In an effort to make “Learning” more focused on the specific needs of our membership, we have reviewed our course offerings and launched a completely new programme for the next 12 months. The new programme offers a wider range of course, at more locations, and with more detail provided on each, to help you judge better who to nominate for the course, and the likely benefits to be achieved from it.

How can you source ever more complex voice, data and mobile services and at the same time deliver the cost savings demanded in a time of financial constraint? Tracking the various technologies and pricing tariffs on offer is virtually a full-time job. You may believe there are potential savings to be made but not have the bandwidth to pursue them.

Austerity looms, forcing public sector organisations to examine how they deliver their services. Two things will be critical to enabling the Council of the Future to deliver more from less - having the right ICT systems in place,and having well managed information, held electronically.

Austerity looms, forcing public sector organisations to examine how they deliver their services. Two things will be critical to enabling them to deliver more from less - having the right ICT systems in place,and having well managed information, held electronically.

Making the right information available in the right format at the right time to the right people inside and outside the organisation is vital to efficiency. Information Management combines many difficult challenges, but getting it right brings huge benefits.

An accelerating pace of innovation and the need to deliver more and better services for less money requires strategic thinking to be focused on the need for swift implementation of change.

Strategically, information management needs to be closely bound with your business and ICT strategy. Neither can work effectively without the other. It is also vitally concerned with information quality, information security and business continuity – both for the organisation and for its customers and partners. Historically, organisations have struggled to meet the need for accurate and well-structured information.

Developing a business strategy is a fundamental part both of achieving the vision that the council sets for itself, and for achieving the Council of the Future. The business strategy addresses what the organisation (possibly in conjunction with its partners) has to do to achieve the outcomes which the vision describes - this may often address the management capacity and structure, the core administrative services, the service planning process and its relation to the corporate plan.

"Strategies for ensuring approporiate ICT infrastructures, services and applications are in place, and that information is appropriately managed"