Stewart McCall, left, and Andy Monkhouse, pictured at South Ayrshire Council
South Ayrshire Council's IT team has recently had their work recognised during a prestigious Society for Information Technology Management conference.
The 'Better Connected' conference saw delegates from all over the UK come together in Birmingham to discuss how best public sector services can maximise IT and web development opportunities in rapidly changing times.
Senior Systems Analyst, Stewart McCall was asked to present examples of how South Ayrshire Council was developing its own website and IT strategy to encourage uptake of customer 'self-service' when it comes to accessing and paying for Council services.
He said: "The credit crisis has meant that all organisations, not just those in the public sector, need to look at their strategic plans for web and IT development and this will mean significant changes in how websites are directed and managed.
"We are responding to the challenges by taking our website to new levels and see the changes as an opportunity to lead the delivery of self service to local residents."
His colleague, GIS Systems Analyst Andy Monkhouse said: "We've been working hard to develop ideas and solutions to provide improved customer service and balance this against providing a best value for the Council. For our work to be promoted on a national platform is good news.
"As SOCITM members are mainly drawn from the public sector, we were delighted to be asked to present at the Better Connected conference.
"Stewart's presentation at the conference was a huge opportunity for us and has generated a lot of interest in how South Ayrshire Council is responding to the credit crunch and beyond."
With around 1700 members from 550 different organisations including 98% of all UK local authorities, SOCITM provides a widely respected forum for the promotion, use and development of ICT best practice. It is also playing a leading role in ICT-facilitated local government transformation in the UK.