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Thames ValleyInnovation & Growth TeamReading Enterprise Centre (L33)University of ReadingLondon Road, ReadingBerkshireRG1 5AQ
6 January 2010
Thames Valley Personalisation Consortium (TVPC)
Adult Social Care – Information and Procurement portals demonstrator project
Prepared for Improvement and Efficiency South East
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Contents
1 Background2 Project Scope3 The Thames Valley Personalisation consortium (TVPC)
3.1 Aims 3.2 Strategy
4 Information Portal4.1 Objectives4.2 Users4.3 Accessibility4.4 Information4.5 Security4.6 Promotion
5 Procurement Portal5.1 Outline Specification
6 Other Links and linkages6.1 Mobile applications
7 Project Outcome8 Programme and Budget
8.1 Approach8.2 Programme8.3 Funding
Appendix 1 – Project planAppendix 2 - Allocation of ResourceAppendix 3– TVPC MOUAppendix 4 – Client case studiesAppendix 5 – Consortium member information
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1 Background
The Government is driving forward a major change in the approach to delivering Adult Social Care. The Personalisation agenda will put the end user or customer in control of their choice of service and service provider, and through the allocation of personal budgets enable them to be the purchaser, and so ‘in control’ of the service.
Major structural and process changes such as this can provide a very positive driver for innovation and change. The Thames Valley Personalisation Consortium is keen to work with Improvement and Efficiency South East to ensure that this opportunity produces a step change in the customers’ and suppliers’ experience of interacting with Adult Social Care.
The approach taken by TVPC will achieve this by
Putting the customer or user at the heart of the design process for any new systems.
Involving social care professionals in the design process Having a range of technical experts and entrepreneurs involved from the outset
to ensure that “what’s possible” is understood Have a team capable of delivering, scaleable, flexible, user focused systems
Thames Valley Innovation and Growth has an active network of 500 companies and experts and has used this network to assemble the TVPC consortium and will continue to add expertise from the network as it is required during the development of a solution.
The establishment of this consortium and method of work has the potential to create a replicable model that can be used to encourage innovation into public services.
The Consortium will use a proven model for public sector project delivery based around a MOU. The allocation of spend and overarching project management will be carried out by Thames Valley Innovation and Growth Ltd (TVIG).
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2 Project Scope
The customer/user experience of Adult Social Services can be diagrammatically represented as 3 cycles of activity.
The central cycle is internal to a Council and will involve established systems and processes. TVPC will address the two areas that provide opportunities for innovative new solutions
Information Portal - A customer facing portal providing information, signposting, self assessment, social networking and a range of useful tools.
Procurement Portal - An intelligent buying community of suppliers, customers, brokers and LA staff, providing knowledge, feedback, audit, access to services and purchasing mechanisms, along with appropriate individual budget management and payment functions.
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3 The Thames Valley Personalisation consortium (TVPC)
Thames Valley Personalisation Consortium consists of six corporate members;
System Associates Provision of web portals for Government organisationshttp://www.systemassociates.co.uk/
Equote Central Intelligent commissioning (selecting and buying individual services)
http://www.equotecentral.co.uk/ & http://www.schoolquote.co.uk/
MobileSense e-commerce, payment management, mobile to mobile cash transfer
http://www.beemme.co.uk/ & http://www.mobile-sense.com/
Connection Point Integration of Local Authority back office systemshttp://www.cp-technology.com/cms/index.php
Mobile Productivity Mobile applications linked to back office data and work flow
http://www.mobileproductivity.com/
TVIG Not for profit SEEDA funded business advice and support organisation
http://www.innovationgrowth.co.uk/thamesvalley/
For the purposes of this proposal TVPC is working under an MOU that follows the proven guidelines set down by the Lambert Committee and the standard Lambert consortium agreements. A copy of the signed MOU is enclosed in Appendix 4.
3.1 Aims
TVPC aims to enable the usero to get to where they need to be quickly, easily and effectivelyo to intelligently purchase and manage service provisiono to manage their care collaboratively with professional and non-
professional advice, guidance and supporto to contribute towards the development of service provision through
effective feedback
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TVPC aims to enable Adult Social Care o to provide up to date information effectivelyo to facilitate intelligent purchasing of serviceso to manage and audit the personalisation budgetso to manage suppliers
3.2 Strategy
TVPC provides the mechanism for partners (LA’s, RIEP, SEEDA,) to develop innovative solutions to business needs. TVPC creates and manages an environment where truly entrepreneurial innovative minds at the leading edge of a range of new technologies can work on a solution to a need.
The consortium members bring different skills, technologies and perspectives to the solution. The technical solutions deployed with be built in open standards based scaleable architecture that allows for additional products/processes/systems to interface easily and effectively.
TVPC has a high regard for the need to develop solutions that are tailored to the needs of the end user and that provide the required management information to the purchaser.
TVPC will work with those that understand the need (RIEP, LA's etc.) and with those that have to use the service (Social service professionals, service suppliers, customers, brokers etc.) to scope the solution.
A range of technologies will then be integrated to produce a demonstrator of the proposed solution. Feedback will sought from all parties and the solution will be iterated. A large scale commercial pilot project could then be implemented prior to the sale of a commercial version of the resultant solution.
4 Information Portal
4.1 Objectives of the serviceThe information portal will provide the following primary functions.
It will guide visitors to the appropriate type and level of service Provide estimates of visitor entitlement by means of eligibility calculators etc. Clearly lay out the options and methods of access to services in a region Explain the various delivery channels for services and how to access them Where services can be managed online through the portal, then the system will
take visitors directly to that area
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The portal will be easy to access, require minimal navigation and lead users quickly to the information they are looking for.
Use information from the procurement portal to aid decision making Provide management information on how the portal is accessed, used and
received by its users
4.2 User journeyA three step journey , with each step available in turn or independently:
Guide : Provide information on the services available Evaluate: Allow visitors to see if they or the people they are caring for are
eligible for particular services Connect: Connect visitors to the appropriate electronic channel
The website will be personalised and deliver information in context whenever information is known about the visitor.It will act as a secure gateway to the electronic fulfilment, allowing registered users to move directly to the appropriate options in the fulfilment, seamlessly.
4.3 AccessibilityThe portal will be accessible via all popular media. It will be built with the appropriate web services to interface into other technologies such as Digital TV
Browser Mobile technologies, including mobile browsers, and SMS Digital TV Text only/assistive browsers Potentially device specific interface can be provided (mobile applications) IVR
4.4 InformationThe portal will contain its own content system and database to host information locallyIt will index local and remote pages and sections of sites to provide links to necessary resources.Wherever possible users will be given a link that takes the user directly to necessary pages to apply for the resource in question.
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Information will be classified in such a way as to meet Government local authority classifications schemes, whilst providing a simple navigation structure using terms used by the general public, rather than professionals.The portal will apply best practice for standards of communication:
WAI AA Accessibility and be accredited by the Shaw Trust or similar organisation Plain English Internet Crystal Mark Readspeaker, Browsealoud or equivalent text to speech system (talking web
pages) BSL videos for deaf users Text-based browser compatibility for visually impaired Navigable without the use of a mouse
4.5 SecuritySecure from attack
The system will be set up using CLAS and CHECK consultants and meet Government standards for the hosting of personal information.
Secure form identity and phishing fraud, spam attacks The registration process will be set up to prevent phishing and to provide a
confirmed registration loop. It may be appropriate that further verification once an applicant is approved will be required.
Protection against fraud Methods of preventing fraud (eg: helpers accessing services for their own
benefit) will need to be provided on top of the normally checks for ID and eligibility. One possibility is the issuance of an electronic access card for these resources.
