Mobhaile - extending the use of Information and Communication Technologies (Mobhaile)

Mobhaile is an interactive service developed by the Irish Local Government Computer Services Board to extend the use of Information and Communication Technologies to all sectors of our society. The premise for the development of such a tool is driven by the Local Government's responsibility to ensure the provision of content that is relevant to citizen's daily lives based on function, location and time. Mobhaile is the means by which local communities can generate such relevant content for themselves. Furthermore the provision of a facility (Mobhaile) which is low-cost, user friendly and readily available means that the LGCSB are driving the uptake and use of ICT in the context of small businesses, schools and community / voluntary groups. The long term vision of Mobhaile will bring together all content for a geographical community through one portal. The success of the rollout of Mobhaile cross the Local Authority areas is particularly evident in regions where up to 70% of the Community and Voluntary sector have taken the opportunity to create their own websites and content using Mobhaile.

Main results, benefits and impacts

As has been described throughout this document the success of the Mobhaile project depends as much on the content created on the web as it does on access to the web. It is well proven that content drives the web and that access alone has only limited impact in terms of beneficial engagement. The Mobhaile project is a key enabler in facilitating the creation of content and its key differentiator is that all content is locally derived, allowing participants to include themselves by engaging with issues and activities of interest to them, all in the setting of their own local area - thus 'bringing the Internet to their front door'. The Mobhaile Project targets Community and Voluntary groups, Schools and Small to Medium size Enterprises. It enables Community and Voluntary groups to illustrate their existence and to publicize themselves and their services to the citizens. Having a web services platform boosts enterprise businesses by introducing them not only locally in their own community but also nationally and internationally as well. The Mobhaile Project has been successful so far and to date has encouraged over 300 Communitiy and Voluntary groups as wells as SMEs The enthusiasm that the eChampions receive in training and information days is testament to the fact that this is a really worthwhile initiative and there is huge value in the Local Government sector becoming more involved in the Community and Voluntary & SME areas. While the implementations so far have been involved mainly in the community and voluntary sector, the work with the education and business sectors to date prove that there is a huge interest and commitment to the overall initiative. The costs of the project can be broken down into one-off (initial) and re-curring costs. Funding to allow for the initial developmet of software and roll-out to the pilot sites was in the region of 1 million euro. The on-going costs to the local authorities and LGCSB will relate to the use of eChampions and hosting of the websites. In specific terms we have rolled out the project to 7 key Local Authority areas to date (Mayo, Meath, South Dublin, Offaly, Westmeath, North Tipperary and South Tipperary). Over 300 organisations in these areas are already benefiting from the project through the work of the e-champions. There are additionally another 200 or more groups currently in training across the country. With the provision of additional Mobile training equipment by the end of 2004 the training and adoption of users has increased as training can be scheduled in remote areas rather than always at County Hall. So far in the 300 user groups there are over 1000 users continuously logging in and using their community sites. This is expected to expand signifincantly over the coming 12 months. By the end of 2005 it is envisaged that over 1000 community and voluntary groups will be online as Local Authorities rollout the initiative to more and more community areas.

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Lessons learnt

What has been critical to this project success is the principle of the partnership approach adopted when working with the other organisations involved both in the public and private sector. This coupled with a clear overall objective and plan as to how the objective is to be achieved has been a vital component to the projects success and remains key to its implementation on a national basis. Mobhaile calls on cooperation from the interested parties at both a national and local level. This is due to the fact that local government is the first point of contact for citizens wishing to access or avail of services that are available nationwide. As the 'front end' of government a partnership framework had to be established at a national level first to enable the 'trickle through' effect of citizen services. The structure of the Steering Committee had to comprise of the Government Departments which have direct and frequent contact with the public such as the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the Department of Education. The Steering Committee also included a local authority and representation from the Taoiseach's office. Should any other administration consider implementing Mobhaile a top level Steering Committee with broad governmental representation is essential to maintain the drive and commitment necessary to the project. We have also learned that commitment from the Local Authorities interested in implementing the project is essential. As discussed in section 2.2 Implementation, the Mobhaile project is not only innovative in the services it provides through the use of ICT, it is also innovative in the fact that it unifies departments within local government, enabling them to work together to maximise service by means of a shared communications platform. This approach is relatively new within the Irish public sector but is vitally important to the successful development of eGovernment. It is extremely important the project has clear and definable objectives with realistic target time frames. This is so that all the interested parties at regional and national level can understand exactly what is being required of them to commit to the offering and that their expectations are well managed. We have found that the role of the eChampion is pivotal in igniting the enthusiasm of the community and voluntary sector. Identifying this resource has meant that each locality has had at least 1 individual in either the Local Authority or another organisation all be they public or private sector. Finally, never underestimate the value of marketing the project. There should be provision made by the instigating organisation for information about the project as a whole and the project as it will be seen by the individual sectors of the community it will serve.