Isle of Wight Council

This award is open to a single council or where appropriate a partnership of councils, or a council-owned company. Private sector partners can enter on a council’s behalf, with the permission of the council itself. This award will go to the council that can best show how its use of digital technology is significantly improving outcomes for its residents and/or place. It is not primarily for a council that can show it has systematically transformed its approach to technology or has devised as solution for a specific area of its work, but it is for a council that can demonstrate how its digital acumen is transforming its local area, for instance with regards to the effectiveness of key services and how they support residents. Among the attributes you may seek to showcase in your entry are the benefits of data sharing; how your organisation is ensuring it supports people before they fall into crisis; and how ground-breaking collaboration between local partners has had a significant impact on your local population. This award is designed to recognise vision and farsightedness but may also be suitable for councils which have used their existing digital technology approach in a new or innovative way in their pandemic response.

Isle of Wight Council adult social care and housing needs created an ‘ethics taskforce’ during the pandemic to respond to emerging mental health and wellbeing issues in the systemwide workforce. The taskforce built on its three-tier wellbeing toolkit, which encourages workforce resilience, to develop an easily accessible digital app. The app champions early intervention and prevention, supporting staff before they fall into crisis, and has been made available to professionals, the voluntary sector and carers to create a more sustainable and valued care system with lower sickness and better attendance, and to promote the role and profile of the care sector.