4.6 PromotionThe site will utilise the latest methods to publicise itself, the key methods being
Search Engine Optimisation Keyword promotion Cross linking programmes Active social media entries
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5 Procurement Portal
5.1 Outline Specification
An easy to use internet-based service which allows care users or their supporters (carers/advisors) to:
Attract online proposals from a range of competing service providers Manage proposals online in a transparent, auditable format Place orders and feed back on supplier performance
A community platform allowing service users with similar needs to share their market experiences and their intelligence of what to buy, from whom and for how much
A Local Authority management interface for:
LA setup and management of service users and service providers Monitoring and auditing commissioning activity, budget spend and service
provider performance Reporting and extracting management information
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The Intelligent Buying Communities architecture utilises the following tools and technologies:
Internet Technologies:.NET, DHTML, Flash, CSS, XML, XSL, AJAX
Programming and scripting languages:C#, LINQ, SQL, PL/SQL, TSQL, HTML, JavaScript, Flash Action Script, XML, XSL, Visual Basic
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Relational Database:MS SQL
Operating System:MS 2000/XP
The EQC development team's flexibility in collaborating with 3rd parties leverages its wider capabilities:
Internet Technologies:.NET, Java, Enterprise Java Beans, Java Server Pages (JSP), Java Servlets, DHTML, Flash, CSS, XML, XSL
Programming and scripting languages:C#, Java, SQL, PL/SQL, TSQL, HTML, JavaScript, Flash Action Script, XML, XSL, Visual Basic
Relational Databases:Oracle, IBM DB, MS SQL, MySQL and PostgreSQL
Operating Systems:MS 95/98/ME/2000/XP, UNIX including Linux, Solaris; Palm OS
6 Other Links and linkages
The information and procurement portals will be linked with customer records shared and the ability to provide accurate up to date information regarding purchased services to those just seeking early clarification of what is available.
We know that in England £17.5 billion is spent each year on Social Care - 45% of which is transaction cost – 55% direct support for people (‘Putting People First in Plymouth’ 29th April 2009)
Realising the benefits of personalisation agenda will require the transaction costs to be minimised. As the project develops the links that will need to be made to existing systems will become apparent. The information flows have to be automated whenever possible and when organisational or system boundaries are crossed, we will employ an innovative technique for simulating the flows and then generating the integration components to link the component systems. The implementation will be generated from the simulation.
For example, local authorities will have key case management systems that reflect the status of the service users. Ensuring that a change to an assessment can be published to the information and procurement portals will be essential for correct functioning of personal budgets.
The simulation of essential information flows between parties from the outset will enable that different organisations with their different systems will be able to participate. The system will be “Plug-and-play”, reducing the need for future development projects.
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6.1 Mobile applications
There will be areas where the provision of information on the move to carers, suppliers, professionals, brokers and users will be of value for example
1. Mobile provision for verification and rating of services performed (allowing a peripatetic carer to finish tasks on site with adult).
2. The option for Mobile payment and audit trail3. Mobile provision for searching for suitable service providers (e.g. Taxi).
TVPC will ensure that the interfaces for these services are an inherent part of the system.
7 Project Outcome
A demonstration of what innovation can bring to Personalisation of Adult Social Care. The demonstration will take the form of a set of tools configured and populated to show how three situations, as set out in Appendix 4 could be managed, and specifically how users, carers, suppliers and local authorities contribute to the management os these cases. The demonstrator will illustrate
A range of access routes appropriate for different users, carers, suppliers and council case managers – applicable to information and procurement ‘cycles’
The customer experience of an Adult Social care information portal
The customer/broker/supplier/Council experience of an intelligent purchasing portal. Possible immediate and longer term solutions to the purchasing cycle in the Personalisation of Adult Social Care
The management of individual budgets and the payment for services to a range of supplier types and situations.
Integration of portals into customer records and mobile services
Any reduction in the budget from the proposed £50k will affect the levels of integration between the portals and existing systems. The illustration of mobile integration may also be compromised.
8 Programme and Budget
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8.1 Approach1. Agree roles and responsibilities2. Using the case studies in Appendix 4 develop a series of stories, or typical
scenarios, which would show the possibilities from the perspective of the users, suppliers and the Local Authority
3. Review existing functionality and agree what new elements are required immediately, or for a functioning pilot or for full service. (It is assumed that some items are not required in the early stages, e.g. a full Local Authority ‘back office’ with reporting, auditing etc will be required before the full service is launched to cope with the volumes efficiently but in the early stages can be managed manually)
4. Consult with LA professionals, end user, supplier, focus groups.5. Ensure access for all users6. Agree linkages and interfaces (manual, automated etc) to other services e.g.
individual budgets and payment processes.7. Develop and test new functions and interfaces8. Simulate works flows across systems and identify required interfaces 9. Create a new ‘instance’ of the service, integrate new functions and tailor
language/jargon to ASC 10. Feedback from focus groups.11. Configure initial example buyers, suppliers, other users etc (assumes new ones
will be set up as part of the demo)12. Record typical ‘journeys’, possibly as part of a Flash movie
8.2 Programme
See Appendix 1 - 8-12 weeks from commitment, with a target to help set priorities for next financial year
8.3 Funding
The Consortium would normally charge developer and management time at circa £800+VAT/day. In recognition that this opportunity might lead to additional opportunities the Consortium will work on the discounted day rate of £500+VAT/day. It is likely that there will be other non recoverable costs such as expenses, hosting etc. that will be incurred by the Consortium members. It is anticipated that the proof of concept work outlined above will use approximately 100 days of time across the Consortium. There will be no charge for TVIG time. The effect of this discounted rate
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approach and TVIG’s time in the project management role amounts to a subsidy of approx 45%
We anticipate funding of 50% on commitment a further 25% at a key milestone and the remaining 25% on completion.
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Appendix 1 – TVPC – Outline programmeITEM Comment Completion dateStart date MOU agreed and signed. LOI in place 11/1/10
Scoping meeting1 day?
Agree principle for IP at pilot stage, Agree payment methodology and principle, Consider client journeys, Agree scope of demonstrator, Brainstorm product, Agree outline project plan, Agree outline spec
11/1/10
IESE – Mike Crisp Confirming expectations 26/1/10 - amLA meet WBC Secure involvement, answer critical questions 28/1/10 - amFocus group input – users, suppliers, LA’s1 day 3 sessions
Consider client journeysDiscover current pitfallsClient input to solutions
TBC/2/10
Agree demonstrator scope Finalise and agree demonstrator scope, Agree payment plan 5/2/10 - pmAgree demonstrator spec Technical architecture 9/2/10 - am
Progress review1day 2 sessions
Portal review, Buying community reviewArchitecture reviewInterface review
15/2/10 am – If we need it
Review of demonstrator1day 2 sessions We test what we have 26/2/10
Focus group presentation and feedback1 day 3 sessions
Present what we have to focus groupInput from group 16/3/10
Beta demonstrator launch Presentation to Mike Crisp 24/3/10Target Completion 31/3/10
Commercial exploitation meeting
Chaired by TVIG. Define routes to market, Detail external factors affecting exploitation, evaluation of member contributions to commercial product, Reward mechanisms for members. An IP licensing expert will be present.
