Havant Borough Council hopes to speed-up its response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from citizens, through an integrated information management platform. It has deployed the services of IT consultancy Kainos to migrate from paper-based documentation to an electronic system.
The council expects electronic documentation to reduce the use of paper as well as the overheads involved in responding to FOI queries.
Ross Morley, Smart info Data (SID) programme manager at the council, said: “Paper is a nightmare — not only because of storage costs and the inconvenience of constant filing and re-filing but it is very exposed to being lost or damaged through fire and flood. The amount of time and expensive resource that is wasted wading through paper, not to mention the inconvenience to the customer in service delays and poor response times, is staggering.”
The new documentation system was first implemented at the council’s Environmental Services department. It will next be deployed at Development Services to scan planning applications and build control documents and make them available electronically.
Kainos has developed the electronic documentation system by integrating Meridio document & records management technology with Kofax’s data capture system and K2’s workflow system.
Havant Borough Council has now joined councils such as Crewe and Nantwich Borough and Peterborough City, which have adopted electronic Document and Records Management (eDRM) system.
Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council has implemented Anite’s eDRM within the Facilities Management department, while Peterborough City Council has deployed Anite’s in planning and building control, chief executive’s office and children’s services.
