Hello, my name is Leonardo
The use of digital technology to support the delivery of our services offers many opportunities that I encourage for Leeds and across West Yorkshire. As you’ll understand, digital technologies have advanced rapidly alongside other innovations in human history and keeping pace and benefitting from these developments is a challenge we must embrace. This is not just about moving our services online however, far from it. We must transform how we work to reach the level of world-class digitisation we intend to achieve. It will take more than simply deploying new technology. Integrating the digital services of the councils and the NHS is the start of this digital transformation enabling us to provide a more joined up digital offer for the people we serve in Leeds.
Our region is an exciting place for the digital sector with innovation, new start-ups, and small/medium enterprises, as well as larger tech companies such as BJSS, TPP and Emis and Channel 4. And we are surrounded by the strength and abilities of many world class academic institutions. Which is why I think my role is very dynamic and a real privilege. I joined Leeds two years ago and for reasons I don’t need to state, was at a time where I needed to be very focused on the tasks in hand. As we emerge, I’m able to widen my perspective on the work done and the work still to do. It’s been harder to bond as a leader during a time of crisis where everyone was working differently, often with huge pressures to deliver digital projects that really were about saving lives and supporting families across the city and region – but this is an area I’m now building on.
It is important that people can access services, whether this is through new digital processes or the freeing up of traditional access capacity, for example, the automation of some back-office functions can help free up staff enabling them to be more focused on care. Any benefits expected to be realised from the digitisation of services requires a holistic approach to the redesign of processes and ways of working. We need to streamline and automate how we work so that our staff can focus on delivering the best services to our people rather than on dealing with sometimes not efficient and complex processes.
Digital strategy
The soon to be launched digital strategy for Leeds has been written following extensive consultation and engagement that included thirteen workshops covering wide-ranging areas such as digital ethics, business and economy, and primary and social care. It maps out at a high-level, our ambitious plans over the next three years, that will be supported by more targeted ‘digital roadmaps’ for every service that we deliver. We’re on a journey to transform the delivery of our services through better use of technology and effective data use. We will increasingly be able to collect data in real-time and utilise mobile technology to deliver personalised services when and where they are needed. We will invest in our staff to ensure they have the right digital skills to deliver those services and be equipped to support the people of Leeds effectively.
Below are further details on some programmes I’m very excited about:
100% Digital Leeds programme
I’m immensely proud of the outcomes that the 100% Digital team is generating for our city. Their work is imperative and fundamental to meet the ambitions of Leeds. We must work together across all organisations and sectors to ensure digital is about more than just deploying new technology. We must ensure that everyone is included, engaged, motivated, skilled, confident, equipped and involved in our collective digital journey.
Getting the most from tech
As we advance with our digital transformation, I believe Power Apps and the Power Platform have an important role to play due to its development efficiencies, low code/no code applications, and ease of use. Power Aps are also accessible to non-technical users and enable people to make, in a matter of hours, tools and applications they would like to use.
Office of Data Analytics
Office of Data Analytics (ODA) was established during the pandemic to help centralise and improve business intelligence across Leeds. It’s an emerging service for the health and care system and is supporting the population health management approach to the new integrated method of care delivery. It combines data from a multitude of sources helping to reveal the single version of the truth as to what is happening to cohorts of populations. By the end of November, the majority of data currently processed by the ODA will be present in our Azure West Yorkshire ICS cloud environment, either in production or undergoing testing. A small amount of data will remain outside of this environment whilst we secure agreement to migrate. Going forwards, all new data will be curated directly into the Azure West Yorkshire ICS cloud.
Automation
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) helps organisations to deploy software that mimics the role of a human. The RPA is provided with a set of instructions, known as a script, which virtual machines can then run time and time again – saving precious resources. We recently implemented an RPA solution within the housing service for the Council that was fit for purpose with next to zero spent on external support and implementation. Swapping manual and repetitive human process for a piece of software, meant our stretched resources were released for more intelligent and involved work.
Chatbot
First of type Chatbot can now be seen on the Leeds.Gov.UK website. It acts like a virtual assistant for our customers across and beyond Leeds by using language processing to understand what a person wants. It will ensure that Leeds City Council can constantly be available - 24/7 - as well as offering a faster service to enquires. No need to wait for someone to respond to a person’s enquiry during typical office hours.
The ambition is to have a full self-service ChatBot to guide people to their desired outcome – quickly and efficiently. This technology, which will also be used within the wider Health space, will see eventually services to be available via home devices like Alexa; this will go a long way to help our people. Imagine a world where you can ask Alexa to contact your local pharmacy or to schedule an additional collection of your bin, there are so many use cases we can build on this for both the local authority and health.
As you can see, there is a lot being done and a lot to do in the digital space but myself and the Integrated Digital Service team are here to support both Leeds and West Yorkshire on this mission. I’d like to thank you every member of the team I work with – their hard work and dedication is the reason we are achieving great things.
Hope you have a great weekend,
Leonardo
Hello, my name is Fiona.
Welcome to Black History Month, an opportunity to delve into learning, understanding, and celebrating our Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.
I was one of the dozen or so faces of the movement. I’ve been reflecting on that journey, and how it takes a level of bravery to put yourself out there for a cause that may be perceived as controversial due to the uncomfortable topics it would cover, but we knew the cause and aim was right to be involved in. It wasn’t going to be easy, and at points it really wasn’t. When issues regarding the movement were raised, it was so important for us, those who had put ourselves out there, to know we had allyship and support from all our colleagues and the organisations we represented.
This week I had the pleasure of attending an event on Tuesday as part of the West Yorkshire Innovation Festival 2022 to launch the 
As a GP and a clinical leader, I see innovation every day on so many levels. The ideas and solutions to challenge us all in the workspace which materialise into actions is outstanding. The opportunities presented by innovation – whether physical or digital technologies – to help meet people’s care needs and meet the challenges faced by the health and care system are limitless.
The Microbiology department at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has reached a significant milestone in its service delivery, completing over 1 million COVID-19 PCR tests for patients in Leeds and across Yorkshire & Humber.
The Board met on Monday. Members include colleagues working in the NHS, social care, universities, and organisational development. The meeting was chaired by 
This week is 
Cardiac arrest survivors and their lifesavers are supporting Yorkshire Ambulance Service’s attempts to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training to more than 40,000 people to mark Restart a Heart Day. On Friday 14 October, ambulance staff and volunteers will visit 136 secondary schools to teach the life-saving skill to tens of thousands of students. The top football league clubs in Yorkshire are also urging members of the public to get hands-on as ambulance staff and volunteers visit stadiums throughout October to teach CPR to football fans. This year’s activity means that Yorkshire Ambulance Service staff and volunteers will smash the milestone of more than 200,000 people being taught CPR since the Restart a Heart campaign was launched in 2014. During this time bystander CPR rates in Yorkshire have increased from 39.9% (2014) to 74.9%* (2021). 