April/May TBC
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Appendix 2 - Allocation of Resource
Mob Prod Conn Pt Sys Ass Beem Equote Other
Consortia member
7Total
Information Portal
Build 3 21 FOC 24
Design 1 2.5 FOC 3.5
Architecture 2 FOC 2
Content 3 FOC 3
Consortium members sub total 0 4 28.5 0 0 0 FOC
Total days 32.5
Procurement Portal
Build 14 3 0 15 22 FOC 54
Design 1 2.5 FOC 3.5
Architecture 0 FOC 0Content FOC 0Consortium members sub total 14 4 2.5 15 22 0
Total days 57.5
General 2 8 0 FOC
Overall totals 14 10 31 15 30 0
Total days 100
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Appendix 3 - TVPC MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
This Memorandum of Understanding and its schedules (the “Schedules”), together referred to as the “MoU” is dated 5th February and is agreed by and between:
1. Thames Valley Innovation and Growth Limited with company number 6281106 whose registered office is at STC, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading, TG6 8BZ (“TVIG”); and
2. Mobile Productivity Limited with company number 4006111 whose registered office is at Centreprise House, New Greenham Park, Newbury, RG19 6HP (“Mobile Productivity”); and
3. Mobile Vouchers Limited with company number 4407115 whose registered office is at Griffins Court, 24-32 London Road, Newbury, RG14 1JX (“MobileSense”); and
4. Equote Central Limited with company number 5045864 whose registered office is at 114 High Street, Witney, Oxon, OX28 6HT (“Equote Central”); and
5. Connection Point Technology Limited with company number 5360195 whose registered office is at Napier House, 14-16 Mount Ephraim Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1EE (“Connection Point”); and
6. System Associates Limited with company number 4638120 whose registered office is at Gardeners Chambers, 27 Moorbridge Road, Maidenhead, SL6 8LT (“System Associates”)
each, a “Party” and together jointly referred to as the “Parties”WHEREASA The Parties wish to collaborate on a project to build a ‘proof of concept’
demonstrator version of an information and procurement portal suitable for adult social care users; and
B Subject to the success of the project, the Parties wish to collaborate to secure a contract for the pilot build of a full version of the demonstrator and to develop the pilot version of the demonstrator into a product and to exploit this product commercially between them; and
C The Parties wish to enter into one or more formal agreements setting out the basis of these collaborations and to set out their preliminary understanding of how those formal agreements will work in this MoU, which shall act as a basis for discussion prior to the preparation of any formal agreements
- the Parties have set out their understanding of these collaborations below. This MoU is non-binding and shall be subject to further discussion before being formalised into one or more binding agreements.
1 Definitions
The following terms have the meanings set forth below whenever they are used in this MoU:
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“Agreement” means the formal and legally binding agreement(s) to be executed by the Parties following their discussion and negotiation of this MoU;
“Client” means the client for which the Project is being carried out and which is providing the Funding;
“Common IP” means intellectual property, excluding New Party IP, generated through the development of a Deliverable after the date of the start of work on the Project;
“Confidential Information” means any information about a Party or its business activities which may reasonably be supposed to be confidential in the circumstances.
“Deliverables” means all deliverables produced by each Party during the Project, the pilot project and future commercial versions of the Product;
“Effective Date” means 11th January 2010; “Existing Party IP” means intellectual property owned or generated by a Party prior to
the date of execution of the Agreement;“Fees” means the fees paid from the Funding by the Lead Party to a Party in
respect of that Party’s performance of its tasks on the Project, to be paid in accordance with the Payment Plan;
“Funding” means funds to be paid by the Client to the Lead Party in respect of the performance of the Project and the delivery of the Project Deliverables;
“Funding Conditions” means the conditions set out by the Client in respect of the Funding for the Project set out in Schedule 4;
“Lead Party” means Systems Associates Ltd;“New Party IP” means intellectual property generated through the
development of a Deliverable where such Deliverable is developed from or by changing a Party’s Existing IP, after the date of the start of work on the Project;
“IP Rights” means intellectual property rights which may include but shall not be limited to patents, copyrights, know-how, trade secrets and any licence to use, exploit or sublicense any of the foregoing in certain defined geographical markets and/or technical and/or commercial applications;
“Payment Plan” means the plan set out in Schedule 3 drawn up by the Project Manager setting out the timescales for incoming Funding and for the payment of Fees to the Parties, in accordance with the Funding Conditions;
“Product” means the product that is developed by the Parties, including the initial demonstrator version and pilot version of the demonstrator and future versions which are to be commercially exploited by the Parties;
“Project” means the project to develop the proof of concept demonstrator for the Client;
“Project Duration” means the duration of the Project as set out in the Project Plan; “Project Manager” means the manager of the Project;“Project Plan” means the plan for the Project as set out in Schedule 1 drawn up by
the Project Manager.
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2 Demonstrator Project
2.1 The Parties shall collaborate on a project to build a ‘proof of concept’ demonstrator version of an information and procurement portal suitable for adult social care users.
2.2 The Project will begin on the Effective Date and will continue for the Project Duration.
3 Project Management
3.1 The Parties agree that a Steering Committee (the “Steering Committee”) shall be established to supervise the Project, comprising one representative nominated by each of the Parties, and a representative of the Client. The Parties agree that TVIG shall act as the Project Manager and shall be chair of the Steering Committee.
3.2 The Project Plan shall be drawn up by the Project Manager for the review and approval of the Steering Committee. The Project Plan shall be amended from time to time with the unanimous agreement of the Steering Committee;
3.3 Each Party shall provide the Project Manager with monthly progress reports on its progress on the Project and the Deliverables against the Project Plan.
3.4 The Steering Committee shall:a) Supervise and manage the carrying out of the Project;b) Meet on a monthly basis, c) Take decisions with regard to the management of the project on a simple
majority basis except when a decision requires a change to the Project Plan or to the Payment Plan when such decisions must be unanimous. Changes to the functions, specifications or other components of the Deliverables shall require approval of the Party responsible for that element;
d) In the event that a majority vote is not reached the chair of the Steering Committee shall have the casting vote.
3.5 The Project Manager shall carry out the tasks set out in Schedule 2, and shall:
a) Monitor progress and keep all Parties informed of the progress of the Project;
b) Provide reports of progress on the Project and the Deliverables from the Parties to the Steering Committee and the Client;
c) Act as the primary point of contact with the Client;d) Be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Project;e) Be responsible for the financial administration of the Project and allocation
of the Funding held by the Lead Party.
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4 Project Work 4.1 For the duration of the Project, each of the Parties agrees to:
f) Carry out the tasks allotted to it in the Project Plan in accordance with the timescales set out in the Project Plan; and
g) Provide the human resources, materials, facilities and equipment that are designated as its responsibility in the Project Plan; and
h) Comply with its obligations under, and conditions of, the Funding Conditions; and
i) Use all reasonable endeavours to obtain any licences, consents and approvals necessary for it to carry out its tasks in accordance with the Project Plan; and ensure that it and its employees observe the conditions of any such licences, consents and approvals; and
j) Ensure that it and its employees keep complete and accurate records of all development and other work carried out on the Project.
5 Funding, Fees and Payments5.1 The Payment Plan shall be drawn up by the Project Manager for review and
approval by the Steering Committee. The Payment Plan shall be amended from time to time with the unanimous agreement of the Steering Committee.
5.2 Except as set out in the Project Plan each Party will own all equipment purchased or constructed by it, or for it, using any Fees.
5.3 The Project Manager shall authorise the invoicing of the Funding from the Client and the Lead Party shall invoice the Client in accordance with the Payment Plan. The Lead Party shall be in receipt of the Funding by the Client and agrees to hold such Funding on behalf of the Parties.
5.4 Claims for Fees will be made through the Project Manager. Each of the Parties will provide invoices in accordance with the Payment Plan, providing sufficient information to the Project Manager to allow the Project Manager to submit reports to the Client in accordance with requirements from time to time and to allocate Fees to each Party in respect of services performed and Deliverables delivered on the Project. Payment of Fees shall be made in accordance with the Payment Plan.
5.5 Each Party agrees that payment of its Fees shall be subject to the performance of its tasks and delivery of its Deliverables in accordance with the Project Plan.
5.6 The Lead Party will, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the Project Manager’s authorisation of a Party’s invoice, pay the Fees to the Party to which those Fees are due, subject to sufficient Funding being available to the Lead Party and subject to the Payment Plan.
5.7 The Project Manager shall prepare and submit an account of all income and expenditure in connection with the Project quarterly to the Steering Committee.
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5.8 The Lead Party will ensure that the Project Manager allows an independent chartered accountant appointed by any Party, at that Party's expense, to examine the accounts and records of the Project Manager relating to the Project.
6 Duration, Termination, Withdrawal and New Parties6.1 The Agreement between the Parties shall remain in full force and effect until
the work on the Project and on subsequent projects is completed. A Party may withdraw or may be deemed to have withdrawn from the Agreement in accordance with Clauses Error: Reference source not found and Error:Reference source not found.
