Perth Mobile Working Project

April 4, 2023



Screengrabs of Perth Mobile Working App

Project Overview 

Delivered as part of the Scotland’s 8th City – the Smart City ERDF programme, this 8th City Phase 1 project uses mobile solutions to deliver service transformation across key delivery areas, such as housing repairs, community wardens, and food safety.

All of the mobile working solutions were built using Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) corporate mobile working platform. This has supported new ways of working across PKC with seven mobile applications and innovative services being developed to provide staff with the technology and data they require whilst working away from base. 

Why is it needed? 

This project was approved by PKC Transformation Board with the aim of re-engineering front line service delivery – generating efficiencies while providing an enhanced customer experience.

The key requirements were as follows:

  • Improvement to services delivered to citizens, including: targeted scheduling of work and the ability to more proactively update users on progress of jobs.
  • Improvements in workforce efficiencies, including: removal of duplicate activities and the need for re-keying of information.
  • Improvement in data quality, including: gathering data in real time and sharing across systems; improved management information for better shaping future workloads.
  • Reduce costs of service delivery.

Impact and Benefits

Staff and stakeholder engagement and benefits realisation were key areas of activity in the development of this project. PKC service areas using Mobile Working solutions were able to contribute suggestions for enhancements/extensions to the solutions proposed by PKC’s IT Mobile Working Team, and the team scheduled regular review meetings to allow requests to be explored and future developments prioritised.

Benefits include:

  • Staff up-skilled in new technologies and IT literacy skills to develop career opportunities.
  • Reduced risk to lone workers through the introduction of mobile technology;
  • Front line staff enabled to spend more time with vulnerable clients, leading to more effective care in response to the client’s needs;
  • Reduced paperwork, contributing towards PKC’s reduced carbon footprint;
  • Reduction in carbon emissions due to better routing and scheduling of work based on geographic location;
  • Increased productivity across the workforce, resulting in lower operating costs;
  • Enhanced real time information about service operation – providing opportunity to respond positively to real time challenges of service delivery and reduce service failure;
  • Enhanced management information also provide opportunity to review performance and manage the workforce more effectively through improved statistical analysis;
  • Increased and enhanced communications to address challenges in communicating with a workforce spread across a wide geography and characterised by shift working; and
  • Mobile devices give front line staff a direct link into the council, and easier access to a variety of supporting services.

Overall, deployment of Mobile Working solutions has changed ways of working across the Council and these have now become the new standard.

Contact details and further info: 8th_City_PMO@glasgow.gov.uk