Kent County Council gets innovative
- Published: 11 September 2008 08:01
- Last Updated: 10 September 2008 15:28
Kent CC is the first winner of Innovate08, LGC and Microsoft's joint technology challenge.
In the final dragon's den-style event, Kent went head-to-head with fellow finalists Lewisham LBC , Charnwood BC , and South Tyneside MBC .
In a tough competition, the imagination, innovation and potential impact of Kent's entry gave the county the edge.
The entry, dubbed 'Pic'n'Mix' by its team of six, proposes using social networking and Web 2.0 technology to allow residents to personalise service information as well as swap ideas and submit new ones through wikis and forums.
The team said its scheme would be easy to use and was designed to "open residents' eyes to information and services", turning them into interactive consumers.
The judging panel — Richard Steel, president of the Society of Information Technology Management ; John Hayes, director of services at the Improvement & Development Agency ; Jerry Fishenden, national technology officer at Microsoft, and LGC editor Karen Day — felt that Kent's entry tapped into emerging technology.
They also felt it could easily be replicated across the rest of local government.
The team will now work with Microsoft to develop the platform. LGC will be tracking the progress of the winners and finalists over the next year.
