Devon continues drive towards 'network of networks'

Heather Barnes said that with maximum participation, south west's "network of networks" will deliver efficiencies and provide constant "resilient applications" for councils and emergency services. Speaking at the Network for Devon event hosted by Siemens Enterprise Communications, she told the audience that she wanted Devon to be "up there in lights" with other authorities that have successfully implemented public sector networks (PSN) such as Hampshire and Kent. "Having been personally involved in shared services discussions across this county actively for the past four years, what I think is different about the here and now is we have a different driver to work together. Irrespective of political arrangements across the county as officers of executive officers and deliverers, we now understand the real gains to be had," Barnes said. "How pertinent that is for us now today when the challenges we have out of the comprehensive spending review and the coalition government's white paper on health. We have yet to understand fully the role of public health and where that will sit in the future. Whatever the outcomes of all of that, whatever the schools agenda continues to be, however that pans out, this network's fit for purpose for that future and for that flexibility." She told GC News that one of the main aims of the project is to maximise shared services opportunities across district councils. Barnes stressed that the network the council has procured is open and accessible to other organisations. "The county council has procured the network in a way that means that we are not the owner of the network, and you can take out of what we were saying already today, we are very keen to emphasise that. This in no way is any kind of big brother approach that is something that is county council owned and others come into it," Barnes explained. Ian Wilcox, who represents local government interests within the Cabinet Office's PSN team, was also at the event and told GC News that local authorities are displaying more of an urgency to get involved with PSN. "I've been going round the country talking to people and I've found that they're people coming to meetings and trying to collaborate who wouldn't have even breathed the same air 18 months ago," he said. "So the PSN had actually acted as a mutual rallying too. And there is real interest and it's not only local authorities that are now leading it, one partnership is actually being led by the CIO of a police authority, so we're getting that join up as well."