Case Study

Wiltshire & Swindon Intelligence Network

Background

In response to new Government guidance, in the late 1990s, local public sector organisations increasingly began to work in partnership to develop joined-up solutions to cross-cutting issues. The development of joint strategies and plans required access to a whole range of information from partner organisations. However, it quickly became apparent that sharing information across partners was not going to be easy. Often, the information was in different formats and available for different geographical boundaries, making it impossible to compare and overlay.

The Project

In response the the growing demand for improved access to partner information, in the year 2000, Dr Collins designed the first-ever local intelligence system: the 'Wiltshire and Swindon Intelligence Network'. 22 district, borough, county and regional organisations and partnerships are involved in the Network, which provides online access to a range of statistical data; area profiles and publications from local, regional and national sources. The project involved:

- Developing the concept of an information-sharing network

- Creating the Network, which involved obtaining the agreement of over 20 public, community, voluntary &

  business sector bodies to share their data

- Developing a multiorganisational protocol for sharing sensitive data

- Managing a wide-scale data needs assessment and audit

- Designing the specification for the dynamic, database-driven Network website

- Tendering and project managing the website development

- Management of the ODPM-funded project

Outcome

The Network website has greatly enhanced access to local statistics, publications, project information and consultation findings in Wiltshire & Swindon. It provides the core evidence base required by local information users, supporting evidence-based decision-making as well as providing significant cost and efficiency savings in data collation and analysis.

The Wiltshire and Swindon Intelligence Network has been recognised by the ODPM as an example of good practice and contributed to Wiltshire's appointment as lead authority for the Knowledge Management National Project.

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