The solution
The council’s goals were threefold: to connect residents to help as and when they needed it, to prevent the escalation of problems through targeted and timely interventions, and to improve demand management in order to allocate scarce resources more efficiently. It set up Insight Hub, which brought together data scientists, behavioral scientists and service designers to explore a way forward. Ambition grew, and the hub partnered with EY and Xantura to develop One View, a data management, analytics and predictive modeling platform.
One View brings together the council’s historically disconnected datasets. It analyzes data related to adult services, children’s services and homelessness, giving caseworkers a single view of households and individuals. It uses advanced analytical modeling to identify those at the highest risk of harm, aiming to flag up likely problems six to nine months before crisis and enabling proactive, early intervention. And it tracks outcomes over time, allowing the organization to assess the effectiveness of different interventions in different circumstances and adjust accordingly. Specialist software provides robust information governance and data security, while strict protocols determine levels of access – both important factors in winning public trust.
To tackle the issue of staff buy-in, the technical team designed the platform with a focus on the people who would be using it in their day-to-day work. A clear vision for the initiative was another key enabler; this was championed by senior leaders and communicated throughout the organization. According to Katy Brown, Programmes and Strategy Officer: “People understand the vision. Our staff and our chief executive are always talking about prevention, helping people earlier, using data to help target our resources and reducing demand.”