Two thirds of council services to move online by 2019, survey suggests

According to a survey by GOSS Interactive, local authorities expect to deliver over two-thirds of its services online by 2019.

The research found that 31 per cent of council services are no delivered online, an increase of nine per cent compared to the 2015. The survey also showed that digital self-service in local government is expected to grow by 120 per cent within the next three years.

The study identified that two thirds of respondents confirmed they already have digital self-service strategies in place, delivering expected savings of an average £900,000 over the next year.

Rob McCarthy, CEO, GOSS Interactive, said: “It’s promising to see the amount of services being delivered online is steadily increasing. This is broadly in line with our expectations.

“Councils must pick up the pace in moving services online if they are to realise the significant amount of change required to meet budget pressures and radically improve the online experience for citizens to help drive that adoption.”

McCarthy added: “An evolutionary approach is lower risk and the success of the first services can be used to develop a business case for other solutions. This however, typically leads to a proliferation of systems and interfaces, which causes problems in streamlining the customer experience and becomes expensive to run in the long term.

“Deploying a single digital platform to deliver all services in a unified system allows for a more coherent, planned approach. Although a potentially larger initial investment, it can realise a faster and consistent return on investment.”