Amazon Web Services - Open Source Revenues and Benefits platform. A new major player on the horizon for a stale market?

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Amazon Web Services (AWS) #opensource #revenues and #benefits application display at Amazon's UK Head Office in Shoreditch. The event highlighted some interesting talks about the journey of AWS and how open-source software can help local authorities increase their efficiency while also helping their?colleagues on a micro and macro level.

The main theme of the event was the importance of open-source software in the current council landscape, which is severely underutilised! The speakers highlighted how open-source software can enable Councils to develop their own unique applications and?services by building on existing codebases. This approach can save Councils a lot of time and resource, as they can use the work of other developers and focus on developing features that are specific to their needs.

The speakers also discussed how open-source software can foster a culture of?collaboration and innovation within local authorities and their partners. By sharing code and collaborating on projects, colleagues can learn from each other and develop new skills. This can lead to a more engaged and motivated workforce, which in turn can drive?innovation. It got me thinking about how it could shape future work with our common stakeholders such as enforcement agencies, the insolvency service, HMRC and the DWP.

One of the highlights of the event was a demonstration of a new software application?developed by the Somerset Council (was Sedgemoor) team. The software automates the process of notifying benefit claimants of their CTS and HB award and sets up new?properties for council tax, linking it to Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN)?records. The UPRN is a unique identifier for every address in the UK and linking it to the council tax system could undoubtedly help to ensure that properties are correctly?assessed and valued.

The Somerset Council team also explained how they had developed the software using open-source technologies, which had enabled them to build the application quickly and?efficiently. They also highlighted the benefits of open-source software for local authorities, such as the ability to collaborate with other councils and share code and best practices.

The demonstration was well-received by the audience, who were impressed by the?simplicity and efficiency of the software. It was clear that the Somerset Council team had put a lot of thought and effort into developing a solution that would help both their?colleagues and the citizens of Somerset.

In addition to the demonstration of the software, the event also supplied an opportunity for attendees to ask questions about the process of onboarding/migrating open-source software within their own organisation. To help this discussion, the head of ICT for?Somerset Council was in attendance to answer any questions.

The head of ICT shared his experience of onboarding open-source software within the council, highlighting the benefits of open-source software for local government, such as increased flexibility and control over the software, (something that the attendees in the room felt was a major issue with current software options) as well as the ability to?collaborate with other councils.

Attendees were able to ask a range of questions, from technical queries about specific software issues, to more broad questions about the benefits and challenges of using open-source software. The head of ICT provided thoughtful and informative answers, drawing on his experience of working with open-source software within the council.

One of the most interesting discussions at the event was about GitHub, a web-based??platform that allows developers to collaborate on software projects. The speakers talked about how a small number of councils are already collaborating on standard elements like websites, using GitHub to share code and collaborate on projects. This can help to reduce?duplication of effort and improve the quality of the codebase elements for Councils.

Overall, the event was a fantastic opportunity to gain experience about the benefits of open-source software (something that I had never even heard of before) and how it can help businesses to increase their revenues while also helping their colleagues. It was clear from the talks that AWS is committed to supporting the open-source community and helping Councils use the power of open-source software.

Somerset are looking for partners to help shape their software and have run a successful trial with their #businessrates offering on another large core city council already (so no scalability issues at all), and the council tax and benefits module is around 70% complete as I write this post; so If you are interested in learning more about this software, please contact me on my lacef email:

[email protected] ;

and I will happily pass on your contact details. The officers spearheading this project are also going to attend the 2023 LACEF Conference in Birmingham (scan below for details).

If you have the chance to attend an AWS open-source event in the future, I highly?recommend it - and we might see this product used by more Councils sooner than you think.

Lastly, a big thank you to Wayne Soutter and Amanda Pujol for arranging the sessions on the day and providing some excellent speakers and content.

#LACEF #opensource #revenues #benefits #innovation #awscloud

Tom

LACEF

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