The City of London Corporation has signed the Digital Declaration, a national Government initiative to which all local authorities are encouraged to sign up.
The declaration, which was initiated by the UK Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG), publicly commits the City of London Corporation to embracing and developing digital ways of working, business engagement and skills development.
MHCLG has set up a £7.5m fund for local authorities to develop digital ways of working. Organisations signing up to it will agree to collaborate on digital projects sharing skills and knowledge.
Jamie Ingham Clark, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Digital Services Sub-Committee, said:
“We are working closely with the Government and our newly elected Lord Mayor, Peter Estlin, to fully engage with their digital agendas.
“Our vision is simple. We want to ensure that the Square Mile has the necessary infrastructure to stay digitally well-connected for the benefit of those who live, learn, work and visit the City
“The declaration will transform the future of local government bodies and connect us all as a community so we can learn from each other and grow.”
To reflect the importance of the digital agenda the committee changed its name from Information Technology Sub (Finance) Committee to Digital Services Sub-Committee.
Members of the Digital Services Sub-Committee are responsible for ensuring the efficient roll out of digital services used by all stakeholders in the Square Mile.
Signing the declaration commits the City of London Corporation to designing new digital public services, challenging the technology market to offer the flexible tools and services, protecting people’s privacy and security and delivering better value for money.
MHCLG will establish a delivery team to support all declaration co-signatories and work with councils to create common and effective ways to deliver core services.