SAP Public Sector Run Live shows digital innovation is alive and kicking despite austerity

The rise of real-time data, the digital boardroom and cloud technology were the key topics as IT decision makers from the public sector gathered for SAP Public Sector Run Live last week.

Run Live was organised in response to the importance of technology to local and central government authorities given their increasing digital focus. This, paired with constant pressures to cut costs and deliver innovative services to citizens, is seeing public sector organisations look to digital transformation to enhance the quality and reach of their public services.

We brought together industry experts and Public Sector organisations that have begun the journey to digital transformation to advise attendees on successful digital projects, amid ongoing efficiency and budget savings.

The key to digital success is for authorities to have complete transparency of their digital transformation, from the executive team all the way through to their residents and partners. Only then will they be able to get a full view of the process and successfully improve performance and develop forward-thinking citizen-centric programs. I opened the event, discussing SAP’s HANA technology leading the next wave of digital simplification and bridging to the cloud of the future and introducing our full schedule of experts.

Speakers from analyst firm TechMarketView, Liverpool City Council,and Capgemini, as well as SAP Public Sector specialists , provided great insight into how public sector organisations can benefit from adopting new trends in technology.

Run Live opened up with Georgina O’Toole, director at TechMarketView, describing the increasing urgency in the Public Sector due to disruptive technology such as Bitcoin and ongoing uncertainty around Brexit.

Georgina described how organisations must consider digital as ‘a symphony not a solo’ as she outlined the importance of having strong technology eco-systems. This means thinking longer-term about technology strategies and putting transformation at the forefront of technology strategies, as opposed to the technology itself.

Cloud and digital initiatives are helping public sector organisations work together and share skills, resources and processes to deliver services more cost effectively. Run Live attendees were given a great example of this as Liverpool City Council revealed their new working relationship with Salford City Council. Liverpool uses a Shared Partner Managed Cloud that allows it to store data in Salford’s private cloud, and use IoT and big data to drive decision making.

The benefits of this partnership are huge. Liverpool has already cut its costs by 40% and is now looking at new ways of driving revenue – particularly benefiting from its thriving tourism services.

We gave attendees a series of fascinating live demonstrations that showcased organisations doing truly amazing things with SAP technology. For example, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is using a mobile app called Kawader to empower young people to get into employment, find jobs and courses they may want to do, and apply for jobs.

A little closer to home, a council in the North of England has deployed a service called ‘Fix Anything’ which identifies infrastructure issues around the city. For example, if there’s a pipe that is coming close to requiring maintenance the app will advise on the level of required work and potential cost and impact of the fault, then enable the organisation to compare suppliers and decide whether they want to go through a procurement process.

We also demonstrated another innovative use of mobile technology in Nanjing, China, where SAP’s mobile technology is being used to identify traffic issues. The city’s authorities is using live data and social media feeds to identify issues, analyse average speeds and push it straight to drivers’ sat-nav systems, re-route public vehicles like buses and emergency services.

Public Sector organisations can also use technology to make cities smarter and keep residents happier. For example, Buenos Aires had a particular problem with bad flooding due to drains not being cleared and worked with SAP to deploy IoT sensors in drains to clear them. They then realised they could do more with the technology by optimising the waste management process and engaging with people on social media to deal with issues in real-time and eliminate public complaints.

SAP Public Sector Run Live was a great showcase of cloud and digital technology fuelling truly exciting projects, of which the above are just a few examples. Government cuts, budget declines and shifts in how the Government purchases services are not holding the Public Sector back and there’s a wealth of opportunities available to organisations.

We look forward to working with the Public Sector on its technology goals, and more information on how SAP can help is available at: https://go.sap.com/uk/solution/industry/public-sector.html