PLANS to transform IT at Pembrokeshire County Council have been kick started with £600,000 investment and exemption from financial cuts following cabinet agreement.

An ‘exciting’ revised strategy for information, communication and technology (ICT) at the corporate centre have been developed for the next 18 months.

Cabinet member responsible Cllr Neil Prior told members on Monday (January 8) about the plan to transform how digital technology is used at the council and what efficiencies, improvements and savings can be made.

He referred to systems being used by other councils in the UK and worldwide, such as Amazon Alexia, Smart Cities, chat bots and more.

“The world has changed,” said Cllr Prior, who has been working with the authority’s head of information technology, Lee McSparron.

He said that there were three key areas – smarter and agile working, digital services including building on the 33,000 people already accessing council information and services online and people, reviewing ICT structures and using skills and knowledge to lead the authority into the “digital world”.

Information and integration to improve data sharing will be progressed as well as ensuring resilience and robustness of technology.

This will require in the region of £600,000 said Cllr Prior, which would come from ‘invest to save’ budget. The ICT plan will also be exempt from the 5% cuts currently affecting other service areas.

“We are not going to make any progress without appropriate investment,” said Cllr Prior.

“It’s with great pleasure and great excitement that I present the ICT strategy to cabinet,” he added.

Cabinet member for finance Cllr Bob Kilmister backed Cllr Prior’s proposals, stating: “If we don’t invest that money we have no hope of making any transformation progress at all, particularly in terms of electronic management.”

This was echoed by Cllr Tessa Hodgson, cabinet member for social services, who said: “Without this investment the transformation programme is just not deliverable.”

She added that social services were early adopters of agile working but it was important to remember it had the potential to lead to staff feeling isolated without the informal conversations of an office environments.

Cllr Paul Miller highlighted the importance of reducing ‘multi-function devices’ in County Hall to reduce paper waste.

Cabinet voted unanimously to approve the funding for the new ICT strategy.