6.2 Subject to the unanimous agreement of the other Parties, a Party may be deemed to have withdrawn from the Agreement if that Party has a receiver appointed, becomes insolvent or commits a material breach of the Agreement which it is has not remedied or is unable to remedy within thirty (30) days.
6.3 A Party may withdraw from the Agreement (the “Withdrawing Party”) by giving each of the other Parties not less than 1 months notice.
6.4 If a Party withdraws or is deemed to have withdrawn from the Agreement, the other parties shall use reasonable endeavours to reallocate the obligations of that Party amongst themselves or to a third party acceptable to the remaining Parties and the Client (the “New Party”) provided that the New Party agrees to be bound by this MoU and the Agreement.
6.5 The Fees or costs of a Withdrawing Party shall not be payable where such Fees or costs are incurred after the date of withdrawal.
6.6 All IP Rights granted to the other Parties by a Withdrawing Party under the Agreement shall continue and shall be extended to any New Party.
6.7 IP Rights granted to the Withdrawing Party under the Agreement will cease immediately upon the date of withdrawal.
7 Intellectual Property 7.1 The Agreement does not affect the ownership of any Existing Party IP and
such will remain the property of the Party that contributes them to the Project (or its licensors). No licence to use any Existing Party IP or New Party IP is granted or implied by this Agreement except the rights explicitly granted in this Agreement.
7.2 Each Party grants each of the other Parties a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to use its Existing Party IP for the purpose of carrying out the Project and for no other purpose. None of the Parties may grant any sub-licence to use any other Party's Existing Party IP, except as permitted under Clause Error: Reference source not found.
7.3 The Party that creates or generates any Deliverable which is developed from or by changing any of that Party’s Existing IP will own the New Party IP in that Deliverable, and may take steps at its expense and sole discretion, to register and maintain any protection for that New Party IP, including filing and prosecuting patent applications and taking any action in respect of any alleged or actual infringement of that New Party IP.
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7.4 Where any Deliverable is created or generated by two or more Parties jointly and it is impossible to distinguish each Party's intellectual contribution to the creation of the New Party IP in that Deliverable, the New Party IP in that Deliverable will be owned by those Parties in equal shares. The owners may take such steps as they may decide from time to time, at their joint and equal expense, to register and maintain any protection for that New Party IP. If one or more of the owners does not wish to take any such step or action, the other owner(s) may do so at their expense, and the Party not wishing to take such steps or action will provide, at the expense of the Party making the request, any assistance that is reasonably requested of it.
7.5 Where any Deliverable is created or generated which results in the creation of Common IP, the Common IP in that Deliverable will be owned by all of the Parties in equal shares. The owners may take such steps as they may decide from time to time, at their joint and equal expense, to register and maintain any protection for that Common IP. If one or more of the owners does not wish to take any such step or action, the other owner(s) may do so at their expense, and the Party not wishing to take such steps or action will provide, at the expense of the Party making the request, any assistance that is reasonably requested of it.
7.6 Each of the parties will notify the Project Manager promptly after identifying any Deliverable that it believes to be patentable, and will supply the Project Manager with copies of that Deliverable.
7.7 None of the Parties will have the right to use another party's Existing Party IP or New Party IP for any other purpose than for the Project, the pilot project and subsequent projects unless it negotiates and obtains a further licence that allows it to do so. The owner of the such Existing Party IP or New Party IP may refuse to grant that further licence, and if it agrees to grant that further licence, the terms of that further licence may include a royalty or other payment in return for that further licence.
7.8 Any joint owner of any New Party IP may deal with and exploit it as though it were the sole owner, without being required to account to any other joint owner for any share in the revenues generated by that dealing or exploitation, provided that no joint owner may grant any third party any rights that detract from any other joint owner’s right to deal with any jointly owned New Party IP.
7.9 Each party grants each of the other parties a royalty free, non-exclusive licence to use its New Party IP, the Common IP and the Deliverables for the purpose of carrying out the Project and for no other purpose. Any party may allow its Group Companies, and any person working for it or any Group Company, or on its behalf or that of any Group Company, to use any of the Deliverables for the purpose of carrying out the Project.
7.10 Each Party warrants that it owns all of the IP Rights in their Existing Party IP and that it has the authority to grant the licences set out under this Clause Error: Reference source not found and that such licensing or use of Existing Party IP will not constitute or result in any infringement of third-party rights.
8 Future Projects and Commercialisation
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8.1 The Parties agree that subject to the success of the Project, they shall collaborate on the future project for the pilot build of a full version of the demonstrator and on any future project(s) to exploit the Product commercially.
8.2 The Parties agree that such collaborations shall be established based on a fair and reasonable basis between the Parties in recognition of and in accordance with each Party’s contribution. It is acknowledged by all Parties that the detail of future commercialisation, including IP Rights and contributions made by each Party will not become known until the Project is completed and commercial customers are engaged. The Parties agree that such IP Rights and reward for each Party’s contribution shall be defined and mutually agreed using the process set out in the Project Plan.
8.3 The Parties agree that future projects and commercialisation shall be led and managed by a commercial entity (the “Entity”) which shall be either:
k) a new company which shall be acceptable to all Parties; orl) one of the Parties; or m) A third party.
8.4 The Parties shall use their reasonable endeavours to execute the required agreements with the Entity to allow for the future commercialisation of the Product which may include subcontractor agreements, licence agreements, IP Rights assignment and/or equity share agreements, where such agreements shall include:
n) fair and reasonable terms to reward each Party for the use or assignment of its Existing Party IP and its New Party IP; and
o) terms for the assignment of Common IP by each Party to the Entity for the consideration of a nominal fee.
9 Other Matters9.1 The Parties shall be required to maintain appropriate professional and other
insurances to cover the risks related to the project work and the safety of its employees.
9.2 If work carried out by a Party on the demonstrator version of Product fails or has a fault within a 6 month period of the date of the work, then the Party shall correct the failure or fault at its own time and expense. If the Party is unable to or does not remedy the failure or fault within thirty (30) days, then such shall be deemed as a material breach of the Agreement, and the Party shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the Agreement in accordance with Clause Error: Reference source not found and shall repay the Fees paid in respect of the failed or faulty services or Deliverable. For future projects and versions of the Product the Parties shall provide commercial warranties in accordance with standard industry practice under similar warranty obligations to those set out in this Clause 9.2.
9.3 Each Party shall ensure that its personnel are suitably qualified and experienced to carry out the work required of them, and that the work shall be carried out in a professional manner.
9.4 Nothing in the Agreement shall exclude or limit any Party’s liability for (i) fraud or other criminal act, (ii) personal injury or death caused by the negligence of its employees in connection with the performance of their duties hereunder, or (iii) any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.
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9.5 Except as provided in Clause Error: Reference source not found each Party’s maximum aggregate liability to the other Parties for any cause whatsoever shall be for direct costs and damages only and shall be limited to a sum equivalent to 125% of the aggregate of the Fees paid and payable in respect of the services and/or Deliverables that are the subject of any claim.
10 Confidentiality10.1 The Confidential Information shall not include information which:
p) is or becomes through no fault of the Parties part of the public domain; orq) is lawfully obtained by a Party from a third party outside of the Agreement
and not in connection with this or any other agreements made between the Parties and which third-party also lawfully obtained such Confidential Information.
10.2 For a period of five years from the date of disclosure, each Party: r) shall not disclose to any person or entity any Confidential Information
other than to the extent necessary to comply with the requirements of law, judicial order or government regulation;
s) shall only use the Confidential Information strictly for the purpose of performing its obligations under the Agreement which have been or will be agreed between the Parties in accordance with this MoU;
t) in performance of its obligations, shall limit access to and disclosure of the Confidential Information to its employees and subcontractors on a "need to know" basis only provided that all such third parties are bound by obligations of confidentiality no less than those contained herein and the Party shall be liable for any breach of confidentiality as a result of such disclosure as if it had itself performed such breach; and
u) shall not use or exploit any such Confidential Information for its own benefit or any other person's or entity's benefit.
