17.07.14
Local authorities must address IT skills gap – BT
Local authorities must address IT skills gaps in their organisations to increase efficiency and maximise the benefits of recent technology investments.
A new BT white paper – Public Services: Delivering the Next Generation of Change – revealed that more than three quarters of local government authorities have embraced technology to transform their services, but there is a gap in the ability of staff to utilise the technology
Based on responses from almost 400 local government officials, the survey found that across all six digital skills areas (customer services, shared services, social media, data analysis, IT literacy and a culture of innovation) around a third on average disagreed that sufficient skills existed across the areas identified, with 5% strongly disagreeing.
It did reveal, though, that 41% of respondents felt that IT literacy for all staff was very important, but only 7% strongly agreed that the skills currently existed at a sufficient level in their organisation – although an average of half (47%) agreed they were present.
Ian Dalton, president, global government and health, BT Global Services, said: “It’s encouraging to see that three quarters of public sector organisations have already embraced technology to help transform their services. Technology alone can’t continue to sustain the public sector mantra of ‘do more with less’. We need to be more creative, using solutions such as mobile working and collaboration technologies to transform how public services are delivered.
“However, it’s clear from this research that public sector investment should be balanced across both technology and people, particularly investing in skills such as IT literacy. Many digital inclusion and IT skills training programmes exist, but focus on citizens, not on the development of employees.”
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