Elly Yates-Roberts |
Aberdeen City Council in Scotland is using Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 to collate social care data and workflows in one place to improve its public sector services.
To date, Dynamics has analysed80 per cent of workloads on the new online portal, allowing social workers to record case work and gain better access to comprehensive data, helping them to manage complex cases.
“We understood that digital was the key to establishing innovative and integrated public services and were delighted to partner with Microsoft in creating bespoke solutions for our customers,” said Andy MacDonald, director of customer services at the council. “We’ve used digital to promote community engagement, marshal data and develop our analytic capabilities, and to empower both staff and customers.
“Part of our task ahead is to guide people on their digital journey and use technology to further improve outcomes. For us, transformation is ultimately about building public services around the needs and strengths of individuals, families and communities.”
Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform has also allowed the council to improve cost savings and cybersecurity by enabling it to implement Microsoft Teams and remote working during the pandemic. The council has also launched chatbots to help 8,000 employees and residents find information about key topics including refuse collection and council tax. The chatbots handle around 200 queries a day, giving staff additional time to work on more complex issues.
In future, the council will integrate machine learning and artificial intelligence into the solution to further improve the service by facilitating predictive care. This will allow the council to allocate resources more effectively and spare families from crises through early intervention and prevention.
“Aberdeen City Council is driving positive and impactful change by using the Microsoft Cloud,” said Alan Lewis, general manager of the public sector at Microsoft UK. “Its staff and the community are seeing first-hand the benefits of the council’s digital transformation and I look forward to seeing how Microsoft and Aberdeen City Council build on the innovative work that has already been achieved.”