August 2008
Let the "force" be with Auros
One of the industry's most highly regarded
awards, CNET, has announced that the Scottish Police PINS project –
developed in conjunction with Auros - is a finalist for the
Public Sector Technology Project of the Year. Winning two Police
Authority projects in Scotland, Auros recently completed delivery
for Scottish Police College. Now, hot on the heels of
this successful project come Lothian and Borders Police,
who are hoping to set the industry CMS standard for all authorities
to adopt.
This year Auros has secured two significant wins within the
Police sector, coincidently both in Scotland. Firstly the Scottish
Police College, part of the Scottish Police Services Authority
(SPSA), provides expert policing and support services to the
country's eight police forces and criminal justice community, the
second being Lothian and Borders Police Board. Lothian and Borders
covers almost 6500 square kilometres of South East Scotland
encompassing Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, Strathclyde Police
and Central Scotland Police which effectively means that they
police 20% of Scotland’s population.
The initial project for Scottish Police was to create an online
version of a mission critical information resource previously
distributed across the Scottish Police forces in CD format. The new
Extranet enables production costs to be removed, information
dissemination lag times to be substantially reduced and the content
update and approval process made significantly more efficient.
Astounding return on investment figures show that the Extranet will
save £3.4 million in its first year alone.
Scottish Police has recently given Auros the task of further
upgrading their existing Immediacy site (Police Information Net for
Scotland) to the latest version of Immediacy in order to gain the
newest features. Moreover this will enable Scottish Police to
implement the Web Asset Manager and Taxonomy Categorisation Manager
at a later stage, meaning that they will be able to categorise
content.
After a long procurement process, the Lothian and Borders Police
project will in essence replace two sites. Initially, Auros will
redevelop the force intranet, originally developed in 1999, with
the following key objectives;
- Compliancy with the Freedom of Information(Scotland) and the
Disability Discrimination Act
- Projecting the Lothian and Borders corporate image by using
standard templates
- Retention of information to the owner ensuring all copy is
single sourced and accurate
- Reducing the number of web related requests
which currently form a bottleneck
- Providing a platform for online communication
Furthermore, Lothian and Borders are keen to implement a
solution that not only meets their requirements, but is cognisant
of other force requirements in line with their long-term
strategy.
Both projects present different challenges for Auros. In the
case of Scottish Police College, Auros will endeavour to build on
the fantastic return on investment already delivered.
The preliminary stages for Lothian involve Auros developing
creative designs for the website and intranet, and implementing the
Immediacy CMS across the force, including the delivery of a high
level training and support package.
Recognition of Auros’ strong partnership with these Police
Authorities has extended beyond the Police community. The first
phase of the Scottish Police College project, the Police
Information Net for Scotland, has been identified as a finalist for
the CNET Awards’ Public Sector Technology Project of the Year.
These awards have fast become the most sought after technology
industry accolade recognising innovation, application and
excellence.
The Police Information Net for Scotland is now a major
training resource and knowledge-base for the entire Scottish Police
workforce. Auros’ remit encompassed the following;
- Full visual design
- Template development
- Content audit
- Migration support
- Implementation
- Training
- Support
- Maintenance
Saving one hour per officer per month, the project has taken
content that was originally used in a non-searchable, non-editable
and slow-to-distribute format and turned it into an interactive
information resource that can be updated in real-time, with a
conservative cost-saving figure of £3.4million in 12months, and the
break even point being calculated at less than 10days.