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QAS for Central Government - achieving shared services

Central Government - Achieving shared services

To enable shared services and achieve a single citizen view within central government, your contact data must be accurate.

Experian QAS solutions:

  • help maintain citizen name and address data
  • include use of local authority and national gazetteer data
  • clean and standardises multiple databases
  • can be easily integrated, allowing multiple government departments to share services and accurate data

Achieving a shared and single citizen view

Duplicate data within a database can lead to:

  • inefficient service delivery
  • inability to achieve a single citizen view
  • a negative perception of a government organisation
  • poor relationship with citizens
  • lack of compliance

Achieving a shared and single citizen view permits:

  • tailored services
  • understanding the needs of your contact base
  • improved customer services
  • synergy within internal and cross departmental processes

Experian QAS products and services

To enable a single citizen view, contact data must be accurate. Our collection, cleaning and de-duplication products provided by QAS Pro, QAS Batch and QAS Match can help with this.

Our products and services will:

  • ensure names, addresses and location details are collected quickly and accurately
  • provide paperless authentication processes
  • maintain citizen data integrity by cleaning and standardising
  • flag and suppress contacts who have moved or deceased
  • integrate easily allowing multiple government departments to share accurate data

QAS Identify

QAS Identify for the public sector is a tool that uses reference data from Experian to match UK individuals. Duplicate contacts can be identified, even when the individual has moved house. This will:

  • support single citizen view agendas
  • allow you to improve operational efficiency and customer service
  • allow for shared integration of data
  • clean and maintain citizen data to PAF standard

Achieving a shared services culture

The Transformational Government initiative was set up with the agenda for government departments and organisations to share data. The aim was to deliver services in a more customer focussed manner.

Pat McFadden, Cabinet Office Minister for transformational government says:

"It is asking whether we can do a better job for people, at critical moments in their lives, by making sure one part of the Government talks to another".

Meeting this initiative can be a challenge. In a recent survey from Experian QAS, 40% saw technical issues as the main barrier to sharing data within their organisations.

According to Ben Willis:

"One of the biggest hurdles to better sharing of personal data across government is the fact that different government departments and agencies use different systems for collecting and storing information."
Information Exchange, Whitehall & Westminster World, December 2008

Experian QAS can provide enterprise-wide Contact management solutions which will collect, clean , standardise, validate, integrate and share data held within disparate systems.

Our dedicated Government Professional Services team can help the process of merging your data from multiple sources, advising you on the challenges, implications and benefits of compiling one source of data efficiently.

ContactPoint

The start of 2009 saw the activation of the controversial online directory of children's services. ContactPoint reduces the time and effort spent in bringing people from different teams together, helping keep children safe.

Read articles on ContactPoint:

  • ContactPoint database rolled out
  • Child protection data strategy is launched
  • Barnardo's signs up to ContactPoint

Fraud prevention initiatives

To achieve the Transformational Government initiative of shared services, it is vital that processing applications confirm personal identity, establish residence and confirm eligibility.

Authenticate solutions for the Public Sector from Experian QAS enable you to address your identity verification challenges, efficiently and effectively.

We work with local authorities, 52 police and investigatory bodies, as well as central government agencies. These government bodies have access to databases that contain biographic footprints established for 45 million UK citizens and hold in excess of 1 billion records.

The benefits

Authenticate's unique design of citizen authentication means:

  • reduced administration costs through fewer paper processes
  • identification of fraudulent activities
  • secure transfer of data via Electronic Data Updates (EDU)
  • improved value, accuracy and integrity of information
  • full legislative and regulatory compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998

Useful links

Putting citizens first

The Tell Us Once Programme is a cross government initative, set up to explore whether it is possible to add value to the interaction a citizen has with the government. The main aim is to put the citizen at the centre of shared services.

Sir David Varney's report suggests that those who need access to multiple services from government organisations and departments may face problems doing so. The report addresses how you can:

Sir Varney's report addresses how you can

  • be compliant to the Comprehensive Spending Review 07(CSR07)
  • and therefore achieve a reduction in avoidable contacts
  • whilst achieving transformational government

National Indicator 14

National Indicator 14 (NI 14) is one of the 198 indicators against which local government will be assessed. The indicator aims to reduce 'avoidable contact' between the community and local authorities, such as repeating the same information more than once and chasing council requests.

Experian QAS products and services

Using our data collection, cleansing, and de-duplication tools will allow you to meet the Tell us once initiative and achieve a single citizen view.

Shared services will experience:

  • improvements in back office processes
  • improvements in overall efficiency
  • an understanding of the customer
  • delivery of sustainable solutions

Useful links


Experian QAS bespoke solutions

Our Professional Services department offer tailored consultancy. For example, with Locator Plus from Experian QAS, we can stitch together multiple solutions to blend into specific mapping software.

Our data sources include:

  • gazetteers such as your LLPG or CAG and the NLPG
  • National Address Gazetteer for Scotland
  • Royal Mail
  • OS and Address Point data supplied by Ordnance Survey

Data security is also important to us. Electronic data updates are done on site by our qualified consultants, reducing the need to send data offsite.

Bespoke QAS Batch Web Service

Solution Overview

QAS Professional Services have recently developed a bespoke Batch Web service for use by a large Central Government agency to:

  • clean and enhance a number of internal databases over night
  • appending Ordnance Survey easting and northing grid co-ordinates

The solution is hosted on a single server and can be accessed by the end user via an internet browser. This removes the need to store any components on the users desktop. The solution uses a number of pre-defined address layouts that can be modified according to the source of the data and the structure on the input file to be cleansed. Hosting the data on the server also reduces any potential issues around storing sensitive customer information on local PCs.

The benefits:

  • single installation of QAS Batch
  • multiple users can access the one solution
  • data updates are limited to a single server
  • less maintenance if the solution is hosted centrally

NameTracer Pro Management Information (MI) Tool

NameTracer Pro is a desktop or browser based tool used to trace people in the UK. Benefits include:

  • radius searching functionality
  • 7 years of name and address details
  • an accurate picture of an individual's address history
  • audit trail of every user

Useful links

Established Business Partner relationships

Experian QAS has well established Business Partner relationships with leading systems integrators and applications providers, enabling us to provide fully supported integrations and practical training processes. Experian QAS has worked extensively with smaller application providers, within CRM, HR, Finance, GIS and Payroll and our solutions are compatible with a wide range of platforms.

We have long standing and certified partnerships with SAP, Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce.com. In addition to the System Integrator community including Logica, EDS, Capgemini, Fujitsu and IBM.

Useful links

Resources for you

For more information on identity verification in the Public Sector:

Contact us on 0800 197 7920 (freephone), through our online form or by email