10.3 Each Party acknowledges that the Confidential Information remains the sole property of the Party disclosing such Confidential Information. In the event of termination of the Agreement each Party shall return to the relevant other Parties all Confidential Information belonging to the other Parties and shall delete from its computer systems and records any copies, amended versions or derivatives thereof and shall certify in writing that this has been done.
10.4 In the event of any actual or threatened breach of any provision of the confidentiality clauses in the Agreement, each Party acknowledges that the Party whose Confidential Information is disclosed by such breach will incur significant and irreparable damage for each such breach. Therefore, each Party shall be entitled to injunctive relief immediately and permanently restraining the disclosing Party from such continuing and/or threatened breach.
10.5 If a Party becomes aware, or has reason to believe, that there has been an unauthorised disclosure or use of the Confidential Information, such Party shall immediately notify all other Parties thereof. Each Party shall take any and all actions necessary to protect the Confidential Information including such actions as may reasonably be requested by the other Parties.
11 Law
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This MoU shall be subject to the laws of England and Wales, and any dispute hereunder shall be addressed to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR),
12 General.
Nothing contained in this MoU shall be deemed or construed as creating a partnership, joint venture or principal and agent relationship between the Parties. This MoU is not intended to be legally binding but it does represent the Parties’ understanding of their mutual intentions with regard to their collaborations.IN WITNESS whereof the Parties have executed this MoU on the dates set forth below: For and on behalf of Thames Valley Innovation and Growth Ltd, acting by
Ed Cooper ……………………………… Date………………………….
For and on behalf of Equotecentral Ltd, acting by
Hugh Taylor ……………………………… Date………………………….
For and on behalf of Connection Point Technology Ltd, acting by
Tim Burnett ……………………………… Date………………………….
For and on behalf of Mobile Productivity Ltd, acting by
Tom Jones ……………………………… Date………………………….
For and on behalf of Mobile Vouchers Ltd, acting by
Nikki Burns ……………………………… Date………………………….
For and on behalf of System Associates Ltd , acting by
Claire Simpson ……………………………… Date………………………….
List of SchedulesSchedule 1: Project PlanSchedule 2 : Project Manager TasksSchedule 3 : Payment PlanSchedule 4 : Funding ConditionsAppendix 4 – Client case studies
The following three case studies have been provided by West Berkshire Councils’ Adult Social Servcies as typical Examples of the information and purchasing requirements of customers of West Berkshire’s Personal Budgets system and will provide the basis for the demonstrator.
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Case Study A:
Mrs A has severe dementia, and requires significant support to stay living in her own home. Her husband, Mr A, is the main carer, and is capable of making all the arrangements. He has put together a plan for purchasing different types of support, which has been agreed by WBC. The agreed plan includes the following elements, together with an indicative cost:1 hour/day domiciliary care [every day] = £7,60016 hrs/wk carer/sitting service [all day Wed & Thurs] = £14,2006 x one week’s respite care at nursing home = £5,600One-off purchase of 3 x external door alarms = £150
Any savings against this indicative cost can be used flexibly by Mr A provided it meets the outcome of delivering the agreed support to Mrs A. Whilst most of the budget is provided by WBC, Mr A has also to use some of Mrs A’s own money towards the cost, and keep records of this for WBC to monitor.
Case Study B:
Mr B is a young adult who is a wheelchair user, following an accident which also left him with brain injuries. As part of his rehabilitation, he requires a programme of day activities which will support him towards getting back to paid employment.He has been offered an indicative budget of £3,000; with the expectation that this will purchase a suitable activity at least three days per week, for the next six months [This amount has been arrived as the “market cost” of 3 days/week at a WBC day service, at £40 per day, for 25 weeks]. Mr B has attended a WBC day service in the past and can choose to use his budget to buy back into this, or make his own alternative arrangements. He will be supported by a care manager from the Physical Disability team to make the arrangements for his future care.
Case Study C:
Miss C lives alone and has considerable support needs, as she cannot get up, washed and dressed without help from two other people. She has been receiving Home Care from an agency for some years, but has not been happy with the quality and reliability of care. She has decided to employ her own team of carers to provide at least 2 hours care per day, and now wants to recruit them. Together with WBC’s Direct Payment Support Service, she has worked out that [after taking into account known employer’s costs and overheads] she can afford to offer £8 per hour directly to suitable candidates, who will work together providing an hour’s care in the morning, and an hour’s care in the evening. The Direct Payment Support Service will help Miss C with recruitment interviews, but she now needs to make sure that sufficient high quality candidates apply for the jobs. Miss C also intends to do her shopping on-line, and so has an agreed sum of £800 to buy a suitable laptop, printer and wireless internet connection for the year.
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Nigel Owen, Project Manager, System Transformation, West Berkshire Council.
Appendix 5 – Consortium member information
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Personalisation Agenda West Berkshire Council
Beem is mobile money it enables people to send money quickly and securely by text message. Beem’s philosophy has always been to empower its users, offer independence, enjoyment and choice. Beem gives users complete control and visibility of their spending.
Enabling people to send money between one another and pay for products and services using their mobile phone, Beem has many applications and we believe the service would simplify the processes needed to make West Berkshire Council’s personal budgets project work.
Personalisation Agenda1. Increased choice and control for the customer2. Development of personal budgets (Resource Allocation System, charging…)3. Person-centred approach to assessment, planning etc.4. Safeguarding and risk enablement 5. Workforce and organisation (brokerage…)6. Tactical market development7. Quality, performance, processes, recording
Outlined above are some of the keys areas that are being addressed, we would like to communicate how using Beem would effectively make these work with minimum resource and maximum efficiency.In giving customers control over the suppliers they choose to employ WBC would need to be confident that trusted professionals were being enlisted. Using Beem, once WBC approved suppliers, a list (address book) of these could be instated into the system allowing customers choice and control whilst ensuring quality control.
Any allocated funds from WBC can be credited to a customers Beem Account as opposed to their traditional bank account. When using Beem to pay for services customers would effectively be logging all the information needed by WBC for their records, WBC would be able to look through a customers transactions (just as the customer is able to) at anytime to monitor where and how much they have spent.
For customers who have difficulty using a mobile phone for text messaging Beem can offer an IVR solution enabling them to book and pay for services simply by speaking into the phone, this information is logged in the same way as information collated from texts and WBC would be able to access this at their leisure.
So in allocating a personal budget to customers through Beem WBC can confidently monitor activities ensuring monies are being spent on the correct services at the right costs. Beem also has the ability to hold or indeed recall any payments that might be suspect or incorrect, offering WBC a safety net.
As Beem is an outsourced facility no demands would be made on WBC’s IT department, moreover WBC’s staff has no need to spend time or money installing or training on new software. Beem’s secure online access in real time is available day and night and needs minimal explanation.
With 7 years in the business Mobile Sense have unparalleled expertise in the payment arena. Managing payments of behalf of businesses and end users Beem uses leading edge technology to process payment transactions, with a scalable infrastructure to manage volumes at speed.
It gives complete audit trails for businesses and the end customer with the ability to download information into excel spreadsheets for filing purposes or in-depth information analysis, this is accessible securely, in real time online 24 hours and day, seven days a week, without the need for heavy implementation processes.
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Mobile Sense has the ability to develop solutions for specific processes and we would relish the opportunity to discuss your requirements for the personal budgets project in more depth. This would allow us to propose how Beem could service WBC in the implementation of effective, efficient and resourceful solutions for this project and future initiatives.
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Connection Point Technology LtdConnection Point Technology specialises in automating processes between systems and organisations.
We have a technical approach which means that organisations can see and assess the benefit of the joined up process before it is commissioned. Following this assessment, the implementation can be automatically generated.
This unique approach has been used at Slough Borough Council, Omgeo, and Unisys. The ability to simulate the process and generate the implementation has been proved to reduce the cost of integration by as much as 70%.
