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The DigiTV project began in Summer 2002, now a fully fledged service wholly owned and managed by Kirklees Council, read the history of DigiTV including milestones, objectives and achievements
DigiTV Phase One (Summer 2002- Summer 2004) DigiTV was one of the ODPM sponsored national projects, initial investment in DigiTV was £3.2 million in June 2002, from this initial investment the following was achieved: o One technology for all of local government was created, the Starter Kit, which enables all Local Authorities to publish a service on the DiTV platforms, without any local hardware, software, expertise etc o A central contract negotiation was undertaken to allow access for all LAs to the DiTV platforms o A two-part research project into attitudes of Local Government and citizens to DITV was undertaken o A business case strand of the project was run in LB Hillingdon looking at citizen usage of DiTV in terms of different types of transactions (over 18 months) o An in depth ‘How To’ Guide was created o A project website was created and maintained o A huge local marketing programme was undertaken involving all engaged Local Authorities o The project board was made up of Kirklees MC (lead), Knowsley, Somerset, Suffolk, LB Hillingdon. All of these authorities had previously investigated digital TV and brought significant experience to the project o The project team was put in place to run the project, core achievements included: - Getting 50 Local Authorities to engage in the pilot phase of the project, to create and publish services (more than any other National Project) - Ensuring all of these LAs were trained, engaged with DiTV, created their sites and marketed them locally – marketing was particularly significant to encourage use and take-up and explore ideas - Spreading the word throughout the Local Government community regarding the project via events, press, PR etc Phase 2 (Summer 2004-December 2005) As with all the National Projects, DigiTV then received further funding in September 2004 to roll-out, market and disseminate the project outputs. With this money the following was achieved: o Another 20 Local Authorities were brought on board, trained to use the Starter Kit and run services – all now live on the DITV platforms o Significant improvement programme on the Starter Kit technology in line with LA requirements; CMS improvements, citizen interface, performance and MIS enhancements (including an usability study) o Interactive advertising pilots – increasing usage of cable services up to 1000% o Launch of the Starter Kit Plug-In allowing integration with back end databases – most notably with the eMIS doctors surgeries – allowing patients in South Yorkshire to book/cancel/amend a doctor’s appointment via DITV. The plug-in is currently also working with waste collection, air-quality and housing benefit databases o Further promotion, partnering and dissemination work to LAs, international governments, leading e-Gov projects, departments, the commercial sector and other local service partners o Engaging and liaising with national partners such as Citizens Advice, Transport Direct, Legal Services Commission, ONS, Census 2011, Scottish Executive, Job Centre Plus, Environmental Agency and others, who are all in different stages of engagement with DigiTV o Continued press, promotion and marketing work Phase Three (December 2005-present) - DigiTV, as with all national projects, was legally transferred from the ODPM to the lead Local Authority, Kirklees MC (December 2005) - DigiTV becomes a stand alone service run by Kirklees MC, in a not-for-profit manner, all legal work to ensure legitimacy is completed (December 2005) - DigiTV launches local government services on to the mobile platform, with 3 mobile being the first dedicated partner to offer a direct route to services to their customers (March 2006) - DigiTV offers a ‘bureau service’ to those local authorities who are keen on running a digital TV service but are strapped for resource - the first site (Wrexham) launches in April 2006 - Work is undertaken to investigate the potential of broadband TV - Further plug-in projects are begun - DigiTV continues to market the project, run interactive advertising campaigns and promote DITV and the local government services - Further local authorities sign up - DigiTV Steering Group inaugorated (June 2006) - Pilot with the BBC Local News project begins in the West Midlands (Summer 2006) - Sky freephone number introduced (June 2006) - Wrexham Marketing Project begun (October 2006) - Partnership with NHS/Health Direct starts (Autumn 2006) - Partnership with Transport Direct goes live offering real time traffic and transport news as well as train timetables and journey planning (Autumn 2006) - GP Appointment plug-in rolls out nationally (Dec 2006) - JobCentre Plus national job search facility goes live (Dec 2006) - A raft of local plug-ins are created offering deeper local services (Spring 2007) - The first housing association signs up to offering digital interactive services to residents; South Staffordshire - An e-Petitioning module is launched in South Yorkshire, allowing DiTV viewers to sign existing petitions, using the same system that runs their web petitions, simply integrated using the DigiTV Starter KMit plugin - Success of GP Appointment plug-in and subsequent press coverage leads to confirmation of funding for a repeat prescription module which again will cover around 60% of surgeries in the UK (Summer 2007) - Choice based lettings plug in launched with Abritas in Wychavon DC, allowing DiTV viewers access to the latest properties on the market, to view them and to bid for them (August 2007). Now any authority or housing association using the Abritas system can plugin DiTV as a channel - DigiTV host a successful annual showcase for prospective partners and engaged organisations (Sept 2007) - YourNextBus is launched in South Yorkshire, allowing real time access to bus location and when it is due at specific bus stops. This service particualrly helps those in a rural setting, for more info click here |
