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Annual Report and Accounts 2000-2001 |
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Make the most of the opportunities provided by the public-private partnership Radio Spectrum International (RSI) to acquire fully integrated modern information systems that meet the Agency's business requirements and enable it better to:
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When endorsing the current Information Systems Strategy (ISS) early in 2000, the IS Panel, chaired by the Chief Executive, agreed that an early formal review was desirable because of the potential for rapid business change arising from initiatives such as e-commerce. This review was performed in mid-2000 and included additional business requirements identified during the Agency's annual Business and Resource Planning exercise. The revised ISS was published in September.
In parallel with the in-house work on the ISS, the Agency commissioned CCTA to review the alignment of the ISS with Government initiatives and policies and to test the Agency's compliance with best practice on IS strategies. CCTA endorsed the Agency's ISS and recommended some minor improvements, the most significant of which was the need to identify more closely the critical areas of achievement for the Agency and provide a mechanism for tracking the progress of the strategy by senior management.
The Agency has an Intelligent Customer team responsible for IS planning. Work on the ISS was performed with our "strategic partner", Radio Spectrum International Consulting (RSI) which is responsible for IT delivery in support of the Agency's business. The past year has seen the Agency/RSI partnership continue to strengthen and deepen with RSI developing its role beyond the straight delivery of technical services to embrace other roles including assisting the Agency with its strategic development of e-commerce and business continuity planning.
RSI's services to RA have been evaluated by an independent source as value for money and this judgement has been endorsed by CCTA.
The Agency's IS Panel recognised the need for and value of implementing the recommendations contained in the report Review of Major Government IT Projects - Successful IT: Modernising Government in Action, the "McCartney Report". The Agency is committed to achieving the outcomes defined by the Office of Government Commerce implementation programme. Tailored project management guidance was, in fact, already in production and Senior Responsible Owners (SRO) had been appointed for all IT projects started after the publication of the report. A business change programme to implement the recommendations and outcomes, and to embed the "Successful IT" culture, was initiated and a programme SRO appointed at Director level. In tandem an initial Skills for the Information Age audit was undertaken, for both the Agency and RSI.
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1998 The creation of Radio Spectrum International Consulting (RSI)
On 8th June 1988 a contract was signed between the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and CMG plc which marked a historic event. The joint venture company set up under this agreement was the first example of this style of public/private sector partnership. The requirement for such an initiative was identified by Jim Norton, the Agency's Chief Executive between 1993 and 1998, as a way for the Agency to provide cost-effective and up-to-the -minute IT services to its staff and customers, and also to raise revenue by exploiting RA's radio expertise abroad. In February 1996 the Official Journal of the EC carried the initial advertisement seeking a partner for the venture. Two years later, after long and hard negotiation by RA staff, solicitors and accountants, the procurement exercise was complete and CMG emerged as the successful partner. RSI is a jointly owned company (70% CMG plc and 30% RA) whose purpose is to deliver IT services to the Agency, including desktop services, networks and applications. Its board of directors is chaired by David Hendon. The reports on this page and in Objective 4 of this Report give an up-to-date picture of RSI achievements. |
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RSI
contribution to RA projects and other major workApart from the ongoing maintenance of existing IS systems and the supporting infrastructure, RSI's major technical achievements have been the incorporation of a major system (Space Services licence products) into the Agency's unified licensing system RULES, the development of the public access database in response to the Stewart Report, the Strategic Management Information System (SMIS) and the piloting of electronic application forms as part of e-Commerce.
Non-project work involving RSI has included a successful value testing exercise whose findings and methodology were endorsed in a separate CCTA report and which provided valuable input to the service improvement plan that was implemented in February. A further significant piece of work was the development and agreement of the service credits plan that underpins the many service level agreements between the Agency and RSI.
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I
came here just before we became an Agency - in February 1990. I was then
the Librarian, but in a small organisation like this there is always the
opportunity to take on more, and information management is key to many
different sections of the Agency's work. In 1998 I added publications
and publicity to my areas of responsibility, and then in 1999 the management
of the website moved into my section from its original home in research
and development. Most recently, in January 2000, I added another hat to
my collection; that of Press Officer for the Agency. So, after 11 years
without moving jobs, I have accumulated a diverse range of responsibilities,
with the result that I never have a boring day - especially not at the
time of year when my main job is editing the Annual Report and Accounts!