This capability applies directly to the personalisation agenda within Adult Social Care. The larger number of transactions and greater individual freedoms implied by this agenda requires information to flow easily and cheaply between local authorities, brokers, service users and care providers. The information flows have to be cheap to implement, flexible and not specific to any one set of systems.
In particular the case management systems used within the Adult Social Care departments in a Local Authority has to be up-to-date and reliable. With the growing number of transactions and the diversity of suppliers it is likely that this will only be feasible if the information flows are automated.
The processes and associated information will be investigated as part of the proof-of-concept, and our contribution will be the ability to bring those interactions to life.Along with the particular integration expertise, the directors of Connection Point bring 50+ combined years of experience in the IT industry. Each has held senior positions in multi-national IT companies prior to forming Connection Point and can contribute expertise in:
- Large scale project management
- Data and process design
- Technical architecture
- Local authority processes and procedures
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Mobile ProductivityMobile Productivity helps organizations to improve services whilst reducing cost through the imaginative and often disruptive use of mobile technology. We have over nine years of mobile development and consulting experience with a very strong record of delivery in the private sector. Our customers include Hertz, easyCar, ebookers, Holiday Extras, Monarch and Hotels4You. For such companies we extend their web presence to the mobile phone. In this way, a person on the move can book a car, rearrange a flight or choose a hotel. Our value is not just in writing robust mobile applications but in integrating them into existing web applications. The finance industry is perhaps one of the most demanding when it comes to flawless systems integration. Here we have excelled with large hosted projects including Iveco Capital and De Lage Landen bank. Millions of pounds worth of lease finance projects are agreed annually using Mobile Productivity mobile apps.
The value mobility brings to the Personalisation AgendaThe services which the Personalisation Agenda will offer to the elderly will require their consent and feedback. If those services are to be web based then there will be situations where the web would need to be extended to a mobile phone. For example, if a council worker was to inspect work carried out, the ability to fill in a feedback form, on site, using a mobile phone, would be very useful and cost effective. Similarly, were a family member to discuss the options available with an elderly parent, being able to access those choices from a mobile phone would improve the speed of decision making. Not all of the elderly have access to the internet. Indeed those who need the services of the council most may well be incapable of taking advantage of the web. Being able to access services, make choices and complete transactions for services from a mobile phone, would constitute a vastly improved service. A decision could be made there and then, rather than involving multiple visits to remote locations.
Why Mobile Productivity?As a small local company, we have a proven record of delivery working proof of concept models within weeks. These models then generally go into full commercial use. For example, we have just completed major innovations for the Vodafone 360 mobile apps store. Proof of concept models, which were prepared in a matter of a few weeks, are now available to download!To find out more about mobile productivity visit our website: http://www.mobileproductivity.com/
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eQuoteCentral (EQC)
EQC has a track record of developing and delivering managed, online procurement solutions for communities of disparate, non-professional buyers with devolved spending authority (lay buyers).
The company’s ‘Intelligent Buying Communities’ provide buyer and supplier interfaces to enable secure, auditable and transparent competition for ad hoc contracts, as well as aggregation of demand and the sharing of buyers’ feedback on supplier performance.
Secure back office functionality enables monitoring and management of procurement activity, while XML integration allows import and export of user and transaction data.
The platform sets out a clear path of procurement best practice and is proven as a highly adoptable means for lay buyers to achieve multiple quotations from competing providers of goods and services.
Innovation, skills and capabilities
EQC’s Buying Communities bring procurement best practice and a competitive, auditable process to “lay” (non-professional) and “autonomous” (make their own decisions) buyers who procure goods and services infrequently and from a range of local, regional and national suppliers
EQC’s Buying Communities employ a community network:
o to allow buyers and suppliers to re-cycle each others’ efforts, e.g. re-use specifications, proposals and quotations
o to provide forums, supplier feedback and networking between groups of similar users
EQC achieves rapid engagement and adoption amongst disparate user communities
Track Record
EQC’s work with Wiltshire Council and their community of 240 schools achieved a Supply Management Award from the Chartered Institute for Purchase and Supply in 2007. Voluntary uptake amongst the County’s schools was 80% in year 1, 90% in year 2. (Note, schools are independent commercial organisations who make numerous, independent, local buying decisions for a range of goods and services.)
The Buying Communities service was highlighted in both the Audit Commission’s July 2009 report “Economy and Efficiency in Schools” and the DCSF’s December 2009 discussion document “Securing Our Future - Using Our Resources Well”
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EQC provides its Buying Community service to 21 communities of schools including partnership arrangements with the National Association of School Business Managers and the National Association of Head Teachers.
EQC and Personalisation
The personalisation agenda will create large communities of lay buyers, each with little or no procurement experience, varying exposure to web-based technologies, and each with a personal budget from which to achieve and demonstrate value for money.
EQC can provide an easy-to-use module to allow service users to select service providers both through open competition and through access to feedback from other service users:
Service Users (budget holders/brokers): View existing contracts and buyer feedback to either benchmark or buy Secure, anonymous quotation requesting Online quotation delivery, management, clarification and negotiation Supplier-generated evaluation documents Online ordering or XML content order export
Service Providers: Notification of quotation requests by categories and keywords Quotation templates for efficient generation of value-add quotations Online, shared clarification of buyer requirements Online quotation submission Ability to flag quotes for reuse by subsequent budget holders Online order receipt
Local Authorities: Import or manual setup/approval of service users/brokers and providers Back office for monitoring of procurement activity Data export for procurement activity reporting Data export for secure transaction and payment
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An Introduction to System Associates18th November 2009
Disclaimer: The information in this document shall not be disclosed outside System Associates Limited and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed in whole or in part for any other purpose other than to evaluate the document. This restriction does not limit System Associates’ right to use information contained in this document if it is obtained from another source without restriction. This is an unpublished work, the copyright in which vests in System Associates. No responsibility or liability is accepted for any errors or omissions in this document or related documents.
Freedom of Information Act 2005System Associates Ltd wishes to comply with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). We therefore provide this document on the basis that it is not released without informing System Associates Ltd of its release and to whom. If the need arises to release this document, we would wish to inform you of areas within this document which are covered by Section 43 of the FOIA which we consider to be a Trade Secret and therefore may not be divulged to any third party under the Act.
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About System Associates
System Associates is an organisation focused on the delivery of enterprise-wide internet technologies. The majority of its clients and projects are in the public sector, including Directgov, Legal Services Commission, the Home Office, Greater London Authority and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
System Associates’ expertise has been recognised by being awarded Small Business of the Year and receiving several awards for projects and environmental sustainability. We also focus heavily on company standards and have been certified as meeting ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO20000 and ISO27001 in addition to being recognised as an Investor in People.
The company’s key areas of activity are: Bespoke software design and development Bespoke web design and development Product development of web applications Managed services and hosting
Bespoke software design and development
In many cases, an out-of-the-box product is not a suitable match to an organisation’s requirements. In these cases, bespoke software development is required and System Associates has extensive experience and an excellent track record of developing sophisticated, tailored applications for its clients. System Associates manages the process through the entire software development lifecycle providing management services and solutions relating to all aspects of the software development lifecycle. Core Programming languages include, but are not limited to Java, JSP, XML, SOAP, .NET and ColdFusion.
Bespoke web design and development
System Associates has a dedicated design and development team with an extensive track record of developing sophisticated, tailored websites for its clients. System Associates manages the process through the entire development lifecycle providing management services and solutions relating to all aspects of the development lifecycle.
Our creative design services support the ongoing development of any website or any design changes to an existing site and include:
Information architecture - major development and enhancement
Creative design - development of moodboards, design concepts, wireframes and more to support the creative design process
Branding - development of new brands or sub brands
Templates - creation of templates according to the site's technical standards
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Microsites and sub brands - the design for these to be consistent with any existing brand and will remain within design constraint guidelines
Our development team have no affiliation to any particular technology (Core Programming languages include, but are not limited to Java, JSP, XML, SOAP, .NET and ColdFusion) and are dedicated to providing websites that meet the highest standards of accessibility and usability.
