and simpler management. Using a hosted model will allow Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings and efficiencies to be realised in the shortest time possible.

#3 Embrace web-based collaboration

Collaboration is key to creating a modern, flexible organisation. Adopting the latest online collaboration tools will enable virtual meetings and training sessions and enhance cross-team working. By reducing employees’ need to travel, governmental organisations can save time and money, as well as lowering their impact on the environment.

#4 Exploit video

The human voice provides just ten per cent of information exchanged in a meeting. Video can provide the remaining 90 percent. From desktop-based webcams to full-scale TelePresence suites, there are now a huge range of affordable, flexible video options available that enable organisations to have in-person levels of communication without the need to travel – leading to lower costs and faster, better decision-making.


Create a more efficient workplace

#5 Redesign and relocate

A modern, flexible workforce is no longer dependent on physical buildings or on many of the traditional facilities within them. The public sector needs a new approach to office space built upon the concept of operational efficiency. This is clearly a complex process and will take time to implement but the potential cost savings are substantial.

#6 Manage estates intelligently

Many organisations have already seen the benefits of taking a connected approach to building management. Using networking technology to apply easily managed and measured energy policies and centralised security systems makes managing large, complex estates simpler and more cost-effective.

Get energy efficient

#7 Introduce power management

Advanced networking technologies, such as Cisco EnergyWise, manage the power consumption of every device on the network, giving organisations the ability to measure, monitor and therefore reduce the amount of energy they use.

Deliver support through ICT

#8 Consolidate datacentres

With data storage requirements for the average organisation increasing by 50% per annum, virtualisation holds huge potential for cost reduction. Moving data storage and applications to the cloud eliminates the need for capital expenditure, reduces energy consumption and improves hardware utilisation levels.

#9 Manage the ICT lifecycle

In a typical legacy network, 80% of ICT costs have to do with lifecycle operations and just 20% with product acquisition. A structured review and “spring clean” of the existing architecture can reveal significant potential savings through reducing duplication, unnecessary complexity and out of date, inefficient equipment.


#10 Develop a virtual desktop environment

A virtual desktop runs on a network connected user device and communicates with a central, virtualised server. The user operates the computer as normal but the virtual desktop device does not execute the application. Rather, this is carried out on the central server. The simpler end user device, and the fact that all applications run on central, virtualised servers, means that capital and service costs are greatly reduced.