OREANDA-NEWS. Tata Consultancy Services (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), the leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, has been selected by the Improvement Service to implement a Citizen Account Service for Scottish citizens, allowing them to access numerous digital public services from a single user profile. The project is TCS's first public sector win in Scotland and will improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness for local authorities and other service providers through increased automation. The Improvement Service was set up in 2005 to help improve the quality and efficiency of public services in Scotland by offering advice, consultancy and programme support.

The Citizen's Account Service will be based on TCS's tried and tested DigiGOV Framework which has been successfully implemented in other parts of the UK, India and South Africa. The system is built on open source technology and is delivered through a rapid transformation methodology to ensure speedy implementation. Once deployed, the service will simplify access to public services for Scottish citizens by giving each person a single user profile to be used across numerous public services.

Paul Dowie, director, Improvement Service, commented: “Increased digitisation of the public sector has the potential to significantly improve the quality and usability of the services delivered to the Scottish public, while at the same time improving efficiency and reducing cost. Residents have become accustomed to managing their lives digitally and introducing the Citizen's Account Service will make it easier for them to apply this to their dealings with public services. We have been really impressed by TCS's credentials in this sector and we are delighted to be working with them on this project.”

Shankar Narayanan, country head, UK & Ireland, commented: “At TCS, we have seen first-hand the benefits that a strong digital strategy can deliver to the public sector. We have deployed technologies such as our DigiGOV Framework across a number of other countries worldwide and it has made a real difference, both in terms of making services more accessible to users and in helping governments get more for less. We are delighted to be working with the Improvement Service. It is fantastic to see how committed they are to digitisation, and I'm sure together we will be able to add real value to Scottish public services.”

Georgina O'Toole, public sector research director at industry analyst firm TechMarketView, states: “TCS has remained committed to a tough public sector market, continuing to invest in its offerings to the UK government. As public sector organisations come under greater pressure to both reduce costs and improve services, digital solutions such as the Citizen Account Service increasingly become a core element of organisational strategies. TCS's first contract in Scotland is a significant milestone for the company for which a successful implementation would firmly establish its credentials 'north of the border'.”

TCS's engagement with the UK public sector market over recent years has seen it participate in numerous technology-enabled transformation programmes. TCS combines government-specific domain expertise with a world-class set of delivery capabilities to enable service transformation for some of its key government clients in the UK; such as the Home Office, the National Employment Savings Trust, Cardiff City Council, Child Maintenance Group (CMG is a division of DWP) and The Big Lottery Fund, amongst others.