SA Studio, our design division, has experienced graphic designers that can design for any medium. Our design specialisms are focussed on digital media, where we deliver high standards of usability and accessibility without sacrificing good visual design. This ability is crucial in web media where it can be difficult to achieve a balance between accessibility and visual impact.
Our approach to design is always to understand the audience so that we can devise the best possible way of getting across the relevant information. Whether it be conveying information via a simple online newsletter or developing innovative, interactive tools that promote user interest.
Our designs are enabling our clients to achieve high standards of accessibility and usability. The CLA website is expected to achieve Shaw Trust+ accreditation shortly and, together with the BSL tools we developed, is set to become a benchmark for accessibility in the Public Sector.
Product development of web applications
System Associates' software has been developed in the UK, taking input from major government customers and has been designed to meet the wide range of editorial, publishing, accessibility, availability and security requirements for busy Government web sites.
System Associates’ has developed g-Suite, an extensive software portfolio, which includes:
g-Serve – a full-featured, eGIF compliant Content Management System, supporting unlimited sites, users and servers, publishing W3C and WAI compliant pages and supported by an advanced metadata module.
g-Seek – an enterprise search engine, to search an unlimited number of sites, databases and files and developed to work with government metadata. Supporting the search engine, is an FOI solution that integrates parallel workflows, web-based interfaces, full audit trail and searches across existing databases, files and emails.
g-Media – a Digital Media Library that caters for all steps in the process of publishing digital media on an interactive web medium to an audience of internal or external customers. The solution provides for all steps from the introduction of a digital asset to the system through to its appearance on the web.
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Further products include a taxonomy and metadata module, a single sign-on solution and a large online registration system. Special Government site-wide source licenses are available, which mean you only have to pay once for the products you use in your organisation, regardless of how large the solutions grow in future.
Managed services and hosting
System Associates provides superior Managed Services, Security and Hosting, that distinguishes itself by providing management of applications in addition to traditional hardware administration. The System Associates’ hosting and application management service is recognised as being one of the best in the industry, entrusted by clients such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, Directgov, Legal Services Commission, Buzz Airlines and the British Library and to date has a 100% track record of keeping websites available during periods of high demand.
Employees of System Associates are government security cleared and receive regular updates from government organisations on known threats and possible security breaches. System Associates installations have been tested for vulnerability by appointed government representatives and have passed every time.
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Consultancy Approach
Detailed below is SA’s standard consultancy approach. This can be tailored to suit the need of the client and the project.
METHODOLOGY & WORK PROGRAMME
System Associates approach consultancy in this area by providing a lead consultant who has considerable industry experience, supported by expertise from our team in various specialist areas. This way a view of all of the issues from the strategic elements of a project through to issues such as usability, the technology stack, product options, accessibility, current best practice etc. can all be covered.
The following is a breakdown of the programme of work involved in a standard consultation exercise. A number of discrete stages are required to ensure a quality delivery
Stage 1 – Engagement
This step ensures full understanding of the project, including the higher level aspects of Vision/Mission, strategic relevance, operational need etc. This will also serve to introduce all client and team members and is considered complete when all parties are confident that a full understanding of the project and its goals has been reached.
The first stage of the project is to carry out standard initiation tasks, which focus on defining the scope of the project and reaching a common understanding with the client of what is to be achieved, by who and by when. System Associates will meet with the client where the following activities will be carried out:
Define the project’s goals
Define the project’s scope so that there is a common understanding of what will be achieved and what is outside of the current remit
Record the risks and issues inherent in the project
Define success criteria and clearly detail what factors will be used in the customer determining whether the project has been a success
Define basic acceptance criteria of the analysis
Record the roles and responsibilities and methods of communication between System Associates and the client
Define which stakeholders and individuals should be involved in the various stages of the project with regards to sign off and gathering requirements
Stage 2 - Requirements analysis
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Requirements analysis is done twice, once at the outset to gather as much detail as possible and a second time after research and feasibility is done to produce a refined, practical set of requirements capable of timely implementation.
Our preferred methodology for the requirements phase is based on the Volere method from Atlantic Systems Guild (see www.volere.co.uk) which we find to be effective.
Requirements are gathered by using some or all of the following methods: Current and previous requirements and specifications documents. Workshops with key project stakeholders (we would normally count stakeholders
as budget holders, specifiers, implementers and most significantly customers and users).
One to one meetings, phone calls etc. Email and other forms of questionnaires Lessons learned analysis Seminars and semi-social events where engagement with the key audience is
difficult.
The output of such methods would be the following: Definition of the business requirements that need to be met Definition of the users of the solution and their skillset Definition of the technical considerations that affect the solution choice Definition of the commercial considerations that affect solution choice Definition of the desired featureset with requirements categorised into
“mandatory”, “important” and “nice to have”
Requirements are always subject to the following key processes to subsequently categorise and prioritise them:
Functional and/or operational need Business benefit Implementation test: Practical, timely, affordable and not duplicated elsewhere. Impact test: Effect on working practices, system issues, technology stack etc..
Stage 3 – Technical design
Once the requirements have been recorded, System Associates focus on examining the technical solution required to meet the business and functional requirements.
The output of this phase of the process will lead to the definition of: System operating environment - the environment in which the software will
operate, including the hardware, operating system, application platform and versions, and any other software components or applications with which it must be integrated or peacefully coexist
Application Architecture - a detailed description of major system components, their relation to the environment, and their participation in application data flow.
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System components may be identified by functionality, software platform, hardware they are running on, etc.
Interfaces to other systems – details how developers will be using or accessing ‘other’ systems
Wireframes – screen mock-ups created by our design team to demonstrate how the delivered solution might look and provide early visibility of the delivered solution.
Assumptions and Dependencies - Lists any assumed factors (as opposed to known facts) that could affect the requirements stated in the document, such as performance and functional compliance of third-party or commercial components that you plan to use, issues around the development or operating environment, or constraints.
Stage 4 – Information review & requirements refinement
Once System Associates has completed the assessment of potential packages, we will arrange an Information Review meeting with the client. The purpose of the meeting is to present our findings to date and discuss how the original requirements might be affected in light of the information that is now available. Likely constraints and risks are discussed at this phase.
Documentation delivered at this stage is in the form of summary presentations and papers explaining issues such as technology choices.
If it has become clear during the project that there are options to be considered before finalising the document, then these are examined and presented with their associated risks and benefits.
Stage 5 – Documentation
System Associates will collate the information we have gathered throughout the process, and deliver the Solution specification, which details the functional and technical elements of the required solution within the following format:
Functional requirements – The functionality of the solution, including the scope of the solution
Non-functional requirements – the solution’s qualities, such as usability, performance and operational requirements. This includes the extent to which it should conform to BGI standards and what those standards are.
Technical solution – the proposed technical solution to deliver the system requirements
Stage 6 – Quality review
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Once the documentation has been written, it will undergo a quality review by another System Associates analyst. All requirements will be assessed for completeness, relevance, coherency, traceability and several other qualities. If necessary, the document will be updated to reflect any changes required as a result of the quality review
Stage 7 – Delivery
System Associates will provide the documentation for the client in bound, hard copies and electronically. The Client is free to reproduce and distribute the documents as they require. A meeting will be conducted where the final findings and recommendations are presented to the Client.
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Relevant consultancy experience
System Associates has extensive experience in system analysis and requirements gathering for all our clients including National College for School Leadership, London Connects and the Department for Central and Local Government.
Examples of relevant and recent technical consultancy projects include: Local Directgov – System Associates were contracted by the Department for
Central and Local Government to define the requirements of the Local Directgov solution, which proposed to integrate the 600 online services of the 388 English Local Authorities. The solution was required to provide a single web interface for the public to search by postcode/location and service to find the relevant service from the appropriate local authority. This required integration with a third party database (the ESD toolkit) and the spidering and indexing of each Local Authority site. Back end features required included reporting options, management information and administration screens. System Associates produced the requirements document, which was accepted and signed off. This document formed the basis of a technical solution that System Associates also developed and host.
