Glasgow City Council aims to ‘kick-start a step change’ in digital services with CGI contract

Glasgow City Chambers - Image credit: Viv Lynch via Flickr

A new IT contract with CGI will “kick-start a step change in digital services”, Glasgow City Council has said.

The council has signed a seven-year deal with the IT and business consulting firm, which already provides services for City of Edinburgh and Scottish Borders councils, as well as the Scottish Government.

The council agreed in principal to award a contract to CGI earlier this year, subject to the completion of a full business case, and has now finalised the deal, with the new contract to start in April 2018.

Transformation plans focus particularly on education, including giving all pupils from P6 onwards their own tablet and setting up a dedicated digital learning team to ensure Glasgow pupils have “world-class facilities” and “the best technological learning environment in the country”.

The council also promises there will also be “major network improvements” and new infrastructure to make Glasgow schools among the best-connected in the UK, as well as innovation labs, code clubs and other coaching programmes for children and young people.

In addition, the programme is set to “dramatically increase” the number of council transactions that can be completed online, as well as improving high-speed connectivity to the city’s libraries and increasing use of technology for health to improve early intervention rates and support vulnerable people to remain in the own homes.

The deal will also increase the opportunity for SMEs to bid for contracts, sponsor software development training for 100 long-term unemployed each year of the contract and put old council devices into the hands of those without access to technology in partnership with a social enterprise.

Glasgow City Council’s Digital Champion, Councillor Angus Millar, said: “We have an opportunity to completely redesign how we use technology to improve the lives of all Glaswegians.

“From world-class digital learning in our schools, to protecting the health of our most vulnerable citizens – we need to innovate and be ready to embrace opportunities to use technology creatively to deliver for the city. 

“Since approval of the outline business case in April, we have focused a great deal of attention on developing and refining the staffing model; to ensure the deal is right for the workforce and puts them right at the heart of driving forward change in our city.

“That includes establishing a workforce board, which I will chair, as a key part of the governance arrangements for the contract.”

CGI president of UK operations Steve Thorn added: “This is a very exciting award for CGI and we are delighted to partner with Glasgow City Council on this journey to enable the digital transformation of public services throughout Glasgow.”

The councils has promised that staffing arrangements will protect the jobs, pensions and pay and conditions of the current workforce and that staff currently seconded from Glasgow City Council to Access will be able to retain that status, if they choose to, as council employees seconded to CGI.