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals – System Associates were contracted to design and develop a knowledge management solution to support this large organisation and how it disseminates and delivers knowledge. Pfizer’s problem was that the majority of staff are associated with one product as well as one role within the organisation and that there was no appropriate way for their staff to find the information that they needed amongst the thousands of pages of information. System Associates defined a metadata-driven solution, which tagged documents and data by horizontal product lines as well as vertical business units. SA then defined an information architecture and navigation functionality to allow users to easily find relevant information by product, role or through search capabilities. The solution required integration with a number of databases, web content and user directories. The personalisation module also delivered targeted content in various parts of the solution, based on the profile of the logged in user.
Training and Development Agency – System Associates were contracted to provide technical consultancy relating to three separate solutions, namely an extranet portal, a course management system and a consultation wizard. Three consultants led the parallel teams and consulted with the TDA to fully understand their requirements. Once the requirements had been defined and agreed, System Associates examined a number of approaches for the solution, including a review of available products, suggestions for bespoke development (where appropriate) and an analysis of the available options. The output of the projects was documents detailing the findings of the consultants and our recommendations for the way forward.
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Case Study: Community Legal Advice (www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk)
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) runs the legal aid scheme in England and Wales. Community Legal Advice (CLA) was set up by the LSC to provide free, confidential and independent legal advice direct to people in need via telephone, web and advice centres. It aims, in particular, to help those who have difficulty accessing traditional legal services to get legal information and advice.
THE BRIEF
Our brief was to develop a website that would:
Increase accessibility and usability of the service - rebuild the website to rigorous accessibility standards.
Add value to the service.
Increase awareness of CLA services.
Make it easy to find information.
Develop mini-sites for a number of Community Legal Advice Centres (CLACs).
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Accessibility and usability
People eligible for legal aid are some of the most vulnerable people in society, and includes those with learning difficulties or low levels of literacy. By improving accessibility, the LSC will have a wider reach for those people in need of legal advice that qualify for free services.
Our brief from the LSC was to “overachieve set standards” as laid down in Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 78.
To verify that we would, in fact, reach target audiences in the best possible ways, we employed focus groups that represented each of the accessibility criteria. This approach was valuable as it is easy to make assumptions about the needs of an audience that are way off the mark. For example, it is easy to overlook that hard of hearing/ deaf people typically have low levels of literacy as they do not have a good concept of written words and sign language is not simply a translation of written language.
To address accessibility and usability in the target community as a whole, the site was developed to support:
Multi-Language - The site supports Welsh, Urdu, Chinese, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Hindi, Arabic, Turkish languages.
No vision - The site is Browsealoud compatible.
Low vision - Text on pages can be resized. Images have alternative text descriptions.
Colour blindness - No information is exclusively conveyed using colour.
Mobility impaired - You can use access keys to navigate this site.
Dyslexic/ learning difficulties - The content is written in accordance with “Plain English” standards.
Hard of hearing/ deaf - SA have filmed translators using British Sign Language (BSL) to “read” advice leaflets. The resulting videos are streamed on the website in a bespoke media player that we are developed specifically for this project. The service is supported by the availability of DVD copies which can be mailed out on request
Inexperienced internet users - A simple, uncluttered interface that is jargon-free.
Content cleansing - In order to meet accessibility standards, all existing content was cleansed and tested for accessibility.
The website conforms to WAI conformance level AAA and achieved Shaw Trust Accreditation at first attempt.
CREATIVE DESIGN
CLA have an existing brand and style guide, which is used across printed media such as information leaflets, corporate information, marketing collateral etc. SA were engaged to
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refresh the website design to reflect these branding guidelines and develop a range of products to support the British Sign Language initiative.
APPLICATIONS
“Call Me Back” facility
We developed a ‘call me back’ facility where a user can select the best time, date and preferred language for a call back. This is a good example of working closely with a client to join up business processes that will bridge the digital divide.
Legal Aid Calculator
At present, help desk operators calculate whether a caller is eligible for free legal advice. LSC wanted us to develop an online application that would take user input about the client’s financial situation, type of case, and limited personal details and calculate whether a client is eligible for legal aid. At the end of a session, the client is able to print out their results for their own records. This tool was developed as an extension to our CMS solution, g-Serve and:
Acts as a pre-qualification/triage for the telephone service, reducing calls from ineligible people and passing over information to the service where appropriate
Provides information for those users who ineligible for Legal Aid
Directs users to other sources of information on the website
Directs users to specialist advice where appropriate
Advice Tools
SA developed an application to allow the CLA team to create and manage a number of advice tools, which provides a multi-branching questionnaire facility and provides advice and guidance depending on the information provided by the visitor.http://www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/en/advicetools/index.jsp?c=44. A drag and drop, back-end interface allows these tools to be constructed and then displayed within the site content.
INCREASE AWARENESS
When the website was re-launched, CLS changed URL from CLSDirect.org.uk to communitylegaladvice.org.uk. The CLS team has noticed a significant decrease in the number of visitors and asked System Associates look at ways that would increase traffic. Our approach is not only to increase the general traffic to the site, but also to ensure that individuals who are looking for free legal advice are able to find the site.
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Our starting point was to facilitate a workshop to help us to understand how the target audience would search for information.
We then analysed web statistics to find out which search terms find the site. In addition, we made assumptions based on the output of the workshop to find out which search terms did not find the website. The results were then checked across the main search engines and the search results position recorded.
Where the CLA did not rank favourably for a given search term, we analysed the site or sites near the top of the search results.
Page and website optimisation
For page and website optimisation, we looked at improving keyword and metadata by checking key content tags and attributes, such as Title tags and ALT attributes and meta description tags on all key pages to ensure they contain the keywords identified.
To ensure that search engine crawlers can find the significant pages of the site efficiently we implemented our XML Sitemap extension to give control over page ranking within the site.
We analysed page content to ascertain whether there was any In addition, we analysed text navigation and links within the site to ensure that links contain the keywords being targeted, and recommended that content is rotated to enhance search rankings.
Site Ranking improvementsWe re-directed the CLA domain point to the new URL so that that Google and other spiders would register the fact that the site now resides at a different URL. This included rationalisation of other URLs and redirects to ensure that only one URL serves the site’s content.
Using Google and Yahoo webmaster tools to promote the correct URL, we were able to ensure that rankings are only applied to the CLA URL.
LinkingUsing the ESD toolkit local Directgov (which is run by System Associates), we created a list of local authority web pages that relate to legal advice. We conducted a reciprocal linking / linking programme by contacting these organisations (by telephone and email) to promote linking.
During this process we discovered and were able to remedy links that were using the incorrect URL, the incorrect site name and content that did not necessarily reflect the appropriate search terms.
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By adopting a multi-stranded approach, we have delivered a comprehensive package of solutions to make sure that people are able to find and use the CLA website.
DEVELOP MINI-SITES FOR A NUMBER OF COMMUNITY LEGAL ADVICE CENTRES (CLACS)
This project aims to develop a number of Community Legal Advice Centres (CLACs) that are planned to open in a number of city centres over the next 12 months.System Associates role was to develop: A set of web pages for each CLAC as a section of the CLS Direct website (e.g.
www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/portsmouth) To refer users to CLAC pages from CLS Direct Website via search and direct links Extend the existing CMS provided to the LSC to include a module that allows the
various CLACs to edit their own web pages Deliver a solution that will allow new CLACs to be added quickly, easily and cost
efficiently Provide the necessary design expertise to convert wireframes into workable designs Implement a standard Information architecture across all CLAC sites Deliver a hosted, web-based email system to support the CLACs Provide operational and editorial assistance where requiredSystem Associates continues to work with the LSC to deliver its services via the internet, providing valuable and innovative solutions that do not simply “tick the box”.
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